The Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism
The mechanism seeks to assess the needs of Afghan human rights defenders and channel support to them, coordinate and share information among those responding to the crisis, and bring together Afghan and international voices to advocate for full respect for the human rights of all in Afghanistan.
In January 2022, Freedom House played a leading role as one of the founders of the Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism. As of May 2025, the secretariat of AHRCM has been transferred to the Safety and Risk Mitigation Organization (SRMO), one of the founder and partner organizations.
The other founders include: the Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSF), MADRE, and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
With initial financial support from the Open Society Foundations, the mechanism seeks to:
- Bring together Afghan and international voices to advocate jointly for full respect for the human rights of all in Afghanistan.
- Share crucial information with human rights defenders (HRDs) that will help them adjust to the post-2021 security environment in Afghanistan and stay safe. Provide safety and protection training, digital security training, documentation of human rights violations, and psychosocial support.
- Assess the needs of HRDs in Afghanistan and the region, coordinate responses to shared problems and, whenever possible, match activists in need with potential sources of support–including the Safeguarding Afghan Democratic Actors (SADA) program at Freedom House.
- Provide short-term fellowships for Afghan human rights defenders, media activists, and journalists to strengthen their capacity, expand their networks, and collaborate with the wider community of civil society and human rights organizations.
- Advocate for continuing and scaling-up programs to get Afghan HRDs to safety, including through refugee resettlement programs.
- Join with other coalitions to help and support Afghan human rights defenders, women’s rights defenders, and civil society activists, expanding their documentation of human rights abuses in Afghanistan.
For more information and media inquiries, please visit: https://srmo.uk/
Mechanism Partners:
A Needs Assessment of Afghan Human Rights Defenders
The Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism (AHRCM) in collaboration with the Afghanistan Civil Society Forum (ACSFo) are debuting a new report: “Needs Assessment Report of Afghan Human Rights Defenders.” This report is based on surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus groups of Afghan human rights defenders carried out in 2022.
Perspectives
Updates
Freedom House, Afghan and International NGOs Launch the Afghanistan Human Rights Coordination Mechanism
Press release
Januari 27, 2022
