Enhanced safety and capacity of human rights defenders in Africa - NGO Defenddefenders - Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi

The strategy aims to contribute to enhancing the safety and capacity of HRDs for greater resilience and effective fulfillment of their mandates through its program areas comprising protection and security management; advocacy, research and communications; and capacity building. y. On the rule of law, Justice and Human Rights, HRDs in Africa often operate in environments that do not respect fundamental rights and the rule of law as enshrined in national constitutions and international treaties. Instead, laws are enacted that repress media or ICT, hindering HRDs’ work. The vision of DefendDefenders is “A region in which the human rights of every individual as stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are respected and upheld”. The mission of DefendDefenders is “To enhance the safety and capacities of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in the region for greater resilience and effective fulfilment of their mandates”

Objective 1: Enhanced availability, accessibility, and utilisation of emergency and mediumterm protection services to HRDs at risk. Objective 2: Strengthened policy influence and advocacy engagements at the global, African, sub-regional, and national level for HRD safety. Objective 3: Improved capacity of sub-regional networks and national coalitions, organisations and individual HRDs to effectively do their work, and respond and mitigate imminent risks and threats.