Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
El Salvador
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Peru
United States of America
"A non-governmental organization (NGO) is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national or international level. Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political particpation through provision of information. Some are organized around specific issues, such as human rights, environment or health. They provide analysis and expertise, serve as early warning mechanisms and help monitor and implement international agreements. Their relationship with offices and agencies of the United Nations system differs depending on their goals, their venue and the mandate of a particular institution."
Our Ambition
To embody a world movement for Human Rights
Human Rights are the very foundation of a society that guarantees equality, dignity and freedom for each human being. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), through its legitimacy, its experience, its methods and its credibility, has a unique role to play in contributing to their realisation.
Since 2009, FIDH has singled out certain areas of prime concern, for which it has determined action priorities:
1. Freedom and capacity to act of human rights defenders
2. Universality of rights, in particular those of women, whose - inequitable treatment constitutes a major obstacle for the progress of mankind
3. Promotion and protection of migrants’ rights
4. Effectiveness of Human Rights, to put an end to the impunity of authors of violations, who are not called to account, be they individuals, States or business enterprises
5. Stengthen the respect for human rights in the context of globalisation
6. Respect for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in times of conflict, emergency or political transition
FIDH quickly responds to requests from member organisations in times of armed or violent political conflict and closed countries. It conducts fact-finding missions in the field and mobilises the international community through international and regional organisations, third countries and other levers of influence.
In order to act effectively on such complex issues and to achieve concrete results, FIDH has also determined a number of internal objectives:
To reinforce interaction and proximity with its member and partner organisations, in particular by deploying new decentralised offices in nearly all regions,
To continue developing the professionalism of the movement,
To reinforce FIDH’s capacity to mobilise public opinion and political circles,
And to consolidate the increase in its financial resources and its sustainability, essential prerequisites for fulfilling its ambitions.
FIDH acts in an international context that is both complex and unsettled. In order to meet all these challenges, FIDH must be clear-sighted, and modest regarding its capabilities; it must also define its priorities and continually evaluate its action. The quest for universal and effective rights is the vital lead for FIDH to embody a universal Human Rights movement.
Who we are
"The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that protects and promotes human rights in the Americas through the strategic use of the tools offered by international human rights law.
CEJIL offers advice and free legal representation to victims of human rights abuses—and to organizations that defend their causes—when justice proves impossible to achieve in their own countries. In this effort, CEJIL prioritizes the hemisphere’s most persecuted and excluded populations. Central to CEJIL’s work is the role of the victims and our collaboration with human rights defenders and partner organizations, with whom we litigate, coordinate our efforts and share our achievements.
The work of CEJIL has a concrete impact on the realities of the hemisphere and the lives of its people. For example, the outcomes of cases litigated by CEJIL have compelled courts to cease applying an amnesty law covering perpetrators of grave human rights violations in Peru, spurred the approval of the first law on violence against women in Brazil, identified the necessary reforms to the military justice system in Chile, and helped suspend the application of the death penalty in Guatemala.
CEJIL is currently litigating 223 cases before the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights, representing 13,455 victims. These cases cover more than 30 different issues, including massacres, violence against women, indigenous rights, children’s rights, forced disappearances, freedom of expression and labor rights.
In 2008 and 2009 alone, CEJIL obtained US$18,9 million in reparations on behalf of victims."
Law and Jurisprudence
CEJIL presents the Law and Jurisprudence Database, a tool designed for lawyers, justice officials, victims and human rights defenders that facilitates access to information, and essential to improve the quality and effectiveness of human rights protection at the international and local level
Law Database Jurisprudence Database
Amicus Curiae
Selection of CEJILs Amicus Curiae. These are reports presented before national or international judicial bodies, presenting a legal perspective for specific cases.
Women's Link was founded in 2001. We have regional offices in Europe (Madrid, Spain) and Latin America (Bogotá, Colombia). We are a bilingual organization, working in both English and Spanish in many different parts of the world. Women's Link has 501(c)(3) status in the United States, foundation status in Spain and in Colombia we are legally recognized as a foreign non-profit organization.
Our mission: Women's Link Worldwide is an international human rights non-profit organization working to ensure that gender equality is a reality around the world. With this objective in mind, we strive to advance women's rights through the implementation of international human rights standards and strategic work with the courts, including strategic litigation.
Our vision: Thanks to the efforts made by feminist groups and other activists from around the world, women’s rights have been recognized as human rights. However, these rights and judicial principles enshrined in national, regional and international instruments have yet to completely penetrate our legal culture.
In order to close the gap between rights on paper and reality, at Women’s Link, we are convinced that it is necessary to work with judges, prosecutors and others, who work with the judicial branch, to ensure that in practice these rights are respected, protected and guaranteed.
We believe that in considering the judicial system as a place where we can seek social change, the courts become avenues for the implementation of social justice. Thus, encourage civil society to engage in a constant dialogue with the judiciary in order to establish how fundamental rights should be interpreted and to influence the manner in which legislative and executive functions are defined. Through this dialogue, societies and the judicial power come to fully understand the impact that the law has on the every day life of people depending on factors such as gender, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, level of education, socio-economic status, gender identity, political affiliation, and religious beliefs.
To bridge the gap which currently exists between the justice system and society, we work in alliance with groups dedicated to human rights and justice with the aim of incorporating gender and other variables into their analysis and legal projects.
We also work with women’s rights groups to promote our belief that the ‘legal world’ is also a political arena in which the law can be used as a vehicle for social change.
We are confident that our work contributes to increasing awareness among judicial officials about the importance of integrating a gender perspective into the interpretation and implementation of the law at a national, regional and international level.
Cuba