2023 Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme participants and ISHR staff in front of the UN building in Geneva ©Ben Buckland
Here at ISHR we are constantly being inspired by the brave people taking action to defend human rights and want to share some of their stories with you.
"I remember to be hopeful, not because it feels good or because I am waiting for something to happen on its own, but because I believe in my own power and the magic we create when queer people, Black people, women come together to channel our rage, righteous and raw, into sustained action." We were privileged to hear human rights defender Alicia Wallace's powerful message and would like to share her story with you below.
'My goal in life is creating an environment in which every woman or girl can exercise her human rights and live to her full potential.' Baiye Frida Ebai, a passionate human rights advocate with over 14 years of experience promoting and protecting women and children's rights in vulnerable communities in Cameroon, shared her inspiring story with us.
"Defending human rights is my passion. For me, there was no better way to feel useful than defending human rights."
We are privileged to have met a young, passionate human rights defender - and HRDAP 2018 alumni - who works so that everyone can "live in a better world, a just and humane society in harmony with nature and climate."
All human beings have the right to live with dignity, no matter whether they are documented or not. Meriem El May and Sofia Vegas both work for Permanence MNA/RMNA, a Geneva-based legal centre that protects young unaccompanied migrants.
Luisa Rios has been working for several years with environmental defenders in Peru. In the past, Luisa helped an indigenous leader capture the attention of the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, in order to draw attention to the adverse impacts of investment projects on people in isolation.
In this video, Luisa talks about her current role as the Office Director for the Madre Dios branch of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA), an organisation that leads a free legal clinic that offers legal assistance and defense to forest users and environmental defenders in the region.
Maryam Al-Khawaja is a human rights defender from Bahrain/Denmark. She is the Vice-Chair of the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, a board member at ISHR, and a board member at CIVICUS.
When Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit was disappeared in 2004, his wife Angkhana Neelapaijit decided to seek justice. In this video, Angkhana talks about her husband's enforced disappearance, her experience as a human rights defender, and her hope for the future.
Patricia Schulz is a Swiss lawyer specialised in international human rights law and gender equality. She is a Senior research associate at UNRISD, the United Nations Research Institute on Social Development, and a former member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
ISHR was honoured to interview Igor Pereira Bastos from the Global Catholic Climate Movement, and Franciscan Action of Ecology and Solidarity.
ISHR was honoured to interview Olga Karach, Chief of International Centre for Civil Initiatives "OUR HOUSE" from Belarus.
ISHR was honoured to interview Marisa Hutchinson, Board member of the Association EQUALS in Barbados.
