East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project

The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) is the secretariat of a network of 57 members covering Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia and Somaliland, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. It is designed to strengthen the work of human rights defenders (HRDs) in the sub-region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights. EHAHRDP implements activities in the area of protection, capacity building and advocacy to achieve its objectives to protect and defend HRDs, build the capacity of HRDs, and advocate and raise public awareness and profiles of HRDs in the region. The grant supported fact-finding missions to various countries in the East and Horn of Africa region for research and programme planning purposes. It also supported a standby legal team providing professional legal assistance to HRDs on trial and observing court proceedings to ensure that they adhere to national, regional and international legislation.