Posts Tagged ‘video clip’
Video on Rafto Award winners of 2023
December 14, 2023Meet Samreen, who is empowering women in India
October 3, 2023In their series “Activists Up Close” the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) focuses on Samreen, who grew up in Lucknow, India, in a household where her mother wasn’t allowed to do anything without her father’s permission. But when her father passed away, Samreen began to question the patriarchal norms that ruled her family. When she connected with AJWS partner Sadbhavna Trust, her world opened entirely.
Sadbhavna Trust runs leadership workshops and job training for women and girls in Lucknow, creating a world in which early marriage is not their only option. Today, Samreen is one of the organization’s leaders, inspiring others to follow in her footsteps.
The story of Camila Zuluaga, HRD from Colombia
July 26, 2023Camila Zuluaga is an international advocacy lawyer at the Colombian Commission of Jurists (CCJ). She spoke to ISHR about her hopes for Colombia, which she hopes to make a safer country for human rights defenders. Camila was also one of the participants to ISHR’s flagship training course, the Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme (HRDAP).
To learn more about her and other defenders like her: https://ishr.ch/defender-stories/huma…
https://ishr.ch/defender-stories/human-rights-defenders-story-camila-zuluaga-from-colombia/
13-year old HRD from Colombia cares for climate
July 19, 2023Francisco Vera, is 13 years old and he has been advocating for human rights and climate justice since he was 9 years old.
Front Line Defenders award 2023 goes to front line defenders…..
June 5, 2023Front Line Defenders announced the five winners of its 2023 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, at a special ceremony in Dublin on 26 May 2023. Laureates from each of the major global regions travelled to Ireland to accept the Award, including:
- Africa: Olivier Bahemuke Ndoole (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
- Americas: Segundo Ordóñez (Ecuador)
- Asia and the Pacific: Jeany ‘Rose’ Hayahay (Philippines)
- Europe and Central Asia: Digital Security Lab Ukraine, represented by DSLU Executive Director Vita Volodovska (Ukraine)
- Middle East and North Africa: Hala Ahed (Jordan)
“This year’s laureates are a courageous and inspiring group of people who reflect the determination, dynamism and diversity of human rights defenders (HRDs) who are on the front lines of fighting for a more just world,” said Olive Moore, Interim Director of Front Line Defenders. “Their vital work in defence of human rights in DRC, Ecuador, Jordan, Philippines and Ukraine impacts countless people in their communities and beyond. By shining an international spotlight on their struggles and empowering them to continue their work, we at Front Line Defenders hope this Award will touch the lives of many more people on whose behalf they act.”
For more on the Front Line award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk and its laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/2E90A0F4-6DFE-497B-8C08-56F4E831B47D
The 2023 Front Line Defenders Award winners:
AFRICA
Olivier Bahemuke Ndoole (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a leader among environmental and land defenders in DRC and one of the most trusted advocates on behalf of communities impacted by land grabs, trafficking, and illegal resource extraction activities. He is also the only advocate who organises judicial training and capacity-building sessions for DRC citizens on topics related to environment and community rights in Goma, eastern DRC.
AMERICAS
Segundo Ordóñez (Ecuador), an Afro-descendant human rights defender, is one of the most visible faces and the community representative in the two legal proceedings brought against the Japanese-owned company Furukawa Plantaciones C. A. and the State of Ecuador. The cases have focused on how workers on abacá (Manila hemp) plantations suffer labour exploitation as they farm the raw materials in slavery-like conditions.
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Jeany ‘Rose’ Hayahay (Philippines) is a woman human rights defender based in Mindanao, the Philippines. Since 2019, she has been the spokesperson of the Save Our Schools Network (SOS Network), a coalition of child-focused NGOs, church-based groups and other stakeholders advocating for children’s right to education in Mindanao.
EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
Digital Security Lab Ukraine (Ukraine) is a team of specialists in the field of digital security and internet freedom. They help Ukrainian journalists, human rights defenders and public activists solve problems with digital security, as well as promote the realisation of human rights on the internet by influencing government policy in the field of digital rights.
MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Hala Ahed (Jordan) is a Jordanian human rights lawyer who has worked with a number of human rights and feminist organisations to defend women’s rights, workers’ rights, and the freedoms of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly in Jordan.
Pierre-Claver Akolly Amégnikpo Dekpoh from Togo tells his story
May 12, 2023Pierre-Claver Akolly Amégnikpo Dekpoh works at the West African Human Rights Defenders Network (WAHRDN) in Lome, Togo. He spoke to ISHR about what drove him to become a human rights defender and about the challenges that he and his colleagues in Togo and West Africa face in working towards the realisation of human rights.
Short message from the new High Commissioner for Human Rights: Volker Turk
October 18, 2022On 17 October 2022 Volker Türk begun his mandate as the 8th UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Who are human rights defenders?
July 2, 2022On 30 June 2022 the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights uploaded this video clip outlining the basic issue of human rights defenders:
In crisis, civic space is the ‘most crucial – and valuable’ element of building resilience. @ High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet says, “a vibrant civic space is a lever of a stable, secure society. Yet, we continue documenting attacks against defenders and journalists, off-line and online, worldwide.”
Profile of Soun Yuthyia from Cambodia
May 11, 2022“I chose to be a human rights defender by, hopefully, protecting those who don’t know where to find a solution when there are human rights abuses happening to them.”
Soun Yuthyia is the advocacy director for The Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, an organisation that seeks to protect and promote respect for human rights throughout Cambodia. He shares his vision for the future of Cambodia and how his work has positively impacted the people of Cambodia.
Yuthyia also shares his experience with HRDAP and the ISHR Academy in the below video:
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/vAfHKFScArU
https://ishr.ch/defender-stories/human-rights-defenders-story-soun-yuthyia-from-cambodia/
Profile of Woman Human Rights Defender Maria Luisa Acosta
March 8, 2022Dr. Maria Luisa Acosta is the coordinator of the Centro de Asistencia Legal a Pueblos Indígenas (CALPI), an organisation that supports and seeks to realise the rights of Indigenous and Afrodescendant peoples and communities in Nicaragua. She shares her vision for the future and how, despite the personal toll of her work, she remains steadfast in her convictions.
“States have the obligation to respect defenders, to provide them with security, to heed their calls and to consider that we are people who support the most vulnerable sectors of society, and that this is a contribution to democratic life.“
https://ishr.ch/defender-stories/human-rights-defenders-story-maria-luisa-acosta-nicaragua/
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 