Human Rights Watch

Founded in 1978, Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent, non-political organisations working to defend and protect human rights around the world.

Human Rights Watch works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. We address human rights violations in more than 90 countries by conducting objective, meticulous investigations; exposing abuses widely in the media; and then enlisting powerful actors to effect change in policies and practices to improve the human rights of people on the ground.

Time and again, this has yielded results. For instance, we built political support for treaties banning the use of cluster munitions and child soldiers; we took the lead in establishing the International Criminal Court; and we won a Nobel Peace Prize for our collaborative work to ban landmines.

We respond quickly and effectively to a broad spectrum of human rights concerns—from discrimination to genocide. We have pioneered the protection of marginalised groups under a human rights framework, including the rights of women; children; lesbian, gay, transgender, and bisexual (LGBT) people; refugees and people with disabilities. Most recently, we established an Environment Division to address human rights abuses caused by pollution and climate change.

Our overarching goal is to effect concrete, long-lasting and systemic change to policies and practices to ensure they best safeguard the rights of all people. In all of our work, we partner with local organisations and activists working toward the same goal.