South Asia Forum for Human Rights


The South Asia Forum for Human Rights is a South Asia-focused human rights organization based in Kathmandu whose mission is to "promote respect for universal standards of human rights with emphasis on universality and interdependence of human rights." They view human rights as interlinked with peace and democracy, and their broader program encompasses all these concerns. SAFHR aims to be a forum for dialog between regional human rights organizations and activists.
SAFHR was created in 1990 as an outcome of the December 1990 Third World Congress on Human Rights in New Delhi. At this congress representatives from over fifty NGO's recognized the need for a regional perspective on South Asian human rights issues. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation had been created in 1985 for similar purposes, but SAARC was an intra-government organization, and had not focused on human rights issues.

Activities

SAFHR has a number of education programs, including a Peace Studies course and workshops on refuge and minority rights. They have a library of over a thousand books focusing on South Asian issues available to researchers.
SAFHR has published several books, including Reduced To Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab. SAFHR staff write focused reports and working papers on various topics, and issue topical E-Briefs. They were the publisher of Refugee Watch from 1998 through 2004.

Partners and Associates

The Council of SAFHR consists of representatives of roughly 40 partner organizations.
South Asian Region:
International: