About the project

In 2023, a coalition of 18 international and regional human rights organizations, including RFKHR, embarked on a year-long project culminating in the Declaration +25. This landmark document builds upon the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, incorporating the critical advancements in international and regional human rights law over the past quarter-century.

Through extensive consultations with over 700 human rights defenders worldwide, legal experts, and civil society, the Declaration +25 identifies ongoing and emerging challenges faced by defenders. It serves as a comprehensive resource for safeguarding and promoting their vital work. The document was adopted unanimously at a two-day experts’ meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in April 2024. The Declaration +25 is a powerful call to action for governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector, and civil society to ensure the protection of human rights defenders and their crucial endeavors.

The Declaration+25 was launched on June 19, 2024 and is intended to serve as a call to action, encouraging everyone – governments, global and regional organizations, all of us – to work together to keep the Declaration (and the Declaration+25) a powerful, up-to-date, and effective tool for protecting and supporting the right to defend rights.


25 years ago, the United Nations adopted the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The Declaration has been essential to protect those who defend human rights, but laws and contexts have evolved. The Declaration+25 supplements the Declaration and together they form a comprehensive set of standards to protect the right to defend rights.

The Declaration+25 has been translated into several languages. Below you can access a page with all the languages available.

As part of the project, Amnesty International worked on a podcast series that explores the last 25 years of defending human rights. Amnesty International’s Tatyana Movshevich met with courageous activists from Chile, the U.S., Nepal, Ireland, and Ghana, fighting for the rights of the marginalized and risking their lives. She discovers the story behind the watershed UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and explores how the human rights movement is changing.


Discover our #Right2DefendRights social media kit and post the content on your networks.

Help us disseminate the Declaration. We have pre-made below an X/Twitter post to help you. Click on the button and share it with your networks.