Advocates for Human Rights

The Advocates for Human Rights (The Advocates) is a volunteer-based non-governmental organization committed to the impartial promotion and protection of international human rights standards and the rule of law. As part of its mission, The Advocates conducts a range of programs to promote the human rights of LGBTI persons around the world. In developing countries, The Advocates collaborates upon request with LGBTI partner organizations to engage in advocacy within their countries, as well as with regional and international human rights mechanisms, such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations. (Please note: The Advocates is not a grant-making organization.)

In addition, The Advocates:

• Provides partner organizations with training and technical assistance, particularly in the area of human rights monitoring and fact-finding;
• Engages in public education and awareness-raising about violations of LGBTI rights around the world;
• Represents LGBTI asylum-seekers in Minnesota and North and South Dakota, USA;
• Develops strategies and resources such as Paving Pathways for Justice & Accountability to support LGBTI human rights defenders in the diaspora in addressing anti-LGBTI discrimination and violence in their home countries; and
• The Advocates welcomes new collaborations with partners in other countries and with LGBTI individuals in the diaspora who want to promote the rights of LGBTI people in their countries of origin.

Specific issues The Advocates works on include:

• Discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity;
• Safety and security for human rights defenders working to promote the rights of LGBTI persons;
• Violence targeting LGBTI individuals; and
• Legal reform in countries with laws that discriminate against individuals based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Advocates’ activities related to LGBTI rights include:

• Monitoring and fact-finding relating to human rights of LGBTI individuals;
• Advocacy at the United Nations and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights;
• Raising awareness about LGBTI rights around the world through print materials, blogging, and social media campaigns; and
• Conducting community and continuing legal education in the United States about LGBTI rights around the world.