What can be done to support human rights defenders?
According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, everyone has a role to play in the realization of human rights. Everyone should recognise and respect the role of human rights defenders in the protection of all our rights and call on their political representatives to ensure that human rights defenders are supported and their rights protected. In the face of obstacles to their work, human rights defenders have developed support tools and techniques that enable them to continue their human rights work. A vital source of support from within the human rights defenders community is the development of networks at local, national, regional and/or international levels. These networks take many forms and act in different ways, including: • providing information on human rights violations • sharing and learning from their members’ experiences • providing protection for human rights defenders at risk. The integration into these networks of
