gva4HR serves and services people, communities and institutions engaged in the realisation of human rights, particularly in contexts where persistent gaps remain between international norms and lived realities.
Its primary orientation is not toward beneficiaries in a charitable sense, but toward rights-holders, duty-bearers and intermediaries who seek to act responsibly, ethically and effectively within complex social, political and institutional environments.
gva4HR serves and services:
1. Rights-holders and communities
Including Indigenous Peoples, minorities, women and girls, youth, elders, peasants, rural workers, displaced persons and other under-represented or structurally marginalised groups, particularly where agency, participation or access to justice is constrained.
Service is provided in ways that strengthen self-determination, collective voice and the capacity to exercise rights, rather than replacing, representing or speaking on behalf of those concerned.
2. Human rights defenders, practitioners and knowledge-holders
Including activists, community leaders, lawyers, researchers, educators, journalists and care & support-providers operating at the intersection of norms, risks and lived experience.
gva4HR supports these actors through training, protection-aware accompaniment, ethical frameworks and spaces for reflection, learning and co-creation.
3. Institutions with human-rights responsibilities
Including national human rights institutions, local and regional authorities, public administrations, international organisations and UN mechanisms seeking to strengthen the design, implementation or evaluation of human-rights-based policies and practices.
Service here takes the form of capacity-building, policy analysis, methodological support and facilitation, always anchored in care, participation and accountability.
4. Academic and training ecosystems
Including universities, law clinics, training institutes and research networks engaged in applied, ethical and impact-oriented human-rights work.
gva4HR services these actors by bridging theory and practice, supporting responsible research and enabling knowledge to circulate toward implementation, protection and accountability outcomes.
How gva4HR Understands “Service” and “Servicing”
Although often used interchangeably, service and servicing reflect two distinct but complementary logics of action, relationship and responsibility.
Service
Service refers to a value-based posture and ethical orientation.
It is rooted in purpose, responsibility and relational commitment.
Within a human-rights and care-centred framework, service:
- is guided by core principles (dignity, non-harm, participation, accountability);
- is oriented toward enabling agency, not substituting it;
- recognises the autonomy and legitimacy of those concerned;
- unfolds over time and adapts to context, risk and lived realities;
- prioritises alignment with purpose over efficiency alone.
Service is therefore relational and political in the constructive sense: it shapes how power is exercised, shared or restrained.
It answers the question: why and from where do we act?
Servicing
Servicing refers to an operational function or set of concrete actions.
It is task-oriented, time-bound and often transactional.
In institutional contexts, servicing:
- delivers specific outputs or support functions (training sessions, research, facilitation, technical assistance);
- responds to identified needs or requests;
- follows agreed scopes, timelines and responsibilities;
- can be measured, scheduled and evaluated.
Servicing answers the question: what is being done and how?
Why the Distinction Matters
Servicing without service risks becoming extractive, technocratic or performative.
Service without servicing risks remaining symbolic or ineffective.
In rights-based and care-centred work, servicing must be anchored in service.
Tasks, tools and outputs derive their legitimacy and impact from the ethical posture that guides them.
From this perspective, gva4HR:
- serves by holding space, values, purpose and responsibility;
- services by providing concrete support, methods, expertise and facilitation.
Both are necessary, but they are not the same.
gva4HR’s Role in the Human Rights Ecosystem
Ultimately, gva4HR serves the integrity, coherence and future viability of the human-rights ecosystem itself, by working from care, co-creation and purpose rather than control, extraction or performative compliance—supporting others to act with agency, responsibility and dignity across contexts and scales.
What we achieved in 2025:
What we achieved in 2024:
What we achieved in 2023:
- two Geneva Courses during the ordinary sessions of the Human rights Council (‘HR-Council’) of March and September;
- one Briefing on the session of the UN Minority Forum (November);
- three Courses to participants of the OHCHR Fellows (Indigenous Peoples in July and Minorities in November)
- a series of courses and conferences for our partners;
- a study on the protection role of human rights NGOs in the human rights system;
- Expert Seminars on the role of NGOs and on the strengthening of UN Special procedures (June);
- activities in our implementation projects (enforced disappearances, indigenous peoples, religious freedom, and West Papua
What we achieved in 2022:
- two Geneva Courses during the ordinary sessions of the Human rights Council (‘HR-Council’) of March and September;
- our annual Briefing on the June session of the HR-Council;
- a series of courses and conferences for our partners;
- a study on the role of the civil society in the human rights system;
- a study on the strategies of hardliner states in the Council;
- an Expert Seminar on indigenous peoples’ rights (July);
- activities in our implementation projects on enforced disappearances, indigenous peoples, religious freedom, and West Papua;
- updated Web-page & Newsletter of GHR.
What we achieved in 2021:
- two Geneva Courses during the ordinary sessions of the Human rights Council (‘HR-Council’) of February-March and September;
- our virtual Briefing on the 47th session of the HR-Council (June);
- an hybrid Briefing on the mechanisms of the Council (November);
- several courses and briefings lectures for our partners;
- a study on the role of the civil society in the human rights system;
- a study on the strategies of hardliner states in the Council;
- an Expert Seminar on indigenous peoples’ rights (July);
- an Expert Seminar on enforced disappearance (November);
- activities in our implementation projects on enforced disappearances, indigenous peoples, religious freedom, and West Papua;
- updated Web-page & Newsletter of GHR.
What we achieved in 2020:
- a Campaign for a human rights approach of the Covid-19 pandemic;
- two Geneva Courses during the ordinary sessions of the HR-Council (February-March and September);
- our first virtual Geneva Course during the sessions of mechanisms of the HR-Council (November-December);
- one introduction Course to the HR-Council’s September session;
- several courses and briefings lectures for our partners in Geneva;
- a study on the role of the civil society to the UN human rights system;
- many activities of our implementation projects on enforced disappearances, on indigenous peoples, on religious freedom, and on West Papua;
- an international press conference on the situation in West Papua;
- a report on the best ways to create the legal entity of the South Asia Forum on Freedom of Religion or Belief‘ (SAF-FoRB);
- updated Web-page & Newsletter of GHR.
What we achieved in 2019
- two Geneva Courses during the ordinary sessions of the HR-Council (February-March and September); one introduction Course to the HR-Council’s June session;
- two Expert Seminars, on indigenous issues and on the future of the UN Special procedures; and a second screening of the Documentary ‘the Subversives’;
- several courses and briefings during the sessions of the UPR;
- In-Country Course for Tibetans in India;
- many activities of our implementation projects on enforced disappearances, on indigenous peoples, on religious freedom, on Botswana and on West Papua;
- a dozen lectures for our partners, in particular universities and the OHCHR;
- renewed Web-page & launching ‘implementation Now’, the Newsletter of GHR.
What we achieved in 2018
- two Geneva Courses during the ordinary sessions of the HR-Council (March, September); and one introduction Course to the June session of the HR-Council;
- one specific Geneva Course for Turkish users;
- two Expert Seminars, on the World Conference on Human Rights (June), and on Indigenous Peoples’ rights (July), with a total of 124 participants; and the screening of the Documentary on Theo Van Boven, former UN Human Rights Director;
- several courses and briefings during the sessions of the UPR Working group for NGOs coalitions from Botswana, Nigeria, Russia, Hong Kong, Tibet;
- In-Country Courses in Russia, West Papua, Botswana and Bangkok;
- many activities of our implementation projects on enforced disappearances, on indigenous peoples, on religious freedom, on Botswana and on West Papua;
- the strengthening of the presence in Geneva of Forum Asia and the Dominicans;
- a dozen lectures for our partners, in particular universities and the OHCHR;
- a major update in our Web-page;
- 458 defenders trained in 2018: 71 in the Geneva Courses, 21 in the UPR briefings, 233 in the Courses for partners in Geneva (TSS), 10 in the Implementation Programme, 123 in the In-Country Courses;
- 20 interns (3-5 months) trained in the Internship Programme;