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Protection International (PI)

Website:

www.protectioninternational.org/
Type:

Human Rights Group
Formation:

2007
Executive Director:

Mae Ocampo
Location:

Brussels, Belgium

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Protection International (PI) is a left-of-center human rights organization that works on the “preventative protection” of human rights defenders through  public policy advocacy, rethinking and expanding protection mechanisms, and countering the criminalization of human rights defenders. 1

The organization is one of the 12 NGOs that make up the consortium of Protect Defenders EU, the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism. 2

Mae Ocampo, the executive director of Protection International, is described on the organization’s website as a “feminist woman human rights defender,” who “has been involved in environmental justice and human rights work” for more than 30 years including in senior positions at international nongovernmental organizations such as ActionAid International, the European Women’s Lobby, and Friends of the Earth International. 3 4

Background

Protection International is a left-of-center human rights organization that focuses on protecting human rights defenders, a United Nations term for peace workers and activists who aim to protect human rights. 5 6

Protection International works on the “preventative protection” of human rights defenders through public policy advocacy, rethinking and expanding protection mechanisms, and countering the criminalization of defenders. Protection International also states that it “adds it [sic] voice to campaigns” on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the European Union. 7

Protection International was founded in 2007 by former volunteers of Peace Brigades International, a center-left human rights organization that focuses on protecting human rights activists and organizations during violent conflicts by providing nonviolent third-party intervention. 8 9

The eventual founders of Protection International, Pascale Boosten, Marie Caraj, Enrique Eguren, and Christoph Klotz, organized the first European Parliament hearing on the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in 1998; participated in the drafting committee of what is now known as the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in 2001; and contributed to the development of the European Union Guidelines for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in 2004. PI joined the Human Rights and Democracy Network after its official formation in 2007. 10

Although the organization has a central office in Brussels, Belgium, Protection International is “going through a decentralization process” to establish regional hubs. The organization has regional hubs in Africa, Mesoamerica, South America, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia. 11 12

Affiliated Organizations

Protection International is one of the 12 NGOs that make up the consortium of Protect Defenders EU, the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism. 13

Other members of the Protect Defenders EU consortium are Frontline Defenders, a nonprofit organization that works to protect and aid “human rights defenders at risk (HRDs)”; Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based advocacy group supporting government transparency and journalistic freedom worldwide, documenting and reporting information, and lobbying various organizations such as the United Nations and the Council of Europe; and the International Federation for Human Rights, an international non-governmental organization that advocates supporting human rights laws that pertain to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 to uphold all “civil, political, economic, social and cultural” rights. 14 15 16 17 18

Other members of Protect Defenders EU include ESCR-Net (International Network for Economic Social and Cultural Rights), a New York City-based nonprofit that works on economic, social, and cultural issues; the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association, a left-of-center LGBT advocacy organization created in 1978 with an initial focus on decriminalizing homosexuality; Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism, an advocacy organization based in California that claims to be a support group for “women, trans and nonbinary” left-of-center activists; snf Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders, a left-of-center grantmaking foundation that was established in Denmark in 2004 by EuroMed Rights. 19 20 21 22

The other members of the consortium are human rights organizations including the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, Peace Brigades International, DefendDefenders, and the World Organization Against Torture. 23

Protection International is also a part of the Justice is Everybody’s Business coalition, which calls for the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to include “explicit provisions on the protection of human and environmental defenders.” It is also one of the founding members of the Zero Tolerance Initiative, which calls on states, investors, and businesses to refuse retaliation against “environmental human rights defenders.” 24 25

People

Mae Ocampo, the executive director of Protection International, is described on the organization’s website as a “feminist woman human rights defender,” who, from a young age, resisted “land-grabbing and the impositions of powerful institutions” in the Philippines. Ocampo has worked in the fields of human rights and environmental activism for more than 30 years. 26

Ocampo has also held senior leadership positions at NGOs including ActionAid International, the European Women’s Lobby, and Friends of the Earth International. She is also on the board of directors for Greenpeace Belgium, the Belgian hub of Greenpeace, one of the world’s most notable environmentalist organizations. 27 28

It also notes on the PI website that Ocampo “has supported actions of the Palestinian solidarity group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Refugees Welcome.” 29

Funding

The Open Society Foundations granted Protection International a total of $2,341,773 in 14 grants between 2016 and 2023; the Ford Foundation granted PI a total of $3,715,000 in five grants between 2016 and 2022; the Sigrid Rausing Trust granted a total of £1,005,000 (approximately $1,291,485) between 2013 and 2023; and the Oak Foundation granted PI $100,000 in 2023. 30 31 32 33 34

References

  1. “What We Do.” Protection International. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/our-work/what-we-do/.
  2. “ProtectDefenders – About us.” ProtectDefenders. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://protectdefenders.eu/about-us/.
  3. [1] “Our Leadership.” Protection International. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/about-us/our-leadership/.
  4. “Mae Ocampo – Experience.” LinkedIn. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mae-ocampo-58675224/details/experience/.
  5. “What We Do.” Protection International. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/our-work/what-we-do/.
  6. “Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders.” United Nations. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-human-rights-defenders.
  7. “What We Do.” Protection International. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/our-work/what-we-do/.
  8. “Our Story.” Protection International. March 14, 2022. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/about-us/our-story/.
  9. “PBI’s History.” Peace Brigades International. March 23, 2016. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.peacebrigades.org/en/about-pbi/pbi-history.
  10. “Our Story.” Protection International. March 14, 2022. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/about-us/our-story/.
  11. “Our Story.” Protection International. March 14, 2022. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/about-us/our-story/.
  12. “Where We Work.” Protection International. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/our-work/where-we-work/.
  13. “ProtectDefenders – About us.” ProtectDefenders. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://protectdefenders.eu/about-us/.
  14. “ProtectDefenders – About us.” ProtectDefenders. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://protectdefenders.eu/about-us/.
  15. “About Us.” Front Line Defenders. February 4, 2016. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/who-we-are.
  16. “Who are we?.” January 22, 2016. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://rsf.org/en/who-are-we.
  17. “International Federation for Human Rights.” Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.fidh.org/en/about-us/What-is-FIDH/.
  18. “Our funding.” Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.fidh.org/en/about-us/our-funding/.
  19. “ProtectDefenders – About us.” ProtectDefenders. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://protectdefenders.eu/about-us/.
  20. “THE HISTORY OF ILGA: 1978/2012.” IGLA. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://ilga.org/news/ilga-history/.
  21. “Who We Are – Urgent Action Fund.” Accessed August 14, 2024. https://urgentactionfund.org/who-we-are/.
  22. “Who We Are.” EuroMed Rights. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://euromedrights.org/who-we-are/.
  23. “ProtectDefenders – About us.” ProtectDefenders. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://protectdefenders.eu/about-us/.
  24. “What We Do.” Protection International. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/our-work/what-we-do/.
  25. “Home – Focus: The Observatory On Public Policies For Defenders.” Focus: The Observatory On Public Policies For Defe. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.focus-obs.org/.
  26. “Our Leadership.” Protection International. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/about-us/our-leadership/.
  27. “Our Leadership.” Protection International. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/about-us/our-leadership/.
  28. “Mae Ocampo – Experience.” LinkedIn. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mae-ocampo-58675224/details/experience/.
  29. “Our Leadership.” Protection International. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.protectioninternational.org/about-us/our-leadership/.
  30. “Open Society Foundations – Awarded Grants, Scholarships, and Fellowships.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=protection%20international&page=2.
  31. “Grants – Ford Foundation.” Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?grantee%5B%5D=protection-international.
  32. “Protection International.” The Sigrid Rausing Trust. January 1, 2013. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.sigrid-rausing-trust.org/grantee/protection-international/.
  33. “Grants – Ford Foundation.” Accessed August 14, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?grantee%5B%5D=protection-international.
  34. “Annual Report – 2023.” Oak Foundation. Accessed August 14, 2024. https://oakfnd.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Oak-Annual-Report-2023.pdf.
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