Read on to remain up to date with the latest international human rights news, views and developments!
This year eleven activists completed ISHR’s flagship training, the Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme, to strengthen their advocacy skills and develop an individual roadmap to push for change in their country.
On 3 July 2026, the Human Rights Council held an urgent debate to discuss the situation in and around El Obeid, North Kordofan in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Sudan. Sudanese activist Noon Kashkoush delivered a joint statement on behalf of ISHR and other groups.
At a Human Rights Council debate with the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, ISHR delivered a joint statement with Sudanese Women’s Rights Action and the Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa.
ISHR introduces a new on-line course on advocacy for environmental human rights defenders, a practical, self-paced resource for activists, community leaders, and allies to defend the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment using UN and regional mechanisms.
Organisations express concern over the censorship of civil society through the cancellation of a side event co-sponsored by ISHR, Front Line Defenders, Hegoa and the Working Group on Human Rights in Occupied Western Sahara, titled 'Ending the Silence on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Western Sahara'.
Over 90 organisations call on the Syrian transitional government and Member States of the Human Rights Council to ensure that any decisions affecting the future of the Commission of Inquiry are firmly anchored in tangible improvements in the human rights situation in Syria.
On the third anniversary of the conflict in Sudan, NGOs urge the international community to act urgently to save lives in Sudan.
The UN Human Rights Council is likely to hold two urgent sessions to address regional hostilities across the Middle East, with each session addressing human rights violations on a selective rather than universal basis.
Saharawi woman human rights defender Fatima Moulay delivered a joint statement on behalf of ISHR, Front Line Defenders, and the Working group on human rights in occupied Western Sahara during the 61st session of the Human Rights Council, General Debate Item 4.
Are you a human rights defender working on democratic backsliding and/or racial justice, keen to use the UN to push for change at home? If so, apply for the 2026 edition of ISHR’s flagship training, the Human Rights Defender Advocacy Programme (HRDAP)!
The UN Committee against Torture reviewed Bahrain’s fourth periodic report during its 83rd session in Geneva in November 2025. The dialogue focused heavily on the situation of human rights defenders, torture, accountability, and conditions of detention.
As the genocide in Gaza exposes deep corporate complicity, experts and human rights defenders convened in Geneva to discuss urgent paths toward accountability. This discussion unpacked how businesses, investors, and States must act now to end profiteering from atrocity crimes.
