Human rights defenders

The Centre for Applied Human Rights’ Protective Fellowship Schemes for Human Rights Defenders at Risk are aimed at strengthening the capacity of human rights defenders at risk. It is open to all human rights defenders who work in difficult environments or who are directly at risk.

Since its inception, the Centre has welcomed over 100 defenders to the scheme from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Burundi, Chad, China, Colombia, DRC, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

The fellowships take place at the University of York and last for a period of three or six months. The Centre accepts up to eight HRDs as visiting fellows every year. Nominations to the fellowships are accepted from recognised civil society organisations and inter-governmental organisations working in human rights and/or specifically with human rights defenders.