HRDN Opening Remarks for the EU–NGO Human Rights Forum
PDF version available here
Brussels, December 9, 2025
Excellencies, colleagues, distinguished participants,
It is an honour to speak today on behalf of the Human Rights and Democracy Network. I am representing 67 civil society organisations who make up the Network. HRDN members are united by a shared vision: that human rights and democracy must sit at the heart of the European Union’s internal and external policy agenda. We work collectively toward an EU that protects rights at home and serves as a principled force for positive change in the world.
I will not use this time to thank all those involved in making this Forum possible, but I do want to emphasise that HRDN deeply appreciates the political and financial investment made by the European Commission and the European External Action Service. Bringing human rights defenders, civil society and EU institutions together in one room - particularly now - is not merely symbolic, it is strategic and essential.
This year’s Forum with the theme ‘Equality and non-Discrimination’ takes place at a moment of profound pressure on human rights, democracy and civil society worldwide. Anti-rights movements continue to expand. Donor priorities are shifting or being reduced at best, and at worst withdrawn entirely.
According to CIVICUS, civic freedoms were restricted in the overwhelming majority of countries in 2024, with civil society “under severe attack” in 116 out of 198 countries and territories.Governments are increasingly adopting tactics similar to Russia’s, forcing some NGOs to register as ‘foreign agents to undermine their legitimacy, restrict funding, and stifle human rights activism and democratic opposition. In recent years, countries such as Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Paraguay, Peru or El Salvador proposed and/or adopted foreign agent laws and thus posed a direct threat to civil society and democracy. In other countries in Europe, such as Russia and Turkey, human rights defenders are already being labelled as foreign agents, threats to the state or extremist.
And who bears the brunt of this?
Among others, those defending equality, dignity, and inclusion: organisations working on racial justice, gender equality, women’s rights, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and minority rights and the human rights of LGBTIQ+ persons.
More and more we are seeing laws being designed not to protect the fundamental rights of people, neither to address any genuine societal needs but to marginalise a community, undermine international human rights standards and institutions and slowly but surely dismantle democracy and the rule of law.
If left unchallenged these tactics will spread further, undermining a human rights framework that has been built for decades.
We note recent EU efforts and commitments - including the Gender Equality Strategy and the LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy. Yet the space for this work is narrowing, and risks to defenders are growing.
So, against this backdrop, HRDN enters this Forum with three overarching recommendations.
First, we urge the EU not only to get input or hear the voices of human rights defenders, but to ensure they are central in shaping EU human rights and democracy action and funding: Informing priorities, driving initiatives, and participating meaningfully throughout policy and decision-making cycles. This requires strong political leadership backed by sustained, predictable, reliable support.
Second, without funding, human rights defenders cannot carry out their work. The EU’s credibility as a global human rights actor depends on financial instruments that are flexible, accessible, long-term, and responsive to crises. Funding must match the scale and urgency of today’s challenges. This week as a Network we are issuing a statement with key recommendations for the next Multiannual Financial Framework to ensure this. There also cannot be a voice without funding, and we call on the Commission to reverse its exclusion of advocacy activities towards EU institutions and review match funding requirements from its current and future contracts and calls for proposals.
Third, we call for the concrete, timely, and transparent implementation of the EU’s two new instruments: the Civil Society Strategy and the Democracy Shield. These frameworks have the potential to transform how the EU approaches the challenges in tackling discrimination and inequality, both inside the Union and beyond it. Their impact, however, will depend on how rapidly and robustly they are operationalised, and on whether civil society is meaningfully involved in their rollout, monitoring, and evaluation.
As we open this year’s Forum, let us use this unique platform to inform, influence, and strengthen our collective efforts.
Let us reaffirm our commitment to defending human rights and democracy, and ensure that those on the frontlines have the political and financial support they need to continue their essential work.
Thank you.
Human Rights & Democracy Network
https://www.hrdn.eu/
