Join us for this year’s BHRC x HRLA virtual seminar on ‘Advocacy & Strategy for Human Rights Defenders’, co-hosted by the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC) and the Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA). The seminar will bring together human rights lawyers, development practitioners and civil society actors to reflect on and share strategies for creative, digital, innovative and unconventional forms of advocacy, communication and collective action that challenge repression and protect, defend and strengthen civic space. The session aims to facilitate the exchange of good practice, to cultivate solidarity and inspire a renewed sense of optimism about the transformative potential of human rights in this time of profound uncertainty.

Full Programme: https://barhumanrights.org.uk/bhrc-and-hrla-to-co-host-third-annual-virtual-seminar-in-week-of-international-human-rights-day-2025/

Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CrFslwObQKm933ynveLCwA#/registration

Speakers include:

Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC, Director of the IBA’s Human Rights Institute (Opening Keynote Speaker)

Nighat Dad, Executive Director, Digital Rights Foundation (Closing Keynote Speaker)

Jo Cecil KC, Vice Chair of BHRC

Shoaib M Khan, Chair of HRLA

Aarif Abraham, Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers

Deborah Acquaah, Justice First Fellowship Manager, LEF

Rothna Begum, Legal Advocacy Director at Waging Justice for Women, Clooney Foundation for Justice

Callum Birch, Senior Advocacy Officer, UN Advocacy Team, ARTICLE 19

Jodie Blackstock, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers & Treasurer, BHRC

Raphael Viana David, International Service for Human Rights

Asia Eaton, Interim Executive Director, Mindbridge
Dr Kamel El Hilali, Specialist, AI & Rule of Law, UNESCO & Research Associate, Yale Law School Information Society Project

Ben Keith, Barrister, 5 St Andrews Hill Chambers

Samantha Knights KC, Barrister, Matrix Chambers & Chair of the Advisory Board, European Human Rights Advocacy Centre

Dr Louise Loder, HRLA Vice Chair; BHRC Programmes / Legal Education & Training Lead; Senior Lecturer, Exeter Law School

Dr Ewelina Ochab, Senior Programme Lawyer, IBA’s Human Rights Institute

Georgia Rigg, Amnesty International Digital Disruptors

Ana Žbona, Co-Head, Civic Freedoms & Human Rights Defenders Programme, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre