The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) has developed a Toolbox for Human Rights Defenders.
ISHR asks, “Are you a human rights defender, a diplomat, a donor or a business desiring to implement human rights for your operations? Check out useful tools for you to enhance your impact on the ground!”
ISHR says, “Based on our longstanding expertise of human rights mechanisms and our closeness to the needs of human rights defenders, we developed a toolbox for defenders.”
It includes:
- Trainings: online and offline; ISHR Academy, an e-learning space to strengthen advocacy skills with the UN; HRDAP, our flagship programme to help defenders leverage the UN to reach their advocacy objectives; Defender Fellowships and Advocacy Advice.
- Resources: guidebooks, research and reports on specific human rights issues.
- HRCnet: a network to enhance NGO engagement with the Human Rights Council and to strengthen the Council’s impact and influence on the ground.
- National legal protection is essential for human rights defenders to do their work safely. In order to facilitate awareness and understanding of developments, ISHR collates latest developments in national legal instruments for defenders and compares them to the Model law.
- Model Law on the Recognition and Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- And much more.
ISHR’s Practical Guide to the UN Special Procedures
NEW! Fully updated version as of February 2026
ISHR’s Practical Guide to the UN Special Procedures provides an overview of the system of independent human rights experts known as the Special Procedures, and the different ways human rights defenders can make use of it to further their human rights causes.
Watch the ISHR video, with subtitles in English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Uyghur and Tibetan for an introduction to the UN Special Procedures.
