Apoyo a los defensores

The European Parliament's Sakharov Fellowship offers up to 14 human rights defenders selected from non-EU countries the opportunity to follow a two week intensive training at the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice and in Brussels. The empowering programme for human rights defenders has been organised annually since 2016 further to an initiative taken by the Sakharov Prize Community at the 25th Anniversary Conference of the Sakharov Prize.

Under the Sakharov Fellowship training programme human rights defenders will enhance their knowledge of EU and international human rights frameworks, policies and mechanisms and develop their capacities to advocate for and effect positive change to protect human rights. Beyond the training, the Sakharov fellows are expected to act as multipliers sharing best practices and lending peer-to-peer support. As part of the Sakharov Community, the fellows have the opportunity to maintain links with the work of the European Parliament and will continue liaising with EU Delegations in their respective countries.

Training at the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice combines academic teaching on international human rights law, instruments and mechanisms with human rights practitioners sharing tools for improving the work of human rights defenders in the field. The Brussels programme offers an induction to EU policies and mechanisms in support of human rights defenders and provides first-hand insight in the human rights work of the European Parliament. It includes meetings with Members of Parliament, officials of the EU institutions, the Brussels-based human rights community, and workshops with expert trainers. The Fellows will also have space for individual advocacy, networking and communication activities.

The selection of candidates is based on the criteria of gender balance and the representation of a variety of human rights issues and geographical areas among the Fellows.

Candidates should have a proven record in campaigning for human rights in a NGO or other organisation or in an individual capacity.

They must have a high level of English, sufficient to follow and contribute actively to the programme.

The Fellowship covers return travel from the country of residence, accommodation in Venice and Brussels and a daily living allowance.

The 10th cohort of Sakharov Fellows brought together thirteen human rights defenders from Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Chile, Georgia, India, Nigeria, Russia, Sudan, Thailand, Türkiye, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe for an intensive two-week programme held in Venice and Brussels from 16 to 27 June 2025. Marking a decade of support for those who defend fundamental rights, this edition combined practical training, exchange of experiences and high-level policy dialogue.

This year, the fellowship began in Venice with a dive into international human rights law at the Global Campus of Human Rights, where participants also explored resilience, hope-based communication and digital security - learning to tell stories not only of crisis, but of courage and change. Setting the tone with his theatre performance "La Caja de Concreto", 2017 Sakharov Prize laureate Lorent Saleh walked the audience through solitary confinement and torture and yet left the Fellows with the strong hope that universal human rights would prevail.

In Brussels, the Fellowship shifted to dialogue with policymakers. Over 30 Members of the European Parliament met the Fellows, alongside sessions with the European Commission, EEAS and Council. For the first time, thematic podcasts shared these voices with a wider public, including a live session on International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

Beyond policy, the Fellowship built connections - between people, stories, and shared battles. It revealed the unseen emotional labour behind human rights defence and reminded all that hope is not just a feeling but a powerful tool for change.

As the programme evolves, one truth remains clear: human rights defenders across borders remind Europe the universality of its core values - dignity, solidarity, and freedom for all.

Once again, the European Parliament welcomed in Brussels fourteen human rights defenders who took part in the ninth edition of the Sakharov Fellowship. Among 1200 applicants, selected fellows came from Armenia, Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, El Salvador, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Russia, Serbia, South Africa and South Sudan.

As in previous years, the European Parliament designed a comprehensive programme to provide fellows an overview of the EU institutions directly involved in international human rights, as well as the instruments they use to support defenders and activists.

Several MEPs had bilateral meetings with the fellows and the two Vice-Presidents for Human Rights, Heidi Hautala and Martin Hojsik met the group for lively exchanges of views. Group advisers explained the Urgency Resolutions mechanism. The EEAS, the European Commission and the Council of the EU also got involved and explained fellows their role within the EU human rights machinery.

This year's edition saw two very concrete examples of the Sakharov Community of laureates and fellows in action:

· In Brussels, the Parliament organised a Special Session on the situation in Gaza on 6 March - where Sakharov laureates, MEPs and fellows could discuss the coherence of the EU human rights policy.

· In Venice, representatives of the Woman, Life, Freedom, 2024 Sakharov Prize laureate, took part in a lively round table on the situation of women in Iran. Speakers included the 2021 fellow from Iran and the 2024 fellow Aida Ghajar. 2012 Sakharov Prize laureate Nasrin Sotoudeh addressed the fellows with a previously recorded message.

This year’s edition of the Sakharov fellowship takes place in Brussels from 4 March to 8 March, and in Venice from 9 March to 15 March.

To celebrate International Women's Day on Friday 8 March, some of our fellows working on women's rights and gender issues share insights on their experience and ways forward.
Happy International Women's Day!

Its 8th edition brought together 14 dedicated human rights defenders from all over the world for a two-week training in Brussels and Venice from 5 to 17 June 2023. During this training they enhanced their knowledge of EU and international human rights frameworks and improved their abilities to advocate for human rights.

The 2023 Sakharov fellows come from Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, China, DRC, Ethiopia, Georgia, Myanmar, Oman, Russia, and Tunisia. They brought with them impressive backgrounds and rich experiences in the areas of defence of freedom of expression, women's rights, LGBTQI+ and minority rights, human rights in healthcare, migration and more.

All are strongly engaged in promoting human rights in their countries. They had dense programmes in Brussels and Venice. The Brussels week focused EU Human Rights policies, mechanisms and instruments, the role of Parliament, networking and personal development workshops. DROI Chair Udo Bullmann and Member Isabel Santos participated in their programme as speakers and they also numerous bilateral meetings with Members.

The part at the Venice Campus of Human Rights put an emphasis on UN mechanisms discussions on indigenous rights, climate change and gender equality. There, they also engaged in debate with Sakharov Laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk on accountability for war crimes in Ukraine and discussed documenting human rights violations and engaging with human rights scepticism.

The 2022 Sakharov Fellowship was back in Brussels from the 13-17 June and in Venice from the 20-24 June. Again, an amazing gathering of 14 highly dedicated human rights defenders from Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Ethiopia, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Tunisia, and, finally, from Türkiye.

As in previous years, the programme aimed at enhancing their capacity and resilience in their fight for human rights. The participants highly appreciated opportunities to: connect them to the EP and EU institutions, to experts, diplomats, and other human rights practitioners from all over the world; deepen their knowledge of international and EU human rights mechanisms; strengthen their communication and digital security skills and help them boost their psychological resilience; and, not least, lobby for their causes.

The Sakharov Community eagerly embraced its new members: 2021 Sakharov Prize finalist Zarifa Ghafari featured as key speaker at the opening of the Venice School for Human Rights Defenders. She was joined by 2021 Sakharov fellow Hareer Hashim for a roundtable on the current situation of Afghan women. 2009 Sakharov laureate Memorial was represented by Marina Agaltsova to the Roundtable on access to information in Russia. The Venice week was closed by the screening of and a debate on Hava, Maryam, Ayesha film by 2021 Sakharov finalist Sahraa Karimi.

This year's edition was another reminder of the vital importance of human rights for democracy and peace worldwide. As the pool of Sakharov Fellowship alumni grows with every edition, we trust the Fellows to join forces in building a world where we could all enjoy our rights and fulfil our responsibilities, in dignity and freedom.

The sixth edition of the Sakharov fellowship programme took place in October 2021.

After a 2020 edition fully remote with a more limited agenda, the fellowship returned to its ambitious design and allowed 14 human rights defenders to follow a two-week intensive training course commencing at the European Parliament in Brussels then continuing at the Global Campus for Human Rights in Venice. With expertise ranging on various issues on environmental law, women's and child's rights, LGBTQ+ and civil and political rights, the fellows derived from Afghanistan, Cameroun, Chile, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Russia, and Ukraine. Through this programme, the fellows were provided with the opportunity to enhance their knowledge of EU and international human rights frameworks.

In addition to lectures and workshops, the fellows had the opportunity in Brussels to meet MEPs, diplomats, staff of the EU institutions and experts on the most pressing issues in human rights area. This was the occasion for them to draw attention to human rights violations in their own respective countries and to form links with some members of the European Parliament for their future struggles. This edition also encompassed 2017 Sakharov Prize Laureate Laurent Saleh, who visited a new exhibition space dedicated to the Sakharov prize in the Parlamentarium and part of which tells the story of his journey to freedom following years of imprisonment. During this visit, fellows were able to meet and exchange with Lorent Salah. In Venice, fellows were also given the possibility to present their work, to review cases based on participants' experience, to deepen their knowledge of UN HR mechanisms, gender-based violence and consider the impact of climate change.

This program has demonstrated with this sixth edition all its strengths: to allow human rights defenders to unite and discuss for two weeks and to keep contacts for future common struggles. The European Parliament will continue to give its full support to human rights defenders and activists around the world to contribute to the defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

If you want to learn more about the fellows of this new edition, short biographies and videos are available on the Sakharov Fellowship World Map.

The fifth edition of the European Parliament's Sakharov Fellowship was held remotely from 21 October 2020 to 25 November 2020. Its 2020 thematic focus was on women's, LGBTI, migrants' and minorities' rights.

Different mode, equivalent impact

Held in previous years over a two-week programme in Brussels and Venice, the 2020 Sakharov Fellowship was converted into an online edition and consisted of eight once-a-week online sessions. The programme covered comprehensive thematic agenda and was complemented by advocacy opportunities through bilateral meetings with MEPs and relevant EU officials.

Programme

The 2020 Sakharov Fellowship focused on ways to ensure protection and respect of human rights in times of global crises and on preparing the fellows to address related challenges. The exploration of EU and UN mechanisms to support human rights' work was followed by discussions on three specific topics: women's rights, LGBTI and migrants' and minorities' rights.

2020 Sakharov Fellows

The fellows came from Burundi, Brazil, India, Thailand, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Colombia, Belarus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Turkey, Ghana, and Russia. Their fields of human rights activity are diverse, going from women's and children's rights, minority rights, LGBTI rights, environmental defence, migration, forced labour, freedom of speech to political prisoners' rights.

A stronger Sakharov Community

The Sakharov Fellowship Programme aims to empower the next generation of human rights defenders to serve as agents of democratic change in their countries. The Covid-19 pandemic challenged the European Parliament and the Sakharov Community to discover new ways to make this possible, to collaborate, get together, help break barriers, and react swiftly to defend urgent human rights causes.

If you want to learn more about the fellows of this new edition, short biographies and videos are available on the Sakharov Fellowship World Map.

El Parlamento Europeo empodera a la próxima generación de defensores de los derechos humanos para que actúen como agentes del cambio democrático en sus países.

La beca Sájarov ofrece a 14 defensores de los derechos humanos procedentes de países no pertenecientes a la Unión Europea la oportunidad de seguir un curso intensivo de formación de dos semanas, una de ellas en Bruselas y la otra en el Campus Mundial de Derechos Humanos en Venecia. El programa se ha organizado anualmente desde 2016. La idea de la beca proviene de la Comunidad del Premio Sájarov, que la propuso durante la Conferencia del 25.º aniversario del Premio Sájarov.

En el marco del programa de formación de las becas Sájarov, los defensores de los derechos humanos pueden

• mejorar sus conocimientos de los marcos, las políticas y los mecanismos de la Unión Europea e internacionales en materia de derechos humanos, y

• desarrollar capacidades para abogar por un cambio positivo en la protección de los derechos humanos y llevarlo a cabo.

Además de la formación, los becarios Sájarov

• amplían la red de becarios del Premio Sájarov para compartir las mejores prácticas, difundir sus conocimientos y dar a conocer el Premio Sájarov y la Comunidad del Premio Sájarov;

• Mantienen vínculos con el Parlamento Europeo y las delegaciones de la Unión en sus países.

El programa de Bruselas se centra en: el acceso a la financiación, las capacidades de comunicación, los retos en materia de seguridad a los que se enfrentan los defensores de los derechos humanos, y las políticas e instrumentos de la Unión que apoyan a los defensores de los derechos humanos. También incluye reuniones con diputados al Parlamento, funcionarios de las instituciones de la Unión y ONG con sede en Bruselas. Los becarios tienen la ocasión de llevar a cabo actividades de promoción y creación de redes.

En Venecia, los becarios se matriculan en la Escuela de Venecia de Derechos Humanos, junto con estudiantes internacionales de derechos humanos. Las conferencias se centran en el desarrollo de los conocimientos del Derecho internacional de derechos humanos, en los instrumentos y mecanismos y en la manera de utilizarlos para realizar cambios sobre el terreno. Entre los profesores se encuentran destacados académicos, representantes de ONG prominentes en el ámbito de los derechos humanos, personalidades galardonadas con el Premio Sájarov y diputados al Parlamento Europeo.

Los candidatos deben tener un historial demostrado en la lucha por los derechos humanos, a título individual o en cooperación con una ONG u otra organización. Deben tener un alto nivel de inglés, a fin de poder seguir y contribuir a los grupos de debate y a los talleres en Bruselas y Venecia.

La selección de becarios se basa en los criterios mencionados, así como el equilibrio de género y la representación de una serie de ámbitos geográficos y cuestiones de derechos humanos.