News Archive
Page 23 of 134 (1332 articles)
Updates from February 2023
Hello Friends, I hope you all have all had a wonderful February – the month of love! As is practice, we continue to express love through our commitment to the safety and wellbeing of human rights defenders (HRDs). As the UN Human Rights Council (UN HRC) opened for its 52nd regular session on 27 February, […]
Human Rights Defender of the month:Mary Pais Da Silva
On 17 February 2023, in Ethiopia’s rustic resort of Bishoftu, more than 5000Km from her homeland, Mary Da Silva was announced winner of the 2023 AfricanDefenders Shield Award, in the presence of hundreds of colleague human rights defenders from 36 African countries. It was a fitting validation for the Eswatini human rights lawyer, whose sense of empathy and sensitivity to injustice has been a defining hallmark of her career. Born 45 years ago in Lubombo, eastern Eswatini, the last of 4 siblings, Mary attributes her values to her upbringing. Although she was born in Eswatini, her parents are originally from Mozambique, and only relocated to eSwatini at the start of the Mozambican civil war that lasted between 1977-1992, which ravaged families and displaced many others.
Digital Security Training
Venue: KampalaDates:Â 1st Cohort in March and 2nd Cohort in April, 2023 Duration:Â 5 days each Deadline:Â Â 03rd March, 2023. DefendDefenders is hosting a free five (5) days residential in-person training for participants from Uganda. We will train participants in conducting digital security audits based on the SAFETAG framework (www.safetag.org). The SAFETAG framework is specifically designed to offer […]
NGO letter on renewing the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders
Human rights defenders (HRDs) are people who act with humanity, serve humanity, and bring out the best in humanity. Despite their vital contribution, both governments and non-state actors are still seeking to silence them. In a letter released today as the UN Human Rights Council opens its 52nd session (HRC52), over 150 human rights organisations around […]
South Sudan: Extend the UN Commission’s mandate for two years
Ahead of the UN Human Rights CounÂcil’s 52nd session (27 FebÂÂruary-4 April 2023), over 90 South Sudanese, African, and international orgaÂnisaÂtions urge states to extend the mandate of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS). In a letter, signatory orgaÂnisaÂtions stress that the CHRSS is the only mechanism tasked with collecting and […]
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: PROGRAM AND ADMINISTRATION MANAGER
Job Title: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Program and Administration Manager Reports to: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Director Programs and Administration Location: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Kampala, Uganda Start: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 3 April 2023 Application deadline: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 20 February 2023 BACKGROUND DefendDefenders was established in 2005 as the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project and registered as a foreign […]
Human Rights Defender of the month: Jane Naini Meriwas
Like many African societies, The Samburu community in Northern Kenya is a gerontocracy – a very hierarchical community in which elders hold sway over almost all private and public matters. Among these predominantly pastoral nomads, very little importance is attached to the young – especially young girls, who are barely given a chance at education and often married off before their first menstrual cycle, but not before they undergo mandatory Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). It is in this community that Jane Naini Meriwas was born 46 years ago, in Kipsing village, Oldonyiro Subcounty, Isiolo County. When she was 16, her mother passed on, and she watched with great trepidation as her father planned to marry another wife, not sure what that would mean for her or her ambitions for school. As it turned out, fate was on her side. When her father uncharacteristically asked what she thought of his plans, Jane seized the opportunity to stand up for herself and interests:
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights turns 35!
The 73rd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (The Commission) marked 35 years of the Commission’s commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights in Africa. This August body is at the forefront of championing and setting human rights norms and standards in Africa and I congratulate it upon this milestone. Since 2009, AfricanDefenders and DefendDefenders have closely engaged with the Commission, and have excelled on concrete outcomes towards creating an enabling operating environment for human rights defenders (HRDs) across the continent. We can refer to few examples of resolutions and instruments developed and adopted by the Commission to advise state parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on setting standards and best practices in their countries.
STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER THULANI MASEKO
It is with utter shock and distress that DefendDefenders and AfricanDefenders have learned of the assassination of prominent African human rights defender and advocate , Thulani Maseko, who was shot dead at his home in Luyengo, Mbabane, on 21 January 2023.  DefendDefenders and AfricanDefenders believe that this heinous crime was planned, and that Mr. Maseko was targeted because of his persistent advocacy for accountability and greater civic space for political and civil society organisations in Eswatini.
CONSULTANT TO STREAMLINE THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE MECHANISMS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AMONGST PARTNERS
DefendDefenders (The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project) was established in 2005 and registered as a foreign Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Uganda, working in 11 countries within the East and Horn of Africa sub- region. DefendDefenders strives to strengthen the work of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in the sub-region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights and continue engaging in their work. DefendDefenders is the secretariat of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRD-Net) whose membership is made up of thousands of organizations and individuals working in the sub regional countries of Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Somalia/Somaliland.