The University of York Centre for Applied Human Rights has run the Protective Fellowship Scheme for Human Rights Defenders at Risk since 2008. So far the Centre has hosted 61 defenders from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Burma, China, Colombia, DRC, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mexico, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Somaliland, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Thailand, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe.
What is the Scheme about?
One of the most important elements in bringing about improvements in human rights at a local level is the presence of active human rights defenders. They often find themselves working in hostile environments and without adequate training and support. Over time, the cumulative challenges of working in such an environment can have a negative impact on the individuals concerned and on their contribution to human rights work.
The Centre for Applied Human Rights has created an innovative response to this challenge through its Protective Fellowship Scheme. Human rights defenders are invited to come to York for periods ranging from three to six months. During this time they benefit both from time away from a difficult environment, and from educational resources designed to increase their effectiveness and their ability to influence policy and practice when they return home. We believe that this Scheme makes a unique contribution in enhancing the sustainability of social activism.
The benefits are three-fold:
- Awardees have the opportunity to acquire new skills as well as take time to recuperate and reflect upon their work, enabling them to return to their activism re-energized
- Enhancing the skills of human rights defenders is a sustainable way to bring about medium and long-term social change in their home countries
- The Centre for Applied Human Rights benefits from the experience of the awardees, allowing it to create and share knowledge relating to best practice in human rights activism.
University of York – Centre for Applied Human Rights
https://www.york.ac.uk/cahr/defenders/protective-fellowship/
Also via PWESCR
Categories: Releases
