
ENNHRI’s Regional Action Plan to promote and protect Human Rights Defenders and enable democratic space finalised following participative process
The final version of ENNHRI’s Regional Action Plan to the GANHRI Marrakesh Declaration is now available.
The Marrakesh Declaration on the role of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in expanding civil space and promoting and protecting Human Rights Defenders was adopted last October by the Global Alliance NHRIs (GANHRI) at its annual conference.
ENNHRI’s Regional Action Plan aims to implement the declaration in Europe. It includes actions for NHRIs acting nationally as well as collectively as a European network under the areas of prevention (i.e. ensuring an enabling environment for HRDs) and reaction (i.e. continuous and rapid responses to democracy and HRDs coming under threat).

The formulation of the Regional Action Plan involved a process of consultation during and after ENNHRI’s Annual Conference in October 2018, with input provided by NHRIs in Europe, as well as European and UN stakeholders.
The implementation of the plan is integrated into ENNHRI’s Strategic and Operational Plans for 2018-2021. It will also be subject to review and evaluation for consideration in future plans.
» Download the Regional Action Plan
For more on this topic, see:
- Publication: National Human Rights Institutions and Human Rights Defenders: Enabling human rights and democratic space in Europe
- Video: NHRIs, Human Rights Defenders and democratic space in Europe
- Article: Council of Europe adopts Recommendation on the need to protect and promote civil society space, recognising role of NHRIs
- Article: Importance of partnership between NHRIs and civil society addressed at EU Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights