Dear members, partners and friends of the International Society for Human Rights,

At the end of each year, when the Christians among us celebrate Advent and prepare for Christmas, the International Human Rights Day takes place on 10 December. In addition to the thematic focus, which provides an important impetus for global human rights work each year, the day is always an opportunity to look back thoughtfully and reflectively on the past year due to its late occurrence in the calendar. What have we achieved? What has not materialized? Where has the world changed for the better? And where are people sadly suffering more than they were a year ago?

And like every year, 2024 also presents a mixed picture. Many worrying developments intensified over the year. Far too many to cover them all in this newsletter. The reports from North Macedonia by Idriz Sinani, Bangladesh by Hasan Hamid and the Democratic Republic of Congo by Bwanga Christian are representative of the many country contexts in which tensions have increased, and the human rights situation has worsened.

However, we can also look back with gratitude on positive developments. The month of December in particular offered us some early Christmas gifts: largely fair, non-violent and transparent elections in Ghana and the end of the dictatorship of Bashar Hafez al-Assad in Syria. In their articles, our authors Bright Yom Dzeshie and Martin Musiime make it clear that these joyful developments also come with challenges.

From our own work, we are pleased and grateful to report many positive developments: the ISHR has its first long-term intern at its Africa Regional Office in Accra/Ghana, I personally had the great honour of being elected as a member of the Board of Trustees of the German Institute for Human Rights this year, and we will soon be launching a new round of our very successful ISHR Ambassador Programme. The lasting connection of our ISHR Ambassador Percy C. Mpindi, who once again contributes a wonderful poem to this newsletter with ‘The Flame of Youth’, is testament to the great talent that this programme has produced in its first edition.

We firmly believe that successful human rights work takes place at many different levels and in many different formats: academic research work is just as important as the personal stories of those affected on the one hand and of human rights champions on the other. And factual texts are just as important as works of art – which is why we always try to offer the widest possible range in our newsletters.

All this requires hard work and passionate commitment. As the ISHR’s secretariat team, we wholeheartedly and enthusiastically support the goals of the ISHR. Just like you, dear recipients and readers of our newsletter. If you would like to express your appreciation of our work not only through your unreserved loyalty but also through financial support, we warmly invite you to do so. We wish you a successful end to the year 2024 and a Merry Christmas if you celebrate it.

Please accept my deepest gratitude for your unwavering support!

Matthias Boehning
Secretary General, ISHR