Euro-med Human Rights Monitor stands as a vital, youth-led and independent non-profit organization dedicated to upholding the fundamental human rights of individuals throughout Europe and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. With a particular focus on those facing immense challenges – living under occupation, enduring war, political instability, or displacement due to persecution and conflict – Euro-Med Monitor is committed to advocacy and change.
Established in November 2011 and officially registered in Switzerland (CH-660.0.748.015-1), Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor emerged from the powerful wave of popular movements against oppression that swept across the Arab world. The organization’s core inspiration lies in supporting these aspirations for freedom and justice by fostering international awareness and galvanizing human rights organizations and policymakers to address violations of fundamental rights, especially freedom of expression.
Today, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor operates with a strategic administrative and policy center in Geneva – the hub of numerous UN human rights bodies – and a regional office in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. Furthermore, the organization maintains a network of representatives and collaborations with entities across the wider MENA region and Europe. Euro-Med Monitor’s operations are expertly managed by a geographically diverse senior staff and guided by a dedicated Board of Trustees, ensuring robust oversight and strategic direction.
Our Areas of Focus and Activities
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor plays a crucial role in the human rights landscape of the MENA region, acting as a complementary force and partner to other human rights organizations. Through a variety of channels, including timely news bulletins, insightful video interviews, and comprehensive in-depth reports, Euro-Med Monitor delivers detailed accounts of human rights incidents often overlooked by mainstream sources. Moreover, the organization rigorously investigates broader patterns of human rights abuses that demand sustained attention and action. Critically, Euro-Med Monitor also proposes concrete recommendations aimed at mitigating humanitarian crises and providing essential support to affected populations.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor leverages these tools to achieve the following key objectives:
- Enhance Human Rights Awareness: To significantly raise awareness and understanding of international human rights law within the countries of Europe and the MENA region.
- Promote Accountability: To utilize international legal frameworks to hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations, ensuring justice and deterring future abuses.
- Empower Local Institutions: To collaborate with and support local organizations in the implementation of joint projects that advance human rights and build local capacity.
- Galvanize International Action: To actively encourage international and European human rights organizations, as well as key decision-makers, to prioritize and address specific, critical human rights violations.
- Highlight Marginalized Groups: To bring to the forefront the unique challenges and vulnerabilities faced by marginalized populations within the region, advocating for their specific needs and rights.
- Champion Peaceful Legal Channels: To promote the utilization of peaceful and lawful means to expose perpetrators of human rights violations, including those who obstruct the crucial work of legal professionals and the justice system.
Thematic areas of particular concern for Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor include:
- The treatment of civilians during armed conflicts and ensuring their protection under international humanitarian law.
- The rights of refugees and migrants, advocating for their humane treatment, protection, and access to asylum.
- Youth rights, empowering young people and addressing the specific challenges they face in the region.
- Women’s and children’s rights, working to eliminate discrimination and violence against these vulnerable groups.
- Freedom of expression, defending the right to opinion and information as a cornerstone of democratic societies.
- Extralegal executions, combating unlawful killings and demanding accountability for state-sponsored violence.
- Torture and other forms of ill-treatment, working towards the eradication of torture and ensuring redress for victims.
Our Guiding Principles
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor operates under a set of core philosophies that shape its approach and priorities:
- Inclusive Human Rights: We believe that human rights reach their fullest potential when they extend beyond basic protections and freedoms to actively include marginalized populations. This means prioritizing the needs and voices of groups like refugees in setting agendas and driving advocacy efforts.
- Youth Empowerment: Young people are the driving force behind Euro-Med Monitor. Recognizing that youth constitute the majority in the MENA region, we are committed to developing and empowering this generation as agents of positive change in the human rights landscape.
- Targeted Advocacy: Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor strategically focuses its advocacy on European institutions responsible for monitoring and regulating development, law, and human rights, as well as the international bodies they support. We strive to engage these influential actors to take concrete action and leverage their power to benefit the communities we serve.
Commitment to Independent Funding
Since its inception, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has made a firm commitment to financial independence. To safeguard its vision, maintain an unbiased perspective, and resist undue external influence, the organization resolutely refuses funding, sponsorship, or support from governmental and political faction bodies. Instead, Euro-Med Monitor relies on the generosity of individual donations, project-based funding from independent international organizations, and community-driven crowdfunding campaigns. These crowdfunding initiatives are organized by a dedicated team multiple times annually. Funds raised are strategically allocated to support specific projects and provide fair compensation, including salaries and bonuses, to the young professionals who form the backbone of the Euro-Med team across the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. Furthermore, a dedicated network of international activists, human rights defenders, and members of the Euro-Med Monitor’s Board of Trustees and Board of Directors actively contribute to securing diverse funding sources and upholding the organization’s crucial independence.
Examples of impactful crowdfunding campaigns previously launched by Euro-Med Monitor include initiatives like:
- Second stage – supporting vital projects and initiatives.
Our Core Mission
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor’s mission is rooted in an urgent need: to establish a truly independent and non-governmental organization dedicated to investigating and exposing oppression and human rights abuses throughout Europe and the MENA region. Our mission extends beyond mere observation and documentation of violations. We are committed to shaping public opinion and “planting the seeds” for robust international mobilization. This involves actively engaging advocacy organizations, governmental bodies, watchdog groups, and grassroots activists to take meaningful action.
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor firmly believes in the power of international law as a vital instrument of global governance. We strive to ensure that international law once again serves as a reliable source of recourse for the oppressed and persecuted, offering pathways to recognition, redress, and just compensation. Ultimately, our mission is to contribute to a world where impunity for human rights abusers becomes a relic of the past, regardless of power or influence.
