The Netherlands Helsinki Committee (NHC) is a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

that promotes

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and strengthens the rule of law and democracy in all countries of Europe, and the

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

n countries participating in the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

(OSCE).

Background

NHC was founded in 1987 to provide input on Human Rights, Economics and the Environment, and Security aspects of the

Helsinki Accords The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, betwee ...

. Max van der Stoel was among the founding members of the organization. The NHC belongs to the Helisinki Committee for Human Rights organizations found throughout Europe. The NHC builds capacity of civil society and governmental bodies with a focus on strengthening legal protection and improving public policies that affect vulnerable or disadvantaged groups. The organization cooperates with human rights NGOs, human rights lawyers and with the Council of Europe promoting rights-based approaches to human trafficking. The NHC also works on improving prison conditions and supporting probation services. Together with Leiden University and The Hague Academy for Local Governance, the NHC implements the Matra Rule of Law Training program, aiming to strengthen institutional capacity building through training professionals from

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

. The NHC supports human rights defenders and NGOs to withstand governmental pressure, improves the implementation of OSCE human dimension commitments and other international human rights agreements. It plays an active role in several civil society networks of human rights NGOs in Europe, including the ''Civil Solidarity Platform'', ''EU-Russia Civil Society Forum'', and ''Breed Mensen Overleg''. The NHC publishes pieces on human rights in '' Security and Human Rights,'' formerly known as the ''

Helsinki Monitor ''Security and Human Rights'' is a magazine that was formerly known as the ''Helsinki Monitor''. It was established in 1990 and obtained its current name in 2008. The journal is published by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers on behalf of the Netherlands ...

,'' today the online journal ''Security and Human Rights Monitor''.

References

{{reflist Human rights organisations based in the Netherlands