A network bridging two shores

EuroMed Rights, formerly the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, is a regional non-governmental organisation aiming to promote human rights and democracy for all on both sides of the Mediterranean Sea.

EuroMed Rights is a network representing 65 human rights organisations active in 30 countries. It was founded in 1997, following the 1995 Barcelona Declaration, by civil society organisations dedicated to promoting human rights and democracy within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership.

EuroMed Rights’ mission is to develop and strengthen partnerships, on an equal footing, between civil society organisations at regional and national levels. By creating network opportunities and encouraging such civil society cooperation, EuroMed Rights aims to help them develop joint strategies, convey their shared views and visions to decision-makers and to the broader public, and ultimately increase their influence at home and abroad.

In its 2018-2021 strategy, EuroMed Rights identified four key thematic areas alongside its regular work on Southern Mediterranean countries.

How we work

EuroMed Rights implements its mission by combining the five working methods below:

Networking: EuroMed Rights promotes and defends human rights and democracy by initiating and facilitating the development, with its members and partners, of shared political priorities and strategies. These networking efforts mainly take the form of working groups and solidarity groups created in response to current political challenges and opportunities. These groups also serve as platforms to build capacity, trust and solidarity among the network’s members and partners to further strengthen cooperation and coordination.

Advocating: EuroMed Rights influences policy makers and authorities at national, regional and international levels to adopt and incorporate pro-human rights and pro-democracy policies, including the recommendations developed in the working groups and solidarity groups.

Communicating: EuroMed Rights mobilises support for human rights and democracy by disseminating its recommendations and positions to a wide range of audiences, including the general public through both traditional media work and social media. It also develops a host of written and audiovisual communication tools, e.g. newsletter, videos and podcasts.

Mainstreaming: EuroMed Rights promotes gender equality by systematically mainstreaming gender policies internally in its organisational policies and structures, and externally in its work to promote and defend human rights and democracy. EuroMed Rights also fights back against the repression and persecution of civil society by addressing the challenges related to shrinking space for civil society in all its programmes and activities.

Monitoring and evaluating: EuroMed Rights systematically monitors, documents and learns from its work. It uses these results to drive performance and impact, and to ensure accountability towards its members, partners, donors and the broader public. Monitoring and evaluation also helps foster internal learning and organisational development.

Secretariat

EuroMed Rights Secretariat, headed by Executive Director Rasmus Alenius Boserup, is in charge of implementing the organisation's three-year work programme, as well as strategies and action plans adopted by the Executive Committee.

Executive Committee

The General Assembly is the supreme body of EuroMed Rights; it meets every three years and elects the Executive Committee.

The 2018-2021 Executive Committee is composed of:

Wadih Al-Asmar

President

Secretary general of the movement SOLIDAR (support of Lebanese detained arbitrarily) and President of the Lebanese Centre for Human rights (CLDH). Wadih Al-Asmar is also one of the founders of the Lebanese social movement #youStink.

Catherine Teule

Vice President

Vice-President of the European Association for the Defence of Human Rights (AEDH). Catherine Teule is particularly interested in issues concerning the right of asylum and migration. She publishes articles and briefings on these themes.

Moataz El Fegiery

Treasurer

Member of the board of directors for the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS). Moataz El-Fegiery is also the MENA protection coordinator for Front Line Defenders, and co-founder and secretary general of the Egyptian Human Rights Forum.

David Bondia

President of the Human Rights Institute of Catalonia. David Bondia has been a professor in public international law and international relations at the University of Barcelona since 1995.

Theodora Christou

Executive member of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales. Theodora Christou is a barrister and an academic teaching at the London School of Economics and at Queen Mary University of London. Her primary areas of expertise are human rights, international and comparative law.

Lubna Dawany

Secretary general of Jordanian association Mizan for Law. Lubna Dawany is also a Legal Advisor and Board Member of the Family Development Association. Since the 1990s, she has co-founded a number of NGOs in Jordan to fight violence against women, human rights and women rights.

Søs Nissen

Programme manager for the MENA region at Dignity, Denmark. Søs Nissen also worked for 10 years with the Danish Institute Against Torture to support human rights work against torture in the region.

Diana Radoslavova

Head attorney and founder of the “Center for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria”. She is actively engaged in counseling, litigation and representation of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in front of administrative authorities and courts in Bulgaria and Europe .

Franco Uda

Member of the National Board of the Associazione Ricreativa e Culturale Italiana (ARCI) and Vice President of ARCS (ARCI’s NGO). Franco is a member of the boards of the European Civic Forum and the Solidar International Cooperation Forum. He works mostly on human rights, peace and solidarity.

Messaoud Romdhani

Founding member of the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES). Messaoud Romdhani is also a vice-president of the Tunisian Human Rights League and publication director at the Committee for the Respect of Liberties and Human Rights in Tunisia (CRLDHT).

Jamila Sayouri

Lawyer and the President of the Moroccan association Adala – Justice for the right to a fair trial. Jamila Sayouri is also a member of the Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights (OMDH) and the Moroccan National Council for Human Rights.

Hamdi Shaqqura

Deputy Director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights for Program Affairs. His main area of expertise is democratic development, and civil and political rights.

Honorary President

Michel Tubiana

Former President of EuroMed Rights (from 2012 to 2018), as well as the former president of the French Human Rights League (LDH) from 2000 to 2005 of which he remains the Honorary President. Michel Tubiana is a lawyer and long-time human rights defender.

Honorary President

Kamel Jendoubi

Former President of EuroMed Rights (from 2003 to 2012), former Tunisian minister in charge of relations with constitutional institutions and civil society (2015-16). Kamel Jendoubi also presided the Tunisian High independent instance for the elections (2011-2014), and currently chairs the UN Group of experts to investigate human rights violations in Yemen.

Our donors

EuroMed Rights fundraising strategy is articulated around three general principles; ensuring the network’s independence; minimising our donor dependence and guaranteeing our financial sustainability. EuroMed Rights would like to acknowledge and thank the following donors for their financial support:

Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency)

Danish-Arab Partnership Programme

European Union

Church of Sweden

Fondation de France

Sigrid Rausing Trust

Open Society Foundations

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Swiss Confederation

Heinrich Böll Foundation