Stichting Global Human Rights Defence

EU Legislative Interests

Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) engages with a broad range of EU legislative and policy frameworks where human rights protection, accountability and access to justice are at stake. Our priority is to ensure that EU law and policy safeguard the rights of minorities, children, women and other vulnerable groups, and that their implementation reflects international human rights standards. Legislative areas of focus include several files currently central to the EU’s agenda. First, the new Pact on Migration and Asylum is of particular concern, given its implications for asylum procedures, detention, returns and the treatment of unaccompanied minors. GHRD will monitor the legislative process and national transposition to ensure that safeguards for children, families and vulnerable individuals are not eroded. Second, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive provides a unique opportunity to strengthen corporate accountability for human rights abuses along global supply chains. Our advocacy will focus on meaningful remediation, access to justice for affected communities and robust risk-mapping obligations. Third, the Artificial Intelligence Act and associated digital legislation, such as the Digital Services Act, require sustained engagement to guarantee that fundamental rights, including privacy, non-discrimination and due process, are not undermined by automated systems. GHRD will contribute expertise on human-rights impact assessments, redress mechanisms and transparency obligations. Another core file is the Directive on Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, which will set minimum standards across the Union. GHRD will pay particular attention to ensuring strong protections for migrant and minority women, and to the inclusion of provisions addressing female genital mutilation, forced marriage and online violence. Finally, the ongoing revision of the victims’ rights acquis is a crucial moment to secure enhanced safeguards for vulnerable victims, improve legal aid and strengthen compensation and protection mechanisms across Member States. Policy areas of focus complement this legislative engagement. The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime is a powerful instrument to hold perpetrators accountable, but it requires robust criteria, evidence standards and victim-centred implementation. GHRD will provide case documentation and briefings to inform its application. The EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, together with the European Child Guarantee, constitutes a key policy framework where we can advocate for child-sensitive asylum procedures, effective protection of unaccompanied minors and monitoring of cross-border abuses. We will also contribute to the broader EU gender equality agenda, ensuring coherence between policy strategies and the new directive on violence against women. Moreover, GHRD engages with the EU’s external action and enlargement policies, particularly where human rights dialogues, trade conditionality and development cooperation intersect with our field research. Across these legislative and policy domains, GHRD will link field-based evidence to EU discussions in a focused and pragmatic way. Our activities will include submitting concise reports and inputs to the European Commission, Parliament and Fundamental Rights Agency; providing briefings to Members of the European Parliament; and cooperating with civil society networks. Where feasible, we will monitor national transposition of key directives and highlight specific challenges faced by vulnerable groups. By concentrating our resources on targeted advocacy and awareness-raising, GHRD seeks to ensure that EU decision-making reflects the lived realities of those affected by human rights violations, while contributing constructively to Europe’s role in upholding dignity, equality and justice.

Communication Activities

GHRD aims to accompany its advocacy on EU legislation and policies with communication activities that are targeted, cost-effective and feasible within our resources. The goal is to raise awareness of under-reported human rights situations, highlight the voices of affected communities, and provide policymakers with evidence they can act upon. A first strand of activity will focus on events in Brussels. Rather than organising large conferences, we will prioritise small, focused gatherings. Side events to hearings or committee meetings in the European Parliament, co-hosted with Members of the European Parliament and partner NGOs, will allow us to present field findings on issues such as children’s rights in asylum procedures, violence against women, or corporate accountability in supply chains. These events will be modest in scale (roundtables with 25–40 participants) but provide valuable opportunities for direct dialogue between policymakers, civil society and, where possible, representatives of affected groups. A second strand will consist of campaigns and awareness-raising initiatives. Recognising the limits of our funding, we will focus on short, theme-based campaigns around key EU policy milestones. For example, we could run a week-long digital campaign coinciding with a European Parliament vote on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, highlighting case studies from communities affected by irresponsible corporate practices. Similarly, we may develop a concise social media series on the impact of the new Asylum and Migration Pact on unaccompanied minors, using simple graphics, short testimonies and key facts. These campaigns will rely on digital channels rather than costly media placements, with the added benefit of being easily shareable by partner organisations. A third component will be publications. Instead of extensive reports, GHRD will prepare short policy briefs and thematic fact sheets of 5–10 pages, each aligned with one of the EU files we monitor. These briefs will distil field research into concrete recommendations tailored for EU decision-makers. They can be distributed electronically to members of the European Parliament, Council working groups, and Commission officials, and posted on our website and social media platforms. Periodic “field voices” updates (e.g.two-page overviews with testimonies from local partners) will also help to humanise abstract legislative debates. To strengthen outreach, we will also collaborate with coalitions and networks. Joint press releases, co-authored op-eds, or shared campaign toolkits will allow us to amplify our message without duplicating efforts or incurring significant costs. Partnering with universities and youth groups can further extend our communication channels, for instance by co-hosting webinars or online discussions on topics such as the AI Act’s human rights implications or the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child. Finally, GHRD will ensure that communication activities are evaluated and adapted. Rather than aiming for broad media visibility, we will measure success by policy relevance: whether decision-makers read our briefs, attend our side events, or reference our findings in debates. In this way, our limited resources can be used strategically to achieve tangible influence. Through these targeted events, modest digital campaigns and accessible publications, GHRD can maximise the impact of its communications in support of EU advocacy. By focusing on quality over quantity and aligning activities with key legislative and policy processes, we will ensure that the experiences of vulnerable groups are visible in Brussels debates, while keeping our ambitions in line with the resources available.

Interests Represented

Promotes their own interests or the collective interests of their members

Member Of

Member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC status)