Human Rights Watch (Fund Friends of)

The Fund was created on the initiative of philanthropic friends. They use their own network and that of the asbl Human Rights Watch to collect donations. The funds collected are used to financially support various projects of the organisation.

Human Rights Watch is a global organization that works to protect and defend human rights through a combination of in-depth investigative work, targeted media outreach, and lobbying of policymakers at the highest levels. HRW sets extremely high standards for investigating and documenting human rights violations. The organization is known for its integrity in identifying perpetrators of human rights abuses and for its effectiveness in holding oppressors accountable to the international community for their crimes. In mid-2010, Human Rights Watch launched a five-year strategic plan, Global Challenge, to better align the organization with a rapidly changing world in which countries outside of Europe and North America play an increasingly important role. The headquarters, located in Brussels since 1995, is the nerve center from which strategic lobbying activities and media contacts are organized, mainly within the European Union. The organization as a whole relies heavily on a network of local communities of supporters around the world, often organized into committees. Through this network, HRW advocates for human rights, approaches influential people to raise awareness of Human Rights Watch's activities, and raises funds from wealthy individuals to finance its operations. Since Human Rights Watch has become an established organization and has had good relations with the European Union, the Belgian government, and diplomatic representatives in Belgium for many years, a group of philanthropists thought it would be appropriate to create an official committee that could support Human Rights Watch in Belgium for the long term.