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‘Witnessing the realisation of human rights in our countries would be a great joy because that is what we work towards.’

On the second day of the NGO Forum ahead of the 73rd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), civil society discussed measures taken by crisis-stricken African States that hamper progress in fighting gender-based violence and shrink civic space.

At the 50th session of the Human Rights Council, Togo underwent its 3rd Universal Periodic Review (UPR). While the government showed a willingness to promote some of the rights necessary to enable the work of human rights defenders, large structural and legal efforts are still needed to improve the situation overall.

ISHR is pleased to launch its latest research exploring the extent to which national human rights institutions could act as national protection mechanisms as part of the implementation of national human rights defender protection laws in selected West African countries.

ISHR is pleased to launch its latest research exploring the extent to which national human rights institutions could act as national protection mechanisms as part of the implementation of national human rights defender protection laws in selected West African countries.

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As part of Togo’s review at the African Commission, ISHR and the Coalition Togolaise des Défenseurs des Droits Humains call on the Togolese government to adopt laws and policies enabling human rights defenders to conduct their work and to ensure women defenders are protected from intimidation.

Earlier today the General Assembly elected 18 new members to the Human Rights Council, the UN’s top human rights body, for the 2019-2021 term. Not only were countries that blatantly violate the required criteria among those elected, they received a substantial number of votes.

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Every year, the NGO Forum takes place ahead of the African Commission session. For its 35^th edition, the NGO Forum was organised and facilitated by the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHR) in collaboration with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) and the NGO Forum Steering Committee. Among the high number of participants, various stakeholders took part in the forum including civil society organisations (CSOs), national human rights institutions (NHRI) representatives as well as Commissioners of the African Commission.

The Human Rights Council has united to adopt a consensus resolution on the protection of human rights defenders. The resolution, extending the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur, comes at a time when the work of defenders has never been more important nor more threatened.