A Few Words
About Us
Since its inception in 1997, two years after the adoption of the Barcelona Declaration, EuroMed Rights has become one of the most prominent and most active actors in the Euro-Mediterranean region on human rights protection and democracy promotion. In 25 years, its membership has grown and its structure has been consolidated.
Today, the network represents 68 organisations active in 30 countries, with offices in Copenhagen (headquarters), Brussels, Tunisia and presence in Morocco.
The organisation still stands by universal human rights principles and believes in the value of cooperation and dialogue across and within borders. As such, the network pursues its mission through networking and exchange between its members and partners, capacity building as a way to improve their skills, monitoring and documenting human rights violations and abuses, and advocacy work.
The section below will give you a full overview of our vision, mission and working methods.
Wadih Al-Asmar,
Honorary President
Rasmus Alenius Boserup,
Executive Director
EuroMed Rights
A NETWORK BRIDGING TWO SHORES
EuroMed Rights is one of the largest and most active networks of human rights organisations in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
Founded in 1997, EuroMed Rights encompasses 68 organisations from 30 countries. Its work is aimed at promoting and protecting human rights and democracy in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean regions and at influencing the policies of major European actors towards these areas.
Vision and Mission
EuroMed Rights’ vision is human rights and democracy for all in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
Its mission is to strengthen the collaboration between human rights organisations from the South, the East and the North of the Mediterranean, and to increase their influence at home and abroad. This mission is achieved by facilitating the creation of joint strategies and action plans between members, and by conveying their shared analyses and views to decision-makers and to the public.
In its 2022-2027 strategy, alongside its regular work on Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries, EuroMed Rights identifies five key political goals:
- Reinforced Migration and Asylum Rights
- Advanced Gender Equality
- Increased Accountability, Justice and Space for Civil Society
- Strengthened Democracy and Fundamental Freedoms
- Enhanced Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
In parallel, EuroMed Rights strives to achieve five organisational goals:
- Energising its Member Base
- Increasing its Visibility and Impact
- Reducing its Carbon Footprint
- Improving its Financial Sustainability and Diversification
- Improving Internal Learning
Read “Improve and Advance”, EuroMed Rights’ 2022-2027 strategy.
Working Methods
EuroMed Rights works through, for and in collaboration with its members. Besides, we engage with hundreds of other civil society organisations and with national and international state institutions operating in the field of human rights. We do so by combining the key work methods explained below.
- Analysis and monitoring: EuroMed Rights monitors the development of the human rights and democracy situation in the Euro-Mediterranean region through desk-studies, field missions and other forms of data-collection. We also procure or produce fact-checked analyses of key trends and phenomena of relevance for our work. We use the results of the monitoring and analysis to strengthen the capacities and understanding of our members on specific issues and processes. We also use them as input and background for our political positioning and in the planning of our programme and advocacy and communication activities.
- Collaboration and co-creation: EuroMed Rights facilitates collaboration and co-creation among its members and stakeholders. In our co-creation processes, we often reach beyond the civil society sector to engage and mobilise national and international state actors and institutions. Most of our work is implemented through the organisation of a broad number of working groups, in which our members meet with their peers and with other stakeholders to exchange ideas, receive training, make joint action plans, and take joint decisions.
- Advocacy and communication: EuroMed Rights influences and reaches out to decision-makers, policymakers and the broader public through its advocacy and communication work. It does so in close collaboration with our members and partners. Our advocacy actions target international bodies such as the EU, as well as both regional and national governments including the EU member states and governments in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean.
- Mainstreaming: EuroMed Rights uses mainstreaming to address issues and concerns that affect the entire organisation. We systematically conduct gender mainstreaming throughout our work and ensure that freedom of expression, freedom of association, the right to peaceful assembly and movement, and access to decision makers and funding for civil society are addressed in all our programmes