Western Balkans HRDs in the Spotlight. Case: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia.

Donor: Human Rights House Foundation
Project duration: April 2023 – December 2023
Partners: Human Rights House Zagreb, Human Rights House Banja Luka, Sarajevo Open Center

The aim of the project is to increase the focus on the position of human rights defenders through regional cooperation between civil society in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. Cooperation will be achieved by creating a regional report on the position of human rights defenders and by establishing a network of human rights defenders in the Western Balkans.

The regional report will be based on a selection of 16 international standards for the protection and advocacy of human rights from the “Rights of Defenders” booklet and will rely on the research methodology developed for the “H2H 2019” project on human rights defenders in Georgia, Serbia and Croatia. The report will focus on current issues and human rights violations in the area of freedom of expression, association and assembly and the right to be a human rights defender. In addition to presenting the main findings, the report will provide recommendations for improving the position of human rights defenders in which they will be the main tool in advocacy at the national and international level.

The Network of Human Rights Defenders will bring together established Human Rights Houses and partners to improve cooperation, networking and joint advocacy for human rights in the region.