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ISHR provides solidarity and support to defenders working on issues of equality and non-discrimination.
The right to equality, to be treated fairly, and to be free and protected from discrimination is fundamental to human dignity. It is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all of the core human rights treaties, and in many national laws and constitutions.
Many human rights defenders focus their work on ensuring that people and communities are treated fairly and equally, and to address issues of widespread discrimination, such as systemic racism, sexism or misogyny. Many human rights defenders themselves face discrimination because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, sex characteristics, or other characteristics.
Through this programme, ISHR provides solidarity and support to defenders working on issues of equality and non-discrimination. This includes women HRDs (WHRDs) and defenders working on issues of sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics (SOGIESC defenders). It also includes migrant and refugee rights defenders, anti-racism and Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) defenders, as well as other defenders working to dismantle patriarchal, racist, capitalist, colonialist and other oppressive agendas.
Read our latest news on Equality, dignity and non-discrimination.
On 4 May 2025, on the sidelines of the 83rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, ISHR officially launched its new report on the situation of human rights defenders in the African island states: Cape Verde, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Seychelles.
From 28 to 30 April 2025, participants in the NGO Forum held in Banjul, The Gambia, discussed key human rights and democracy issues affecting the continent, as well as the work of defenders. Participants contributed to the adoption of resolutions and recommendations, with a focus on reparations and transitional justice.
During enlightening panel discussions held from 28 to 30 April 2025 at the NGO Forum ahead of the 83rd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR), insightful speakers gathered to address the role of women in transitional justice and reparations from slavery and the colonial era.
ISHR joins organisations from across Latin America and beyond in condemning the adoption of an 'anti-NGO' law in Peru that seriously threatens independent civil society in the country.
During the session of the NGO Forum preceding the 83rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), a panel focused on the enduring impact of colonial-era laws on vulnerable populations across Africa.
Our new report sheds light on the lived realities of defenders in six often-overlooked countries: Cape Verde, Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe, and Seychelles. One thing is clear: human rights defenders in these countries are active, courageous, and committed to building more inclusive and just societies.
