As we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), as well as the 25th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (DHRD), frontline defenders of the UDHR—and organizations who support them, like the Fund for Global Human Rights—are calling for a step change in strategic commitments and resourcing from the UK and other governments.
In a new briefing paper, the Fund—in collaboration with Peace Brigades International, Amnesty International UK, Bond, Human Rights Watch, and the Law Society—calls for the current and future UK governments to make diplomatic and financial support for human rights defenders a strategic priority reflected across government departments.
Human rights defenders today face a growing number of threats from anti-rights and anti-gender actors. The global rise in authoritarianism is resulting in targeted attacks, the criminalization of activists, and increasing restrictions on their space for promoting and protecting the rights enshrined in the UDHR.
Human rights defenders are agents of change who can ensure the sustainable impact of a range of UK foreign policy and development priorities. They are experts in their communities whose objectives often mirror those of any progressive foreign policy. It is not only an international obligation, but in the UK and other governments’ strategic interest to support and partner with human rights defenders.
James Savage, director of the Fund’s Enabling Environment for Human Rights Defenders Program, said:
A renewed commitment from governments to those who defend the rights in the UDHR need not imply significant additional cost, but rather a different way of working. A meaningful approach requires governments to shift from seeing human rights defenders as sources of information and mere recipients of support, to working with them as equal, legitimate, effective partners for change.
The briefing paper, endorsed by over 40 human rights organizations from around the world, highlights that human rights defenders want to see the UK and other governments:
- Implement effective diplomatic strategies to recognize and protect human rights defenders
- Transform the nature and scale of funding for civil society to be sustainable and flexible
- Develop more and better protection mechanisms, respite schemes, and rapid response support including enhanced visa access
Read the full briefing paper here.
