Background

By women human rights defenders, the Special Rapporteur means all women and girls working on any human rights issue ("women defenders" and "girl defenders"), and any person who works to promote women’s rights and rights related to gender equality.[1]  This includes lesbian, gay, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activists, as issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity are part of achieving gender equality. It also includes civil society actors working on the above who may not self-identify as human rights defenders, which could include, for example, journalists, health workers, environmental activists, peacebuilders, private actors, development and humanitarian actors, etc.

The report will build on the report of her predecessor to the Human Rights Council in 2020 (A/HRC/43/51) on the situation of human rights defenders in conflict and post-conflict settings, and will also draw on the work done by the Secretary General in his annual reports on Women, Peace and Security (most recently S/2022/740) presented to the Security Council.

Objectives

The Special Rapporteur is seeking to identify the specific and intersectional risks faced by WHRDs in these contexts, barriers they face in working freely, protection strategies they use to mitigate risk and recommendations for how international actors, including the UN, can make their work safer.

Key questions and types of input/comments sought

The questionnaires can be downloaded below in English (original language), Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish (unofficial translations).

Questionnaires for Member States
العربية | English | Français | русский | Español

Questionnaire for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) and human rights defenders
العربية | English | Français | русский | Español

Input/comments may be sent by e-mail. They must be received by 22 May 2023.

How inputs will be used

All contributions will be made available on OHCHR webpage: https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-human-rights-defenders

Media inquiries

For any inquiries, please contact [email protected]