Posts Tagged ‘young defenders’

Submit Entries for 9th Edition Freedom Prize 2027

October 25, 2026

The Freedom Prize invites young people aged 15 to 25 from France and around the world to nominate an inspiring person or organisation whose work represents an exemplary commitment to freedom. The initiative gives young people an active role in recognising individuals and organisations that promote freedom, peace, human rights, and positive change.Deadline: 12-Jan-2027

The Freedom Prize is an educational initiative inspired by the values associated with the D-Day landings in Normandy. See: https://trueheroesfilms.com/equip/digest/?sort=most&award=fef9ddd0-5b73-11e9-aba0-2ddd74eff7fa

The Freedom Prize is open to young people aged 15 to 25 years old.

The Freedom Prize takes place through three main stages during the school year.

Stage 1: Call for Proposals

Young people aged 15 to 25 are invited to nominate a person or organisation whose fight for freedom deserves international recognition.

Participants research and identify inspiring individuals or organisations and submit their proposals.

This first stage gives young people an opportunity to explore different freedom and human rights movements around the world.

Stage 2: International Youth Jury

An international jury made up of 24 young people from diverse backgrounds meets in Normandy.

The jury reviews the proposed nominees and selects three finalists for the Freedom Prize.

This stage gives young people a direct role in evaluating different examples of courage, commitment and action for freedom.

Stage 3: Global Youth Vote

Following the selection of the three nominees, a global online vote is organised among young people.

Youth participants vote to determine the final laureate of the Freedom Prize.

The process therefore places young people at the centre of the prize, from the initial nominations through to the final selection.

https://www2.fundsforngos.org/individuals/submit-entries-for-9th-edition-freedom-prize-2027/amp

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Nice example of student HRDs at work: Berkeley

October 24, 2026
woman speaking at a podium
Kate Reeves describes her wide-ranging work in Peru, which included mapping illegal mining sites and helping local communities monitor deforestation. Photo by Maggie Andresen

Each fall, Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center hosts an afternoon event where student fellows give presentations about their recent fieldwork. Using compelling visuals to help amplify what are often little-known threats to human rights across the world, they share insights about their work while illuminating vital issues, conflicts, and advocacy efforts.

Three Berkeley Law students — Sonali Dhawan, Kate Reeves, and Sam Klein-Markman — are among this year’s dozen fellows. Each emphasized how their summer work powerfully fueled motivation to use their growing legal skills for advancing social justice.

Working with Thai Lawyers for Human Rights to end the imprisonment and harassment of dissidents, Dhawan monitored legal proceedings against political prisoners, produced trial reports for diplomats, and prepared comprehensive recommendations on Thailand’s draft legislation regarding strategic lawsuits against public participation.

The organization’s co-founder, Arnon Nampa, is one of 48 known political prisoners in Thailand. Imprisoned for over three years as a result of his peaceful pro-democracy activism, his cumulative sentences extend past 31 years following additional court rulings. When Nampa co-founded Thai Lawyers for Human Rights after Thailand’s 2014 coup, the organization offered free legal assistance to hundreds of dissidents harassed by the military.

“Thailand’s royal defamation law criminalizes criticism of the monarchy,” Dhawan explained. “It carries sentences of three to 15 years, which is equivalent to manslaughter. Thai citizens and foreigners are unjustly prosecuted for freedom of expression and association.”…

Reeves worked for La Federación Nativa del Río Madre de Dios y Afluentes (FENAMAD), a regional Indigenous organization in the Peruvian Amazon that defends the rights of Indigenous peoples and Native communities. The organization represents 38 such communities across the Madre de Dios River basin, a major tributary for the Amazon River in southeastern Peru. Supporting the implementation of a project to protect territorial rights, fight illegal deforestation, and safeguard environmental defenders, Reeves visited numerous communities impacted by threats posing significant risks in the area — including illegal gold mining, narco-trafficking, and illegal logging.

….

Klein-Markman supported Proyecto de Derechos Económicos (ProDESC) in helping Indigenous communities organize and bring legal claims against internationally financed development projects.

This work included helping draft a complaint against Norway’s state-owned energy company Statkraft, on behalf of Mapuche-Williche communities in Chile, for a hydropower dam project in their sacred territory. “The problem with green development is that its benefits are concentrated in the Global North — with severe costs in the Global South,” he said. “These costs are further concentrated in poor rural areas, with local environmental harms, threats of violence, loss of cultural practices, and financial incentive to silence local dissent.”

ProDESC’s work in Chile resulted in filing a claim in a Norwegian court that Statkraft’s actions violated the Mapuche community’s human rights, including flooding both a site of current cultural practices and a past burial site. The organization helped apply public pressure aimed at making the project untenable in Norway, forming alliances with Norwegian Indigenous groups and building a record of harms and violations.

https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/difference-makers-human-rights-center-student-fellows-help-protect-vulnerable-communities-worldwide

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Nice example of local empowerment of HRDs (Nigeria)

October 9, 2026

Funmi Ogundare -in this This Day of 8 Ocober 2026- gives a good example what can be done at local level for young people: whatsapp sharing button

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has empowered 30 senior secondary students of Premiere Academy, Abuja, as human rights defenders and peace ambassadors, charging them to promote human rights, peace and civic responsibility in their school and communities.
The Executive Secretary, Chief Anthony Okechukwu Ojukwu, SAN, received the students at a special peace advocacy and human rights training organised by the commission on Monday
He was accompanied by the Deputy Director, Human Rights Education and Promotion, Mrs. Uche Okwuobi.
The training, facilitated by officers of the Human Rights Education and Promotion Unit and representatives of other departments of the commission, focused on strengthening the students’ understanding of human rights, citizen responsibilities and civic values.
The students were also introduced to the mandate and activities of the NHRC and received practical knowledge on human rights, civic responsibilities, justice, equality and the need to respect the dignity and fundamental rights of every individual.
An interactive question-and-answer session further deepened the students’ understanding of the commission’s role in promoting, protecting and monitoring human rights in Nigeria.
During the session, the students engaged NHRC officials on issues including human rights violations, child protection, bullying, discrimination, abuse and access to justice.
The Principal of Premiere Academy, Mr Chris Akinsowon, described the visit as a demonstration of the school’s commitment to developing students equipped with academic knowledge, character, confidence, discipline, civic awareness and a strong sense of responsibility.
He stated that the engagement was both educational and inspiring, as it enabled the students to gain a deeper appreciation of the role of human rights in building a peaceful, just and democratic society.
“Through various sessions like the one with NHRC, our students are being empowered and encouraged to become responsible citizens who understand the law, respect diversity, are able to speak up against injustice and contribute positively to society,” he said.
While appreciating the NHRC for enhancing the students’ awareness through the training, the principal said the school would continue to create opportunities that extend learning beyond the classroom and prepare students to become responsible leaders and positive contributors to national development.
“At Premiere Academy, we believe that education is not only about what students know, but also about who they become and how they use their knowledge to make a difference,” he said.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/2026/10/07/nhrc-empowers-30-students-as-human-rights-defenders-peace-ambassadors

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Amnesty Tech call for nominations for 3rd Digital Forensics Fellowship

January 6, 2025

On 2 January 2025 Amnesty Tech – a global collective of advocates, hackers, researchers, and technologists – announced the launch of the third Digital Forensics Fellowship (DFF).

This innovative Fellowship is an opportunity for 5 – 7 human rights defenders (HRDs), journalists, and/or technologists working in civil society organisations around the world to train with Amnesty Tech’s Security Lab to build skills and knowledge on advanced digital threats and forensic investigation techniques. This is a part-time Fellowship that will last 3-4 months and will come with a stipend.

Fellowship start and end date: The Fellowship is expected to run from April – July 2025.

Application Deadline, 23 January 2025 
Location: dependent upon the suitable applicant’s location.

Remuneration: Successful applicants will be given a stipend of £500/month for their time.

Background

Across the world, hard-won rights are being weakened and denied every day. Increasingly, much of the repression faced by HRDs and journalists begins online. Since 2017, Amnesty Tech’s investigations have exposed vast and well-orchestrated digital attacks against activists and journalists in countries such as Morocco, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Serbia, Mexico and Pakistan.

Advanced technical capacity is needed in all world regions to tackle the mercenary spyware crisis. By fostering a more decentralised, global, and diverse network of well-trained incident responders and investigators, we can jointly contribute to more timely and effective protection of HRDs and journalists against unlawful surveillance.

The spyware landscape changes rapidly, and creativity and persistence are needed to research and identify new trends, tools, and tactics used to target civil society. The curriculum for the third edition of the DFF will be tailored to the cohort and will be future facing to prepare Fellows to work on current and future spyware threats. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/05/16/two-young-human-rights-defenders-raphael-mimoun-and-nikole-yanez-on-tech-for-human-rights/]

Objectives and deliverables

Participants in the Digital Forensics Fellowship will be expected to:

  • Attend an in-person, week-long convening where the majority of trainings will be conducted. This training will take place in June 2025, the exact location is set to be confirmed shortly.
  • Dedicate approximately 10 – 12 hours per month to the Fellowship, outside of the convening, by participating in remote training sessions and through independent work outside of scheduled sessions to deepen understanding of training topics.
  • Engage with the programme cohort and the Security Lab during the in-person and remote trainings, and in discussion groups on an ad-hoc basis.

Essential Requirements

  • An understanding of the technical threats, digital attacks and challenges faced by journalists, HRDs, and civil society organisations in their local contexts.
  • Demonstrated interest in conducting investigations to identify digital attacks against civil society, with the goal of building resilience among civil society actors in the face of surveillance after the Fellowship.
  • Familiarity using command line tools and basic knowledge of scripting languages like Bash and Python to analyse data.
  • An understanding of how internet infrastructure works, for example the role of IP addresses, TLS certificates, and DNS queries.
  • Technical familiarity with GNU/Linux operating systems, as well as Android and iPhone systems.
  • Engaging with the English language as the primary language throughout the Fellowship.
  • Application instructions:

To apply, applicants will be required to submit the following via our recruitment system eArcu – please upload all relevant documents to the CV section of the application portal.

  1. A copy of your most recent CV.
  2. A cover letter explaining your motivation and interest in the Fellowship and outlining how you meet the essential requirements outlined in the job description.

Applications must be in PDF, Word, PowerPoint or Excel format.

Application Process:

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to complete a record video interview week commencing 10th February, answering a series of pre-set questions via video, which allows us to learn more about you and your suitability for the Fellowship. Successful applicants from this process will be invited to a Microsoft Teams interview with the panel week commencing 3rd March.

How to apply;

Careers | Amnesty International

Amnesty International

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