African Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders

09/12/2025

𝐑𝐄𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄!

Today, as Tanzania marks its Independence Day and the world commemorates International Human Rights Defenders Day, we stand alongside Women Human Rights Defenders and communities who are mourning their dead, searching for the disappeared, and refusing to be silenced.

The African Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD Initiative), together with WHRDs, social movements, and civil society across Africa, has issued this statement:

“𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚.”

We name the violence.
We name the gendered targeting of women defenders.
We name the legal architecture that shields power from accountability.
And we set out clear WHRD-centred demands for safety, justice, dignity, and structural change.

📄 Read & share the full statement (PDF attached).

Because independence cannot be celebrated while streets run with blood and women defenders are punished for imagining a different future.

Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders Front Line Defenders Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) OMCT SayNO - UNiTE to End Violence Against Women UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women BBC News Africa International Service for Human Rights Human Rights Watch

22/10/2025

Mam’ Fikile Ntshangase

Five years since her murder.
Still, no accountability.
Still, the mining expands.
But we remember. We resist.

20/06/2025

Today, on World Refugee Day, we honour migrant and refugee women human rights defenders organizing across borders, holding communities together, and defending rights in the face of every barrier.

Their heart work is a force for justice. This is human rights work. And it deserves recognition, resources, and protection.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Médecins Sans Frontières / MSF

01/05/2025

𝗪𝗛𝗥𝗗@𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗣𝗥𝟴𝟯:
𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗧𝗛, 𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬 & 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥

At the 83rd ACHPR Ordinary Session in Banjul, The Gambia, WHRDs from across the continent are convening to advocate, resist, and reclaim space.

Today, the African Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders gathers differently.

We introduce the 𝗪𝗛𝗥𝗗 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲, a sacred space to:
• Reclaim Dignity
• Restore Power
• Centre Wellbeing
• Co-create Sanctuary

On May Day, we affirm the heart work of WHRDs, the emotional, physical, and spiritual care that sustains movements, often under repression, displacement, surveillance, and crisis. WHRDs continue to organize, care, hold the line, and carry movements through shifting frontlines and shrinking civic space.

This is the work.
This is what WHRD-led care looks like.
We name it. We honour it. We hold space around it.

We join hands in circle:
To centre collective care as the work.
To affirm rest as rightful.
To practise presence as power.
To return to ourselves, to each other, and to what sustains our resistance.

The urgency of this circle is shaped by the realities surrounding us — backlash, burnout, criminalization, and conflict. In the face of it all, we root ourselves in care. We insist on presence. We reclaim what tries to be stripped from us.

This is a reparative and restorative space rooted in care, solidarity, and continuity. A sanctuary shaped inside a system that demands our depletion. A WHRD-only space to reclaim what is routinely erased, fractured, and extracted: time, presence, breath, dignity, strength.

If you are a self-identifying WHRD organizing at hashtag , this circle is yours.
Join us today at 15:00 hrs GMT on the eve of the Commission’s opening session.

We honour our — Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, and African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies — for safeguarding with us and enabling WHRD-led well-being and sanctuary. This is core infrastructure for justice, survival, and movement futures.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲𝘀. 𝗦𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.


WoMin African Alliance Global Fund for Women CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation Samburu Women Trust West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) Diakhoumba Gassama Women Human Rights Defenders Hub- The Hub Women Human Rights Defenders Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition Ethiopian Women Human Rights Defenders Network Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders Front Line Defenders William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Omang-Who Are You Youth Development Organisation The Fund for Global Human Rights Centre for Human Rights IM-Defensoras

09/02/2025

GUIDELINES FOR UNIVERSITIES HOSTING HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS Download or Read Online Download These Guidelines represent an invitation to get involved in relocation, explain why this work matters, and provide a guide and set of tools on how universities can support human rights defenders. The Guidelin...

04/02/2025

Check out our highlight video from Day 2 of the Africa WHRD Convention held in Accra, Ghana, from November 28th to 30th, 2024.

The day was filled with powerful moments, including a tribute to Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) on International WHRDs Day, An inspiring performance by Banshee, supported by Accountability Lab Zimbabwe and a message of solidarity from Gina Romero, Special Rapporteur on the rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly & Association.

Key sessions explored vital topics including leveraging Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders’s mandate to amplify WHRD voices, dismantling barriers to funding for women defender-led organizations, and strategies for supporting WHRDs in exile.

The day also featured powerful discussions on justice, resilience, and solidarity, with highlights such as Iryna Zaporozhets’ work in Ukraine and Daniele Duarte’s advocacy in Brazil. Watch the video to see the energy and commitment that made this event an unforgettable celebration of strength and unity.

Ford Foundation Open Society Foundations Jane Meriwas Hsc Tanele Thwala Amnesty International Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism William and Flora Hewlett Foundation American Bar Association

24/01/2025

After an intentional pause to reflect, recharge, and practice care, we return with renewed purpose to continue our calling: Safeguarding Women Human Rights Defenders across Africa and beyond. Human rights work never pauses, but those who defend them must — to sustain our strength, nurture our resilience, and deepen our impact.

In 2025, care will be more than a guiding principle; it will be the heartbeat of our movements. Through intentional care — for our minds, bodies, and spirits — we strengthen the bonds that sustain us and forge movements capable of enduring the trials of injustice.

This calling is not just about justice and equality; it is about sustaining the defenders of these values. Together, we step forward with care as our compass, ensuring our activism nurtures change and well-being alike. Let care lead the way.

16/12/2024

From the 28th of November to the 30th of November 2024, the African Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRD Initiative) proudly hosted the Africa Women Human Rights Convention in Accra, Ghana, under the theme Beyond Resilience: Women Human Rights Defenders Rise - Securing Rights, Rebuilding Systems.

Over three days of powerful discussions, strategic planning, and solidarity, we came together to reflect on the strength and courage of Women Defenders who continue to fight for justice, equity, and human dignity across the continent and beyond. The convention highlighted the urgent need not only to defend our rights but also to rebuild systems that uplift and protect us at every level.

As women human rights defenders, we are more than resilient — we are a force for transformation. Through shared experiences and collective action, we reaffirmed our commitment to securing rights and fostering systemic change for a just and equitable future.

Thank you to all who joined us in Accra. Together, we rise.



Open Society Foundations Ford Foundation East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project WoMin African Alliance Amnesty International Accountability Lab West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation Mary Lawlor UN Special Rapporteur for human rights defenders Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network American Bar Association Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism Global Fund for Women The Fund for Global Human Rights

23/11/2024