A visit to our Mexican grantee partners

Photo series: Earlier this year, the NHRF traveled to Mexico to meet with our grantee partners there. Scroll down to find some visual impressions from the visit.
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After four years of not being able to travel to Mexico, NHRF staff made a visit in February 2023. They were accompanied by John Peder Egenæs, former Chair of the Board of NHRF and Secretary General of Amnesty International Norway, and his colleague. The purpose of the visit was to meet our grantee partners and introduce our Executive Director and staff working with Mexico, to hold a capacity-building seminar for all our grantee partners and to expand our network in the country.

Several important topics such as the current situation and risks for human rights defenders, women's rights and participation, and the defence of indigenous land and environmental rights shaped the discussions during this visit.

Grantee partner seminar

Capacity building and strengthening of grantees' networks are among the most important elements of NHRF support to local human rights organisations. During our two-day partner seminar in Mexico City, representatives of all Mexican grantee partners were able to meet and engage in dialogue.

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Capacity-building sessions were held in the areas of financial management, security and psychosocial support, inclusion of youth and others.

A tradition of past grantee seminars in Mexico has been the facilitation of direct dialogue with the Norwegian Ambassador. We held a roundtable at the Norwegian Embassy where participants were able to inform the Ambassador about the main challenges they face in their work.

The presence of other human rights organisations and institutions at the roundtable also contributed to establishing important networks.

For the “materials expo”, participants were asked to bring material from their work. This was an inspiring starting point for exchange and further conversations.
We were happy to see that the participation of women among the seminar participants was very high. All our grantee partners in Mexico are led by women.

Visit to grantee partners in central Mexico

NHRF staff were able to visit our grantee partners Aluna Acompañamiento Psicosocial and Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Francisco de Vitoria in their offices in Mexico City, where we had good conversations about, among other things, the current political changes in Mexico and their impact on human rights organisations in the country.

We were also able to attend a commemorative event organised by our grantee partner Organización Familia Pasta de Conchos to remember the victims of mining disasters in the coal region of Coahuila since the disaster on 19 February 2006 and in the 17 years since. The event took place at their “anti-monument” located on one of Mexico City’s main streets.


Another visit was to grantee partner Red Solidaria de Derechos Humanos in Morelia, Michoacán. This organisation works with indigenous women from different communities in the region and strengthens their agency and participation in decision-making processes. A cross-community women's meeting was part of the visit and led to an enriching exchange about women's strategies for dealing with security risks and experiences of violence.

Visit to grantee partners in Oaxaca

The NHRF and Amnesty International Norway travelled to Oaxaca City to visit the grantee partners Código DH and Tequio Jurídico, who work with indigenous communities to support land and environmental defence cases in different regions of Oaxaca.

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We had informative conversations about the human rights situation in Oaxaca, which is characterised by strong economic interests that heavily impact the rural and indigenous populations.
In collaboration with the Norwegian Embassy and grantee partner Código DH, an interesting roundtable with Oaxacan civil society organisations was held. The roundtable included a session on land defence and another on women's rights, focusing on experiences from Oaxaca.
NHRF staff was also able to attend a women’s meeting organised by Código DH. Women from different indigenous communities from all over Oaxaca travelled to Oaxaca City for this inter-community workshop.
The workshop ended with outdoor games and a positive and uplifting energy for all participants.

Photos by Olmo Eyatí, Código DH and NHRF.

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