Program areas at HRF
Community outreachover its lifetime, hrf has cultivated a community of Human Rights advocates, political dissidents, civil society organizations, and industry leaders united around promoting democracy and Human rights.the oslo freedom forum is hrf's international conference series, which provides a platform for Human Rights defenders to share their stories with a global audience and garner more support for their causes. The 2022 oslo freedom forum returned to oslo, norway for the first time since the covid19 pandemic, for a three-day event attended by more than 1,000 people. Hrf also hosted one-day regional oslo freedom forums in new york city and taipei, taiwan.hrf further supports its community through targeted skills-development programs. The freedom fellowship, for example, awards ten Human Rights advocates each year with the unique opportunity to increase the impact of their work through hands-on training and mentorship sessions. In 2022, hrf also hosted a working retreat for activists from the middle east and north africa (mena) region to identify the most pressing issues in the region, engage in high-level strategy sessions, and partake in collaborative workshops. Hrf's oslo scholars program, in turn, facilitates internships for university students with some of the world's leading Human Rights defenders, providing students with valuable professional experiences and assisting activists with their critical work.lastly, hrf offers direct support in the form of microgrants to individuals working on the frontlines of democratic change. Hrf's financial freedom program aids developers who are making the bitcoin network more private, decentralized, and resilient, so it can better serve as a financial tool for Human Rights activists worldwide.
Audience educationthrough creative campaigns and strategic media coverage, hrf aims to popularize the struggle for freedom and educate global audiences about the threat of authoritarianism.hrf's programs highlight the intersection of Human Rights and various industries. Wear your values, for instance, explores the convergence of Human Rights and the global fashion industry through educational events, exhibitions, and campaigns. In 2022, wear your values' "uncomfortable truth" campaign, which shed light on the use of uyghur forced labor in global supply chains, won numerous creative awards, including a cannes lion, a webby award, a clio award, and many more.meanwhile, hrf's art in protest program seeks to elevate artists whose work is connected to their struggle for democracy and freedom. As just one example, in 2022, hrf sponsored chinese dissident sculptor weiming chen, whose notable piece, "ccp virus," was destroyed in retaliation by chinese government sympathizers. With hrf's help, chen created a new, indestructible sculpture at California's liberty sculpture park.finally, in 2022, hrf launched a new program called responsible finance, which studies the influence of authoritarian regimes on the world's most important financial systems. As part of this program, hrf created the defund dictators tool, which allows the general public to see how much of the funds in each us-listed em etf is being allocated to countries ruled by authoritarian regimes.in addition to its campaigns, hrf frequently hosts discussions in-person and online to explore the struggle for Human Rights in countries ruled by authoritarian regimes. In 2022, hrf published 40 episodes of its "dissidents and dictators" podcast and accumulated 86,000 listeners. Hrf representatives spoke at conferences such as sxsw, rightscon, and the bitcoin conference.
Global advocacyhrf's team of international attorneys supports Human Rights defenders through legal advocacy. Impact litigation provides pro bono international legal representation to prisoners of conscience whose cases are emblematic of the brutality of dictatorship. In 2022, hrf filed five petitions before the un and three urgent appeals. Hrf also regularly submits universal periodic reviews to the un Human Rights council, letters on behalf of Human Rights advocates to un special rapporteurs, and evidentiary case files to the us departments of state and treasury, under the global magnitsky act, as part of its anti-corruption program.in addition to legal advocacy, hrf conducts research and publishes reports analyzing the state of political freedom and authoritarianism globally, the correlation between authoritarianism and global crises, and political regime types.hrf's global advocacy also includes projects that address regional issues and developments around the world. In 2022, after russia launched its full-scale invasion of ukraine, hrf created the ukraine solidarity fund to support humanitarian aid to ukraine's most vulnerable populations, impacting more than 1 million people. Meanwhile, the belarus solidarity fund provided financial support to belarusian journalists who had been forced into exile for criticizing the lukashenko regime. The chinese communist party (ccp) disruption initiative published op-eds and hosted events, such as a peaceful demonstration in front of the us capitol, to denounce the ccp's systematic Human Rights violations. And finally, hrf's new program lead for flash drives for freedom, seongmin lee, who defected from north korea at age 23, met with key policymakers, ngos, and journalists to strengthen hrf's advocacy efforts in korea.