Posts Tagged ‘protection’
May 19, 2016
Giselle Portenier (CNW Group/Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma)
Independent documentary-makers and freelance journalists working to expose human rights abuses can compete for a bursary to help them obtain hostile environment training, more usually made available to journalists working in war zones. The 2016 Portenier Human Rights Bursary competition, offered by the Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma, opened on 16 May and closes on June 30. The annual bursary, introduced last year, is sponsored by the documentary-maker Giselle Portenier. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in awards, films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Canada, Canadian Journalism Forum on Violence and Trauma, Documentary film, film makers, funding, human rights monitoring, Jason O'Hara, journalists, Portenier Human Rights Bursary, protection, scholarships, security, training course
November 19, 2015
from Special Issue on Business and Human Rights by the ISHR, October 2015
For human rights defenders interested to find their way in the myriad of procedures and soft law surrounding the issue of business and human rights:
The key mandate of the Working Group is to promote the effective and comprehensive dissemination and implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, using the usual range of tools available to Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council (country visits, thematic reports, and individual communications).In order to discuss the trends and challenges in the implementation of those Guiding Principles and to promote dialogue and cooperation on issues linked to business and human rights, a Forum on Business and Human Rights has been held every year since 2012 and is open to all relevant stakeholders, including in particular human rights defenders. There is an increasing focus on human rights defenders in the agenda of the Forum, with two specific panels dedicated to human rights defenders in 2015 focusing on women human rights defenders and on the role of business in protecting defenders respectively.
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association have both expressed concern about human rights defenders working on these issues, with the previous Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders devoting a report to the issue of human rights defenders working on major development projects and the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association devoting a report to the issue of freedom of association and the extractive industries.
In June 2014, the Human Rights Council mandated an Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG), tasked with commencing work towards the drafting of an international legally binding treaty on business and human rights. In July 2015 the IGWG had their first session, more information and reports can be found here.
Finally, the UN Global Compact initiative, is intended as a practical framework for the development, implementation, and disclosure of sustainability policies and practices by businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, UN | 1 Comment »
Tags: business, Business and human rights, environmental issues, Human Rights Defenders, ISHR, protection, United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
May 11, 2015
On Tuesday the 5th May CAHR [Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York, UK] hosted a one-day workshop on Risk and Protection.
from left to right, Jamshid Gaziyev (Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on HRDs); James Savage (Amnesty International UK); Andrew Anderson (Frontline Defenders); and Alice Nah (CAHR).
The workshop examined the lessons, synergies and tensions that emerge when considering the approaches to protection that have been taken by human rights, development and humanitarian actors. The workshop sought to address how actors from adjacent fields could work together, and learn from each other, to build safe and enabling environments for HRDs and broader communities at-risk.
The workshop brought together practitioners, academics and donors from across fields. Speakers included representatives from the office of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Amnesty International, Frontline, Global Witness, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre and the Overseas Development Institute (Humanitarian Policy Group). It was supported by a grant from the Open Society Foundations Human Rights Initiative. The learnings for the workshop will be written up as an article and will feed into CAHR’s ongoing work on HRDs.
via HRD protection workshop 2015 – Centre for Applied Human Rights, The University of York.
Posted in AI, Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, OHCHR | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Alice Nah, Andrew Anderson, CAHR, Centre for Applied Human Rights, Centre for Applied Human Rights at York University, Human Rights Defenders, protection, research, York university
February 16, 2015
World Bulletin News (from Turkey) reports on 13 February about the Dutch and Austrian governments funding a three-year project to support African human rights defenders. One always wonders why this kind of information pops up in one news source but not in others. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Africa, african region, Austria, donors, East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, funding, Hassan Shire, Human Rights Defenders, Netherlands, protection, Simone Knapp, support, Theo Oltheten, Uganda, World Bulletin (Turkey)
January 27, 2015
It may not be the most important news, but the simple fact that a Conference on Human Rights Defenders in Somalia is being held in Mogadishu at all is not what one expects. A delegation of the African Human Rights Commission led by Reine Alapini Gansou arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia on Monday for the one-day conference.
“The conference is a wider and nationwide consultative meeting that will be focusing improving protection capacity and promoting the right to defend human rights in Somalia and to achieving a safe working environment for Somali HRD’s, especially most-at-risk HRDs including the journalists and the civil society members.” Hassan Shire, the chairperson of the Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network said in a press briefing at his hotel.
allAfrica.com: Somalia: Delegation From African Human Rights Commission Arrive in Mogadishu for HRDS Conference.
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, African Human Rights, allafrica com, Hassan Shire, Human Rights Defenders, journalists, Mogadishu, protection, Reine Alapini-Gansou, Somalia, The Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network
September 4, 2014
Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network (PAHRD–Net) has opened a call for nominations for the 2nd Edition of its human rights defenders awards. The awards will honor exceptional individuals who peacefully promote and protect universally recognized rights as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Altogether six awards will be presented, one overall award and five sub-regional awards:
– Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Award
– East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
– West Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
– Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
– Central Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
– Northern Africa Human Rights Defenders Award
Both individuals and organizations are eligible for the award. Nominations should be received not later than 20 September 2014.
Please use the following forms [CONTROL/CLICK] : English | French
Submissions can be made in Arabic, French, English or Portuguese. Return your nomination to hrdawards@defenddefenders.org.
Awards include support to the human rights work of the winning individual or organisation. The winners will be selected by an independent jury and the awards will be presented to the winners at the occasion of the Ordinary Session of the Africa Commission on Human and People’s Rights
http://www.defenddefenders.org/
for more on human rights awards see: http://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards
Posted in awards, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 2 Comments »
Tags: Africa, african region, awards, digest of human rights awards, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network (PAHRD–Net), protection, THF
September 3, 2014
Yvette Alberdingk Thijm, the Executive Director of WITNESS, posted an important piece in the Huffington Post of 2 September on how to make sure that the increase in human rights videos uploaded to Witness (and the same for other NGOs) make a real difference. After citing several examples of such footage of violence, conflict, and human rights abuses, she reflects as follows: “When I watch these videos with such potential to transform human rights advocacy, I am concerned about the gaps and the lost opportunities: the videos that cannot be authenticated; the stories that will be denied or thrown out of court — or worse, will never reach their intended audience; a survivor’s account lost in a visual sea of citizen media. Mostly, I worry about the safety of the person who filmed, about her privacy and security.”
…….
“When WITNESS was created, we talked about the power of video to “open the eyes of the world to human rights violations.” Today, our collective eyes have been opened to many of the conflicts and abuses that are going on around us. This creates, for all of us, a responsibility to engage. I am deeply convinced that citizen documentation has the power to transform human rights advocacy, change behaviors, and increase accountability. But let’s make sure that all of us filming have the right tools and capabilities, and that we apply and share the lessons we are learning from citizen witnesses around the world, so that more people filming truly equals more rights.”
How Do We Ensure That More People Using Video Equals More Rights? | Yvette Alberdingk Thijm.
Posted in films, human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Witness | 2 Comments »
Tags: Advocacy, archiving video, evidence, Huffington Post, Human Rights Defenders, human rights films, human rights news, human rights violations, images, protection, video, Witness (human rights group), Yvette Alberdingk Thijm
August 29, 2014
While the statement does not contain any really new position I recommend to read it because it is a good indication of how Austria has moved to join the small group of countries that makes Human Rights Defenders a central piece in their approach: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Austria, diplomacy, EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, foreign policy of Austria, Human Rights Defenders, international instruments, Kurz, OSCE Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, protection
June 23, 2014
Posted in AI, Amnesty international, human rights, Human Rights Defenders | 1 Comment »
Tags: AI, alert, Amnesty International, attack, digital security, google, Human Rights Defenders, Information and Communication Technology, kidnapping, mobile phones, Panic Button, protection, SMS, technology, torture
June 3, 2014
Brussels-based NGO Protection International will be running the third edition of its online course “Security and Protection Management for Human Rights Defenders and Social Organisations”. The course will be in English, French and Spanish, in the period 14 July 2014 – 5 October 2014. For more information: http://protectioninternational.org/2013/09/11/new-e-learning-course-on-security-and-protection-management-for-hrd-and-social-organisations/
Posted in human rights, Human Rights Defenders, Protection International | Leave a Comment »
Tags: Brussels, Human Rights Defenders, Knowledge Management, management, NGO 'Protection International, online course, protection, security, Social Organisations, training course
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 