Fellowship Advocacy trip to London

News | Posted on Monday 5 February 2024

The current CAHR fellows recently spent four days in London on a networking and advocacy trip.

On the first day, English PEN hosted an event on Writers and Journalists at risk, inviting other organisations supporting freedom of expression to hear directly from the Fellows. The second day started with a visit to the Houses of Parliament, where the Fellows had a meeting with the All Party Parliamentary Group for Human Rights. Following this, they were able to observe Prime Ministers’ Questions (PMQs) and see UK democracy in action. They were lucky to see the York MP ask a question in Parliament just before the start of PMQs. In the afternoon, meetings were held with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Women, Peace and Security group and with various desk and thematic officers at the Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

During the remaining days meetings were also held with Amnesty International, Open Society Foundation and other nongovernmental organisations working in areas similar to those of the CAHR human rights defenders. All in all a very busy and very valuable trip.