Contribute to a rights-respecting 2018!

On behalf of the ISHR team, I’d like to say thanks for your support throughout 2017.

The work of human rights defenders has never been more important nor more imperiled. As democratic rights and accountability mechanisms are attacked and eroded at the national level, more and more defenders turn to ISHR. From Burundi to China, from Egypt to the Philippines, from Russia to Venezuela, more than ever defenders need our support to use the international human rights system to seek protection, to expose violations, and to push for change.

According to an independent expert evaluation conducted this year, our capacity and coalition building activities make human rights defenders better networked and more influential. Our research and strategic advocacy make international human rights laws and systems more accessible and protective for defenders and victims. And our national-level partnerships, technical expertise and advocacy support lead to concrete change on the ground.

Here are just a few examples of our collective impact in 2017:

• We worked with partners to secure the adoption of significant resolutions to strengthen the protection of defenders and the prohibition of reprisals.
• We secured cutting-edge recommendations from UN treaty bodies about the obligation of States to protect those who defend migrant, refugee and asylum seeker rights.
• Our partners and alumni used international advocacy skills developed or strengthened by ISHR to help deliver marriage equality in Australia, strengthen protections against sexual abuse in Argentina, and secure the adoption of a national law on the protection of defenders in Burkina Faso.

Thanks for supporting ISHR and making this change happen!

Also, a reminder that in many countries 31 December marks the end of the financial year. So if you’re looking to make that last minute donation, there’s still time to invest in the future of human rights by empowering their defenders.

Click here to make a donation to ISHR.

Best wishes for the festive season and here’s to an even more successful and rights-respecting 2018!

Phil Lynch
Director
International Service for Human Rights