Feminist-led organisations have long been at the forefront of transformative change, championing human rights and social justice. Yet today, a toxic combination of democratic backsliding, rising authoritarianism, and political polarisation is closing the space for feminist-led activism at an alarming rate. In this increasingly repressive environment, an intersectional feminist organisation in Southeast Asia approached Open Briefing for support. The staff of this women-led human rights organisation faced escalating harassment, intimidation, and arbitrary arrests by police and state security forces.
Tag: impact
Holistic security: A crucial investment in grassroots environmental action – Lessons from Mexico
Caminos de Agua is leading efforts to improve human health and community wellbeing in Mexico by ensuring access to clean water. Its participatory approach empowers communities across the country to take ownership of their water future. Operating in areas affected by territorial disputes between drug cartels and other non-state actors exposed the Caminos team to severe security threats, including harassment, physical assault, extortion, and death threats - especially when travelling through territories controlled by criminal groups. Recognising these dangers, Caminos partnered with Open Briefing to strengthen its security and resilience.
Embracing risk as a pathway to resilience: Lessons from West Africa
Activists and civil society organisations advocating for rights-based government policies face persistent threats from state authorities, particularly in the realm of national security. Surveillance, harassment, and intimidation are used to instil fear and silence critical voices. This relentless pressure erodes not just the resilience of individual activists and organisations, but the sustainability of entire movements. Open Briefing partnered with a women-led human rights organisation in West Africa that is frequently targeted by security services for scrutinising national security policy and exposing abuses of power.
Our impact in 2024
The past year has been marked by profound challenges and widespread suffering for communities across the globe. Against this backdrop, Open Briefing received 575 calls for assistance from grassroots activists, community groups, and social movements at risk in 2024. This marks a 66% increase in cases over the past two years. Despite this surge in demand, we continue to provide timely and highly-effective support - delivering over 6,000 hours of holistic security mentoring and accompaniment across 100 countries last year.
Our impact in 2023
In 2023, we received more calls for assistance from activists, communities, and organisations under threat than ever before. In response, our international team provided over 4,600 hours of direct support and trained over 1,000 defenders across 93 countries. Despite the challenges, those that we supported last year reported an incredible 21% decrease in risk following our work with them.
Introducing our bold new strategy
We are embarking on an ambitious new strategy to transform into a global platform and meet the threat to human rights defenders head on. This strategy is based on a clear understanding of the challenge, how we can bring about transformative change, and how we can resource our plans for maximum impact. Please join us!
Our impact in 2022
In 2022, we answered more calls for assistance across more countries than ever before. Our international teams of protection specialists, digital security consultants, and counsellors and psychologists provided nearly 6,000 hours of direct support to civil society organisations and activists under threat in 68 countries.
Our impact in 2021
Last year was a time of global pandemic and closing civic space, not least of all with the coup in Myanmar and the fall of Afghanistan. The number of calls for our help nearly trebled compared to the previous year. Despite these challenges, those we worked with reported a 15% increase in capacity and a 14% decrease in risk. We provided over 6,000 hours of direct support to civil society organisations and activists under threat in 41 countries and trained over 1,600 human rights defenders.