Results

2024 was a turbulent year for the global human rights system as powerful states rejected courts and sidelined institutions. Now is the time to defend and rebuild the system through strong partnerships, argues the International Director for the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Mette Thygesen.

When the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) faced some of the greatest threats to its existence in its 75-year history, the Secretary-General of the United Nations launched an independent review, in which the Danish Institute for Human Rights participated. In an interview, Ben Majekodunmi, Chief of Staff at UNRWA, explains the importance of the review, UNRWA, and the UN system.

Minerals like lithium are critical components in renewable energy, and for countries they can be a major source of revenue. However, mining often contributes to adverse environmental and human rights impacts. In Zimbabwe, Danish Institute for Human Rights is partnering with the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association, to document the gendered effects of lithium mining.

Wind energy has become one of the most important elements in Colombia’s green transition, but the land on which the wind parks are being erected is the ancestral territory of the indigenous Wayúu people. To support a Just Transition in Colombia, Danish Institute for Human Rights and Centro Regional de Empresas y Emprendimientos Responsables (CREER) are undertaking a sector-wide (human rights) impact assessment.

For the last decade the Danish Institute for Human Rights has been developing tools, training prison personnel and working alongside governments to provide legal aid for those behind bars. From Burkina Faso and Zambia to Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda, the rights of prisoners have been promoted through strong partnerships with duty bearers and civil society.

Through application of the Right to Defend Rights tool and analysis of the data, the Network of Human Rights Defenders of Guinea-Bissau (RDDH-GB) has strengthened its voice, rebuilt its unity and begun shaping national advocacy with new evidence.

Human rights are being impacted in all steps of the green transition. In this story, we travel across the value chain of renewable energy, past three continents to show how human rights are affected and how respect for human rights can enable a just transition.

Despite foreign interference, disinformation and political polarization, Moldova is progressing on human rights and the rule of law. To handle the challenges and continue the progress, the People’s Advocate, Ceslav Panico, wants to harness the power of data through a new partnership with Danish Institute for Human Rights.

Solar power has emerged as a key energy source to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, but the processing of an important element in solar panels is reportedly tied to forced labour and human rights violations of ethnic minorities in China. Danish Institute for Human Rights work with Danish solar companies to address these issues.

The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone and Danish Institute for Human Rights are collaborating on documenting the human rights impact of climate change. The partnership has enabled the Commission to visit communities across Sierra Leone and has uncovered serious human rights gaps in the response to the impacts of climate change already felt across the country.