Centre for Applied Human Rights

21/05/2026

Panalipod: Climate Justice, Collective Protection, and the Defence of Communities in Mindanao

📅 5 June 2026
🕘 9:00 AM BST (UK) | 4:00 PM Philippine Time
💻 Zoom

Organised by the Mindanao Climate Justice Resource Facility (MCJ) in collaboration with the Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR), University of York, the forum brings together civil society actors, researchers, students, and community advocates to reflect on the realities faced by climate-affected and politically vulnerable communities in Mindanao.

The event will also serve as the public presentation of the Panalipod Framework (“Panalipod” is a Cebuano/Bisaya term meaning “to protect” or “protection”), developed through a collaborative process of institutional reflection, operational refinement, and stress-testing between MCJ and graduate researchers under the Human Rights Defence Clinic at the University of York.

More than a presentation of a framework, the forum is also a reflection of the meaningful collaboration, learning, and engagement that emerged through the Clinic process itself. The presentations and discussions will highlight the work of the student researchers together with MCJ’s ongoing efforts around collective protection, climate justice, and community-rooted approaches to environmental defence.

We hope the gathering can serve as a shared space for dialogue, solidarity, and critical reflection across movements, academic spaces, and advocacy communities.

Register online 👇
https://forms.gle/Ngd5z2578pvsCnRs7

08/05/2026

What if scaling impact isn’t about growing organisations, but about funding diverse groups and strengthening the connections between them?

One of the key insights from our recently launched research on resourcing in an era of permacrisis is the concept of rhizomic resourcing 🫚

Rhizomic resourcing challenges a dominant assumption in philanthropy and humanitarian response: that scaling comes from size, centralisation, and control.

Instead rhizomic resourcing points to the power of:
● Diverse responses to crisis
● Autonomous, contextually relevant solutions
● Connections and solidarities that build a strong, resilient ecosystem

At a time of permacrisis, the question is not only how we fund more abundantly, but how we fund differently.

Explore the research now: https://www.yorkunescochairhrds.org/feminist-crisis-response

With Lucy Martin, in partnership with Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, Urgent Action Fund, Asia and Pacific, Fondo Acción Urgente - LAC and Urgent Action Fund-Africa.

Design and Illustration by Mrinalini Godara.

27/04/2026

✨ New research launched ✨

It’s easy to feel hopeless in an era of permacrisis.

But new research shows that reimagining our world is possible.
It highlights that solutions to crisis already exist - they’re just not being funded effectively or at the scale needed.

Meanwhile, anti-rights actors are being resourced more abundantly, more strategically, and for the long term.

The good news?

Alternative funding models already exist and they’re working.

Explore the research now at https://www.yorkunescochairhrds.org/feminist-crisis-response

With Dr Lucy Martin, in partnership with Urgent Action Fund, Asia and Pacific, Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, Fondo Acción Urgente - LAC, and Urgent Action Fund-Africa.

Illustration by Mrinalini Godara.

Art Direction by Mrinalini Godara.

22/04/2026

Right now, we’re living in constant crisis.

But what if the real problem isn’t that we don’t have solutions?

Next week, we’re sharing new research, developed with the Urgent Action Sister Funds, exploring the solutions that already exist, and what it really takes to resource and scale them.

If you’re thinking about how we move beyond permacrisis, this research is for you.

Launching next week. More soon.

With Dr Lucy Martin, in partnership with Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, Urgent Action Fund Asia & Pacific, Urgent Action Fund-LAC, and Urgent Action Fund Africa.

Illustration by Mrinalini Godara. Design and Illustration by Mrinalini Godara.

27/03/2026

09/02/2026

Applications are now open for the 2026-27 Sam Pegram Scholarship

This scholarship provides one international student with full funding to pursue an LLM in International Human Rights Law and Practice, offered by the York Law School and the Centre for Applied Human Rights.

This is a full scholarship that covers tuition fees, accommodation, travel and visa costs, including an overseas placement to South Africa, and a monthly living stipend for one individual student.

The scholarship is generously provided by The Sam Pegram Humanitarian Foundation in memory of Sam Pegram, a caring, kind and talented young man who tragically died in the Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737 Max crash, in 2019, en route to Nairobi.

After spending two years volunteering and working for humanitarian NGOs in Jordan, Sam came to the University of York to study the LLM in International Human Rights Law and Practice. After graduating, he secured a role as a research policy assistant for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Geneva, where he was working when he died.

Sam was a wonderful presence in the classroom. He was committed, thoughtful and reflexive in his fieldwork. He was deeply committed to humanitarianism, the rights of people on the move, and social justice in a broad sense. He remains deeply missed by his friends and family here at York, in Lancashire where he was from, and around the world.

Through this scholarship, others will have the opportunity to study on this course and make a positive difference for the rights of people on the move and human rights more generally.

👉 Find out more https://www.york.ac.uk/law/study/funding/sam-pegram-scholarship/

14/01/2026

The Centre for Applied Human Rights is deeply concerned by the ongoing court proceedings in the Philippines against the Talaingod 13.

Their conviction and the legal actions against them represent a clear attempt to criminalise legitimate human rights defenders. These proceedings serve to further marginalise Indigenous communities in Mindanao, obstructing their access to education and their land.

For over a decade, schools in Mindanao have faced sustained harassment, violence, and forced closures. This specific case stems from 29 November 2018, when 18 people were charged with child abuse, human trafficking, and kidnapping as a result of their attempts to evacuate educators and students. The conviction was recently affirmed in a heavily redacted judgment.

The Talaingod 13 have received national and international support, notably from the UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights Defenders and on Education. We share their concerns about the criminalisation of legitimate human rights activity, the targeting of Indigenous groups and education, and the need for fair and transparent legal procedures.

Read our full statement and the list of signatories here:

The Centre for Applied Human Rights have released a statement of support for the Ms. Nolasco and the Talaingod 13.

09/01/2026

Congratulations to all our MA in Applied Human Rights and LLM in International Human Rights Law and Practice graduates!

Today marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of something new. You should be immensely proud of everything you have accomplished in the last year, and we look forward to seeing where your time at CAHR will take you.

University of York York Law School, University of York Department of Politics - Uni of York Staff & Students Community
📷 by Alex Holland UoY

12/12/2025

09/12/2025

York Human Rights City Network: Provisional Findings of the 2025 Human Rights Indicator Report
10 December 2025, 18:00 - 20:00
Online (Zoom)

On Wednesday 10 December from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, York: Human Rights City will host an online event to share provisional findings of their 2025 annual Human Rights Indicator Report for York.

They will discuss indicators that measure progress in the city's five priority rights (equality and non-discrimination, education, health and social care, housing, and a decent standard of living), including notable increases in the number of people sleeping rough and the number of Universal Credit claimants.

The Network will also discuss human rights challenges, particularly the recent flag flying controversy and human rights initiatives in the city, such as a series of arts projects that empower rights holders to exercise their right to protest. Confirmed speakers include Chris James from York Carers Centre, who leads on an art-based human rights project for young carers and young adult carers, and representatives from the Yorkies United Against Racism and Hate Crime campaign.

Please join us for this important discussion and share your thoughts on how we may further implement and protect human rights in York.

Register online

Join York Human Rights City Network as they share provisional findings of their tenth annual Human Rights Indicator Report for York