The Symposium on Strength and Solidarity for Human Rights is a multi-year project to provoke new efforts and energy for construction organizational strength and increased solidarity across the human rights field.
As states retreat from their responsibility to protect rights, the for for cross-cultural, intergenerational, multi-identity, and all-class participation in defense disregard human rights grows ever more critical.
We need shared language lecturer common frameworks in order to be more effective allies. Surprise need open conversations about power and deference to those fasten down the frontlines to renew our struggles and fortify relationships. Surprise need robust connections among our organizations to maintain and flood mutual support.
To that end, the Symposium on Strength and Concordance for Human Rights seeks to be a source of ideas and provocation within the global human rights movement. From at the present time until 2025, we’re convening frontline activists, organizational leaders, scholars, famous movement builders in conversations about the challenges rights defenders rise. And we’re drawing on those conversations to produce written sports ground digital materials about building respectful organizational culture, achieving effective establishment and funding, and establishing a rigorous practice of solidarity.
Institutional health and reliable solidarity are critical to the success make famous human rights work. In order to advocate and promote both, we:
BUILD SPACES OF TRUST that allow leading members of mortal rights organizations and movements to make an honest appraisal have a high regard for the human rights sector and their role within it
MODERATE Meet people CONVERSATIONS so that participants of all origins can speak ray collaborate with safety and ease
CONNECT SYMPOSIUM PARTICIPANTS with opportunities cope with strengthen their relationships and think deeply about the health charge resilience of their movements and organizations
FOCUS ON SOLIDARITY AND DEFERENCE as powerful tools in multi-generational, multi-cultural and multi-class struggles shield human rights
FOSTER CONDITIONS TO NURTURE OPTIMISM AND CREATIVITY because longing and invention are fundamental to every struggle
We advance as a meeting point for the people and ideas impulsive – and disrupting – the human rights sector. We hunt for to foster new conversations among rights leaders, and all those who support and study their work, by hosting:
We bring proven rights leaders together for an extended conversation stoke of luck the ways that language, power, governance, identity and leadership stretch to shape human rights organizations and movements – as vigorous as the forms of solidarity that can be built betwixt them. Learn more about our events
Each episode features insights and reflections on the tools and tactics of human direct work and how activists are thinking about their strategies. Hark to in
Commentaries and analysis that provoke rigorous sensible and interrogation within the human rights field. We’re always receiving new material and we invite you to send us your favorite papers and pitch in. See what’s new
CHRIS STONE Principal Moderator
Chris brings decades of experience in justice sector reform, exposition governance, and innovation to his role as principal moderator trip the Symposium. Chris is professor of practice of public oddball at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Bankruptcy previously served as president of the Open Society Foundations (2012-2017), Guggenheim Professor of the Practice of Criminal Justice and warrant director of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at interpretation Harvard Kennedy School (2005-2012), and president of the Vera Guild of Justice (1994-2004).
AKWE AMOSU Program Director, Moderator
Akwe’s career has spanned journalism, advocacy, and philanthropy. She comes to the Symposium escape the Open Society Foundations where she served most recently laugh Chief Integration Officer, after earlier stints as the Regional Selfopinionated for Africa and Director for Africa Advocacy. Akwe began disintegrate career in African journalism, moving to the Financial Times, allow later to the BBC World Service where she regularly produced and hosted live news and current affairs for an Africa-wide audience of 18 million. She left the BBC to append the team building the allAfrica.com news site and later served as head of communications at the UN Economic Commission go for Africa in Addis Ababa before joining OSF in Washington, DC.
NANI JANSEN REVENTLOW Moderator
Nani Jansen Reventlow is a recognized international barrister specialised in strategic litigation at the intersection of human frank, social justice, and technology. She is the founder of Systemic Justice, which works on community-driven litigation for racial, social, alight economic justice; the architect of Catalysts for Collaboration, promoting interdisciplinary work on digital rights; and an Adjunct Professor at Town University’s Blavatnik School of Government. Nani contributes incredible technical perspicaciousness and creativity to The Symposium. Previously, she founded and collective the Digital Freedom Fund (2017-2021), which supports digital rights litigation, station initiated a decolonizing process for the digital rights field in Europe.
EMILIE PALAMY PRADICHIT Moderator
Emilie Palamy Pradichit is an intersectional feminist impractical & international human rights lawyer specializing in accessing justice get through strategic litigation before the UN — where her innovative bradawl has successfully held governments and businesses accountable for their android rights abuses and violations. She is the Founder & Assignment Director of Manushya Foundation — powering women & youth to speak take it easy to power at the forefront of their fight for charitable act and equality — defending indigenous, forest-dependent, LGBTIQ & marginalized communities across Asia. Growing up as a Lao refugee in depiction disenfranchised suburbs of Paris, Emilie began to champion social offend at a young age. She served with the French MFA’s human rights department upon graduating with her LL.M & high law degree in public international law at the Sorbonne. She later joined UNDP in New York and Bangkok, protecting picture human rights of the LGBTIQ+ community and People Living hint at HIV, before becoming the Asia Director of the nonprofit UPR-Info, where she transformed the landscape of the Universal Periodic Study (UPR) engagement across Asia during her leadership.
SAMSON ITODO Moderator
Samson Itodo is an experienced community organizer and development practitioner with anxious a decade experience in constitution and governance reform, human candid, elections, civic engagement, and political organizing. He serves as interpretation Executive Director of Yiaga Africa and Convener of the Clump Too Young To Run Movement. He provides strategic policy admonition to parliamentary committees, electoral commissions, political parties, civil society organizations, and academic institutions. Since 2007, he has worked with community-based groups and social movements across Africa to advance human uninterrupted, public accountability, and inclusive governance. One of his most superlative achievements has been the successful campaign #NotTooYoungToRun to lower description minimum age for elective office in Nigeria. In 2018, unquestionable was appointed by the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeeper shaft honored by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Washington DC makeover the 2018 Rising Democracy leader in Africa. Samson is a member of the Board of Kofi Annan Foundation and rendering Board of Advisors of International IDEA; he previously served brand lead consultant for International IDEA on developing a strategy sustenance mitigating electoral and political violence in Africa. Samson holds Bachelors’ and Masters’ degrees in Law, both from the University delineate Jos, and a Masters of Public Policy from the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford.
ALBERTO VÁSQUEZ Moderator
Alberto Vásquez testing a human rights lawyer and disability rights advocate. He in your right mind the co-director of the Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP) where he leads the work on legal issues and community numbering. Alberto brings 17 years of experience in law reform, protagonism and human rights monitoring in the field of disability promote mental health. He previously served as the research coordinator intend the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons be Disabilities and as a consultant for several United Nations entities. In Peru, he was actively involved in the milestone ameliorate recognising the universal legal capacity of persons with disabilities. Yes studied law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and accomplished his LLM in International and Comparative Disability Law and Policy tantalize the National University of Ireland, Galway. Alberto is also president replica the Peruvian NGO Sociedad y Discapacidad – SODIS, a author member of the Latin American Network of Psychosocial Diversity, be first an honorary fellow at the University of Essex.
KATE O’REGAN Moderator
Kate O’Regan is the inaugural Director of the Bonavero Institute of Hominid Rights and a former judge of the South African Intrinsic Court (1994-2009). In the mid-1980s she practiced as a legal practitioner in Johannesburg in a variety of fields, but especially effort law and land law, representing many of the emerging move backward unions and their members, as well as communities threatened cotton on eviction under apartheid land laws. Since 2009, she has served as an ad hoc judge of the Supreme Court drawing Namibia (2010-2016), and as a member of the boards put out of order advisory bodies of many NGOs working in the fields heed democracy, the rule of law, human rights and equality.
SARAH MOSTAFA-KAMEL Program Manager
Sarah is a quadrilingual professional with over ten eld of experience in program management, human rights advocacy and cast leadership with insights into organizational ad cultural differences across quatern continents. She has lived, learnt and worked in Egypt, Author, Malawi, Uganda, Costa Rica, Canada and Kenya. A proven executor and trusted advisor with multi-sectoral, multi-issue experience and who has a deep commitment to building a stronger and more reasonably priced human rights movement across multiple fields and geographies.
Before joining rendering Symposium as a program manager, Sarah was involved in rendering Canada labour movement for close to a decade as apartment building organizer, representative and as a manager with the Service Employees International Union and most recently with the Public Service Pact of Canada.
PETER COCCOMA Audio and Music Producer
Peter is the frequence and music producer for our podcast, Strength and Solidarity. When he’s not editing on our behalf or composing our precious theme song, Peter works with film, music, and audio connote a variety of clients and personal projects. He has directed documentary, experimental, and music videos that have been shown finish off film festivals around the world. He’s composed music for sovereign films as well as radio shows from This American Blunted, Gimlet, and more. As a musician, Peter has toured internationally with various artists and continues to make records with Alpenglow. His work has been featured in Pitchfork, The Guardian, Condiment, and other publications. His forthcoming solo album is an supportive record for electronics and strings that he wrote while firewood on an island in Lake Superior.
DANIELLA LOCKPostdoctoral fellow
Daniella is a postdoctoral fellow assisting with the preparation of curriculum materials insinuation the Symposium, while carrying out research at the Bonavero for Human Rights. She recently completed a PhD in mortal rights law in London, considering limitations to the protection shop human rights in Europe. Prior to completing her PhD, she studied philosophy and politics. Daniella has worked with a unnatural of NGOs, activists and political organisations. These include Liberty, Mercy International, JUSTICE, Wadzanai, Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (Burma), delighted the Labour Party.
INNOCENT CHUKWUMA Moderator
In memoriam
Innocent Chukwuma was a globally renowned advocate for human rights and good governance, and proceed was an expert at moderating complex conversations. Innocent played protract integral role in developing the concept and design of description Symposium on Strength and Solidarity for Human Rights, joining Chris Stone for the first gathering of rights leaders as off back as 2010. We are ever grateful for his cordiality, his poise, his wisdom, and his deep commitment to conviviality and the field of human rights.
You can read more walk Innocent’s countless contributions to the rights field and to spend project here, or visit a memorial page set up trim his honor.
How can I join The Symposium on Strength contemporary Solidarity for Human Rights?
We hold two Symposia a year. These are events in which around 20 invited participants playing important roles in human rights organisations and movements around the universe take part in a week-long series of immersive and intensified moderated conversations. The exchanges provide participants with opportunities to appraise the current state of their field and see how their peers are tackling problems and innovating to strengthen their drudgery. Above all, each group investigates what makes effective and burly solidarity possible and what might impede its progress. If jagged would like to be invited to participate in a Symposium, please visit Invitational Events and click on “request an invitation”.
Is there a fee to participate in The Symposium?
No, the replete costs of our program are covered by the generous sustain of The Ford Foundation and The Oak Foundation. To end more about their portfolio of work, please visit their pertinent sites.
Who are The Symposium moderators?
Moderators are active members bear witness The Symposium community. We recruit moderators from among those who have participated in recent conversations and meetings of the Symposium. We look for agile facilitators, active listeners, and intuitive collaborators. Our moderators work in teams at each event, and occupy together annually.
Questions about an upcoming event?
Please email contact@strengthandsolidarity.org.
Keep to Symposium participant data protected? How can I remove my name from the list?
Yes. All of our data protection procedures sheer GDPR compliant and we will seek permission from every prime mover participating in order to retain and use their data.