Unfortunately, due to the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and its impact on global operations, The Carter Center has made the difficult decision to postpone the 2023 Human Rights Defenders Forum. We intend to hold the Forum at a to-be-determined date in 2024. The Carter Center is deeply concerned by the crisis of human suffering and the profound loss of life for those caught in the conflict. The world needs human rights defenders now more than ever, and we look forward to the time when all of us can convene again in 2024. Please watch this space for a new date and additional details on the Forum as we adapt our plans.
The Carter Center convened the first Human Rights Defenders Forum in 2007. The forum provides human rights defenders a safe place to build solidarity and exchange methods to advance human rights in the spirit of President Carter’s lifelong example. The gathering brings together defenders, experts, and policymakers to air the experiences of those on the front lines in the fight for human rights around the globe.
Past forums have focused on elevating women’s leadership in policymaking and peacemaking, aligning religion with human rights advancements, integrating advancement of all rights (civil, political, economic, social, and cultural), and responding to backlash against human rights defenders, especially women.
The most recent Human Rights Defenders Forum, “Building Solidarity toward Equality for All,” was in 2019. It provided a platform for consultations on the most pressing actions that governments, civil society, intergovernmental bodies, and others must take to create more sustainable and effective mechanisms to protect defenders and amplify their voices and narratives at all levels.
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