Mr. Jean-Louis Ville, Head of Unit, Governance, Democracy, Gender and Human Rights at EuropeAid in Brussels met with the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) to discuss the status of human rights defenders in East and Horn of Africa sub-region. Mr. Ville along with members of the EU Delegation in Uganda met with the Chairman and Executive Director of EHAHRDP, Mr. Hassan Shire and his members of staff. Mr. Ville reiterated the EU’s ongoing commitment to supporting civil society in the region including countries in conflict such as Somalia and South Sudan. He expressed his appreciation for the work of EHAHRDP in taking the lead to support and protect the rights of human rights defenders across the region.

Mr. Shire appreciated the support EHAHRDP has received from the EU delegation over the years and highlighted the financial support for the Somalia Human Rights Defenders Protection Program and for the Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights(EIDHR).

Based in Kampala since 2005, EHAHRDP is the secretariat of a network of human rights defenders from Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia (and Somaliland), South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Through its three main programmes of Protection and Security, Capacity-Building, and Advocacy and Research, EHAHRDP seeks to strengthen the work of human rights defenders by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights.

For more information on the work of EHAHRDP, please visit www.defenddefenders.org and follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/humanrightsdefendersproject and Twitter @EHAHRDP.

Photo caption

Tabitha Netuwa (EHAHRDP), Jean-Louis Ville (EuropeAid), Hassan Shire (EHAHRDP), Rosette Meya (EU Delegation Uganda), Sabrina Bazzanella (EU Delegation Uganda), Ms. Memory Bandera (EHAHRDP)