We promote, protect, & strengthen the work of human rights defenders (#HRDs) in the East & Horn of Africa sub-region. Retweets aren't endorsements.
Kampala, Uganda
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With our Executive Director @Hassan_shire back in the office, our management team convened its weekly meetings to strategise on the last quarter of the year.
Today’s meeting focused on planning for the final quarter and aligning both existing and emerging priorities across our program areas of Protection, Digital Security and Advocacy.
As we launch the final quarter of the year, we are turning the reflections from our mid-year staff retreat into action points. During the retreat we dedicated time to assess the year reviewing the progress made, analysing what is working well, discussing challenges encountered, and aligning our priorities for the months ahead.
We remain focused on strengthening our collective efforts to protect and promote the rights of human rights defenders across Africa.
#20yearsDefending
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🗣️ A thread for DefendDefenders' oral statements at the UN Human Rights Council's 63rd session 🧵
We start with the very first debate #HRC63 — Sudan. In our statement, we:
🔸 Stress the need to extend the FFM’s mandate.
🔹 Call for adequate resourcing for its work.
🔸 Outline steps the UN should take to adopt a holistic approach to atrocity prevention & accountability.
⏩ All our oral statements at the session: defenddefenders.org/oral-sta… 🇺🇳 #Sudan 🇸🇩
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🇺🇳 The UN Human Rights Council's 6⃣3⃣rd session continues with #UPR adoptions ⏱️
Our statement on #Somalia's 4⃣th UPR:
⏩ We welcomed Somalia's acceptance of numerous recommendations.
⏩ And highlighted implementation challenges & the importance of #civicspace & human rights scrutiny.
Our full statement below & here: defenddefenders.org/oral-sta… 🇸🇴 #UPR52 #HRC63
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🚨 One more oral statement #HRC63: As the @UN_HRC is nearing the end of the Universal Periodic Review’s (#UPR) 4th cycle, we suggest improvements for the 5th cycle, to start in 2027 🇺🇳
✍️ Read our paper, “A stronger UPR for the 5th cycle”: defenddefenders.org/upr-5th-… 📨
🗣️ All our HRC63 statements: defenddefenders.org/oral-sta… 🌐
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DefendDefenders retweeted
#Burundi | @RS_Burundi alerte le Conseil des droits de l'homme de l'ONU sur les signes avant-coureurs d'une crise électorale déjà perceptibles.
Prévenir aujourd'hui, c'est protéger le droit de chaque Burundais & Burundaise de choisir librement ses dirigeants, a-t-il dit.
#HRC63
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❝ Burundi: preventing a new escalation of human rights violations ahead of the 2027 presidential election ❞ | ❝ Burundi: prévenir une nouvelle escalade des violations à l'approche de l'élection présidentielle de 2027 ❞
Join us for this side event on #Burundi today at #HRC63:
📆 Friday 18 September 2026
🕰️ 14:00-15:00 CET
📍 Palais des Nations, Concordia 1
🇺🇳 🔍 🇧🇮 @RS_Burundi
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DefendDefenders retweeted
The UN Human Rights Council condemned the role of external support in fueling hostilities in Sudan after a UN-backed inquiry named, for the first time, parts of the vast, complex network behind it. l.genevasolutions.news/qS
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DefendDefenders retweeted
In #Sudan, advanced weapons, such as drones, sustained by external support have fueled the conflict, the Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan told the @UN Human Rights Council.
"This senseless war must end," said Mohamed Othman, calling all States to halt military support.
#HRC63
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DefendDefenders retweeted
🔴 NOW at #HRC63
- opening of the session
- @volker_turk's oral update
- Sudan: Fact-Finding Mission
- Myanmar: @UNHumanRights chief + Investigative Mechanism (part 1)
Watch live⤵️
webtv.un.org/en/asset/k18/k1…
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🇺🇳 In Geneva for #HRC63❓
Join us for this side event on #SUDAN tomorrow.
📆 Tuesday 8 September 2026
🕰️ 13:00-14:00 CET
📍 Palais des Nations, Room XI
With human rights defenders & the Fact-Finding Mission (#FFM), we'll discuss what the @UN can do next to advance atrocity prevention & accountability.
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🚨 The UN Human Rights Council's 63rd session (#HRC63) starts on Monday 🇺🇳
Follow us for updates & analysis on:
▪️ #Sudan — the Fact-Finding Mission's mandate should be extended (defenddefenders.org/sudan-ex…)
▫️ #Burundi — the Special Rapporteur should pursue his work (defenddefenders.org/burundi-…)
▪️ Other country situations that require attention — including #Ethiopia, #DRC, #Somalia
🇸🇩 🇧🇮 🇪🇹 🇨🇩 🇸🇴
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The @IrlEmbUganda team, led by Ms Jill Clements, Head of Cooperation, paid a courtesy visit to the DefendDefenders offices.
The visit provided an opportunity for a constructive exchange on Uganda’s evolving context, emerging developments and shared areas of interest, as well as to exchange perspectives on the broader civic space environment.
We appreciate the Irish Embassy’s continued engagement and longstanding partnership with DefendDefenders and look forward to continued dialogue and collaboration.
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A photo, PDF or word document can carry more than the information you can see. Hidden metadata may reveal creation times, modification history, locations and other details that can help verify information but can also expose sensitive sources.
Join us for our upcoming Ttaala Webinar as we unpack: From evidence to exposure: Using metadata to verify truth and purging it to protect sources
📅 1 September 2026
⏰ 12:00 PM EAT
📍 Online via Zoom
Together, we will explore how Human Rights Defenders can use metadata to strengthen information verification while identifying and removing sensitive information before sharing files publicly.
The principle is simple: “Verify before trusting, clean before sharing.”
Whether you document violations, conduct research, tell human rights stories or advocate online, knowing what your files reveal can be just as important as knowing what they contain.
🔗 Register and join the webinar: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi…
Note: After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the webinar.
#DigitalSecurity #Ttaala #Metadata
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Meet the voices leading our upcoming Ttaala Webinar!
Joining us as our speaker is Samuel Eibu, Digital Security Auditor and Incident Handler at DefendDefenders, bringing practical expertise in cybersecurity, digital forensics and supporting Human Rights Defenders to identify and respond to digital risks.
Moderating the conversation is Mercy ‘Yaya’ Ayaa, a feminist governance and policy practitioner whose work sits at the intersection of gender, technology, data, policy and civic space.
Together, they will lead us through “From Evidence to Exposure: Using Metadata to Verify Truth and Purging It to Protect Sources” a practical conversation on how metadata can strengthen verification while also posing risks to sensitive information and sources.
📅 1 September 2026
⏰ 12:00 PM EAT
📍 Online via Zoom
The principle is simple: “Verify before trusting, clean before sharing.”
🔗 Register to join: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi…
#Ttaala #DigitalSecurity #Metadata
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Tomorrow, we go from evidence to exposure!
The information you share may be saying more than you intended. Behind an ordinary photograph, document or digital file can be a trail of hidden information, when it was created, where it was created, the device used, who created it, and how it may have been modified.
For Human Rights Defenders, metadata can be a powerful tool for verifying evidence, establishing authenticity and identifying possible manipulation. But when sensitive information is left embedded in a file, it can also expose sources, colleagues, communities and defenders themselves to risk.
Tomorrow, join our Ttaala Webinar for a practical session on how to examine metadata and EXIF data, identify information hidden within photos and files, verify digital material, and safely remove sensitive metadata before publishing or sharing content.
Participants will also experience a practical demonstration using free and accessible tools that can be applied in everyday human rights work.
Because digital safety is not only about what you share, it is also about what travels with it.
📅 Tomorrow | 1 September 2026
⏰ 12:00 PM EAT
📍 Online via Zoom
Whether you work in documentation, advocacy, research, communications or digital storytelling, join us and strengthen how you verify, protect and share information.
🔗 Register to join: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi…
#Ttaala #DigitalSecurity #Metadata
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DefendDefenders retweeted
𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲, 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.
Digital inclusion is not just about getting people online, it's about making sure they are safe, skilled, and supported once they are there.
Because when communities have the tools, knowledge, and confidence to move through digital spaces safely, locally led solutions do not just survive, they thrive.
If you are a human rights defender or part of civil society working to build a safer, more resilient digital future this is your community.
Join @Nafasi_Africa.
#Nafasi #KeepTheSpaceOpen #DigitalSpace
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📢 UPR 5th cycle: DefendDefenders launches a paper to suggest improvements & feed discussions 🚨
In “A stronger UPR for the 5th cycle: Practical reforms for greater impact,” we suggest ways to improve the Universal Periodic Review by outlining guiding principles for any reform and formulating recommendations on possible adjustments. The ultimate aim is to increase the UPR’s impact at the national level.
🗒️ Read/download the paper here: defenddefenders.org/upr-5th-… 🇺🇳 #UPR #UPR53 #UPR54 #HRC63
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