Protective Fellowships for Human Rights Defenders

Human rights defenders fight injustice and strengthen democracy around the world. At the Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR), human rights defenders are core to our protective, research, training and teaching activities.

The United Nations Declaration on human rights defenders recognises the vital importance of “individuals or groups who act to promote, protect or strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms through peaceful means.” Yet, in many countries and far too often, human rights defenders face risks and threats to life and livelihood.

The Protective Fellowships for Human Rights Defenders at CAHR seek to provide activists with respite and training. They benefit from and contribute to research activities conducted by UNESCO Human Rights Defenders Hub and are integral to our MA and LLM in human rights programmes.

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Since 2008, CAHR welcomes human rights defenders at risk to York on our protective fellowships.

Fellows conduct research, benefit from bespoke training, networking opportunities, and well-being activities, and are able to gain respite from their difficult working environments back home.

They exchange valuable insights on activism with students, staff from across the University and beyond, the local community in York, and CAHR’s global human rights networks.

Up to 10 activists per year are able to join the Centre on one of its two fellowships.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voRf-ZROXIQ&ab_channel=cahruoy

Human rights defenders on the Protective Fellowships scheme tell their stories about risk and repression, and why taking time out from difficult working environments benefit their activism in the long run.

What protective fellowships are available?

How does the nomination process work?

Hear from our human rights defenders

Since 2008 we have hosted 104 visiting human rights defenders from across the world. Their work covers civil and political rights as well as social, economic and cultural rights.

Current fellows

Past fellows

The great value of the York CAHR Fellowship is that it prioritises human rights defenders working in the most difficult circumstances and gives them both a break and an opportunity for really practical learning. York shapes the Fellowship to meet the needs of the human rights defenders rather than selecting the human rights defenders who best fit academic criteria.

Andrew Anderson, Former Director, Front Line Defenders

Research on human rights defenders

Through the Human Rights Defenders Hub, we facilitate research on the rights of human rights defenders, the risks they face, their security management practices, their wellbeing, and the evolving international protection regime for their security and rights.

Visit the hub website

I would say it is one of the most useful fellowships I could imagine. Not only the content that I've learned, but also the connections and friendship that will last for a long time.

Sittipong, Thailand, CAHR Fellow

Funding

The Protective Fellowship Schemes for Human Rights Defenders are generously supported by Jerry Lockspeiser, Phil Harding, York Annual Fund, York Alumni, the University of York and some individual donors who would prefer to remain anonymous.

The Centre for Applied Human Rights appreciates any donation, no matter how big or small.

Donate online

If you would like to donate you can do so through the York Sanctuary Fund.

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