Front Line or The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders is an Irish-based human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 organisation founded in Dublin, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 in 2001 to protect human rights defenders at risk, i.e. those who work non-violently to uphold the human rights of others as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...

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The organisation was founded by Mary Lawlor, former director of the Irish Section of Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

 and businessman and philanthropist Denis O'Brien

Denis O'Brien

Denis O'Brien is an Irish businessman with international connections. An Arts graduate of University College Dublin, O'Brien has received a MBA in corporate finance from Boston College in 1982, and was later given an honorary doctorate by University College Dublin.O'Brien has involvement with...

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Front Line has Special Consultative Status with the Social and Economic Council of the United Nations and has Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is a quasi-judicial body tasked with promoting and protecting human rights and collective rights throughout the African continent as well as interpreting the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and considering individual complaints of...

. In 2006 Front Line established a European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 office in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

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Front Line received the King Baudouin International Prize for Development in 2007.

Aims

Front Line was established with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk, people who work, nonviolently, for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Front Line aims to deliver fast and effective action to address the protection needs identified by defenders themselves. Front Line's overall goal is to enable human rights defenders, as key agents of social change, to continue their work without the risk of harassment, intimidation or arrest.

Activities

Front Line seeks to provide rapid and practical support to at-risk human rights defenders, including through:

� international advocacy on behalf of human rights defenders at immediate risk;
� grants to pay for the practical security needs of human rights defenders;
� training and resource materials on security and protection, including digital security;
� rest and respite, including the Front Line Fellowship;
� opportunities for networking and exchange between human rights defenders,
including at the biennial Dublin Platform;
� the annual Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk;
� an emergency 24 hour phone line for human rights defenders operating in Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Russian.

In emergency situations, Front Line can facilitate temporary relocation of human rights defenders. Front Line promotes strengthened international and regional measures to protect human rights defenders including through support for the work of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. Front Line seeks to promote respect for the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

Front Line also conducts research and publishes reports on the situation of human rights defenders in specific countries.