Check out if FIDH is in The Top 100 NGOs 2013 Edition!

Curators of the human rights movement.

Uniting 164 member organizations.

Pioneers of international human rights norms, FIDH began as a first-of-its-kind movement of 20 national human rights organizations in 1922. In the period since, FIDH has marked the field with numerous achievements. It was the first organization to propose the creation of an international declaration of human rights as well as an international criminal court. Persevering in the face of repression during the Second World War – including the assassination of its chairman in 1940 – the federation regrouped and provided two of its most eminent members, René Cassin and Joseph-Paul Boncour, to assist in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

FIDH has grown today to have a presence in over 100 countries, supported by an international secretariat, executive board and international board. The organization has seven pivotal objectives: protecting and supporting human rights defenders, women’s rights and migrant’s rights, fighting against impunity, mobilizing states, promoting respect for human rights amidst globalization and supporting the rule of law in emergency and conflict situations. FIDH’s ‘Observatory’ maintains consistent outputs to draw international attention to human rights abuses. 

In 2010 alone it issued 365 urgent appeals concerning 736 human rights defenders in 64 countries, instituted five fact-finding and four solidarity missions, and produced ten major reports and 24 trial observations.

(Photo © FIDH)