About DefendDefenders

DefendDefenders serves as the Secretariat of East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRD-Net) representing more than 78 members, i.e. HRDs and their organisations. The Network envisions a region in which the human rights of every citizen as stipulated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) are respected and upheld. Its mission is to maximize the protection of HRDs working in the sub-region and to enhance the awareness of human rights work through linkages with national, regional and international like-minded entities.

DefendDefenders was established as a regional NGO based in Uganda in 2005 following extensive field research in the region, which identified the most pressing and unmet needs of human rights defenders in order to seek to overcome some of the resulting challenges. The critical areas that were identified as needing to be addressed included the following:

• Insufficient collaboration amongst human-rights organisations, especially those working in neighbouring countries;
• Resource constraints (notably material) which greatly undermine the effectiveness of the work carried out by human rights defenders;
• Knowledge gaps, in particular regarding international human rights instruments and mechanisms as well as crisis management;
• The need at times to supplement the efforts of local and national human-rights defenders by the wider international community, especially when attacks on intra-national HRDs are involved, hence the need for systematic protocols for such support.

Our Vision
A region in which the human rights of every citizen as stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is respected and upheld.

Our Mission
To maximize the protection of HRDs working in the sub-region and to enhance the awareness of human rights work through linkages with national, regional and international like-minded entities.

Observer Status
DefendDefenders holds consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) as well as observer status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Legal Status
DefendDefenders is registered under Registration No. S.5914/5983 as a Non-Governmental Organisation under the Non-Governmental Organisations Registration Statute, 1989 of the Republic of Uganda.