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On 19 March 2025, Human Rights House Foundation delivered a statement on Ukraine at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council calling for full cooperation with the Commission of Inquiry, and for the international community to continue its vital support to victims and survivors of Russia’s war against Ukraine, ensuring accountability for the international crimes.

From 10-16 March 2025, the third edition of the Portraits of Strength exhibition, featuring women human rights defenders from the Network of Human Rights Houses, is exhibited at Vega Scene in Oslo as part of the Human International Documentary Film Festival.

On the 11th anniversary of Crimea’s Resistance to the Russian Federation’s unlawful occupation, Human Rights House Crimea, its member organisations, and the Human Rights House Foundation reaffirm their strong commitment to protecting human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the dignity of all individuals in the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol.

In February 2025, Ukraine marks three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion and eleven years in total of armed Russian aggression against the country starting with the annexation of Crimea, sparking an “avalanche of atrocities” and human rights violations. In this interview with HRHF, Ukrainian human rights defender Tetiana Pechonchyk, discusses the potential escalation of the war, Ukrainian civil society’s current human rights focuses, the impact of disrupted US support for Ukraine, and how it could strengthen China’s influence in the region, among other pressing issues.

“We cannot rely on Trump’s United States to attempt to civilise human conflict. Now we must rely on American civil society and the EU” writes Human Rights House Foundation’s Chairperson Bernt Hagtvet in a recent op-ed for the Norwegian publication VG.

On 8 January 2025, Human Rights House Foundation delivered an intersession statement at the UN Human Rights Council urging states to ensure consistent monitoring and reporting of the human rights situation in Crimea, to advocate for the release of all political prisoners and for access for independent monitors of detention facilities, and to continue to support the work of international accountability mechanisms.

From June 2022 to November 2024, Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) implemented a 30-month regional project that provided opportunities for emergency support for Ukrainian civil society and independent media in the wake of the full-scale Russian invasion. The project was funded by the European Union and implemented by ERIM-led coalition of partners, including including Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House, Black Sea Trust, East Europe Foundation, Human Rights House Tbilisi and HRHF.

Hennadii Vypynashko is a Ukrainian human rights defender who coordinated the Protection Program of the Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv for over 2.5 years, supporting civil society representatives affected by Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine. In this interview, he shares stories about supported human rights defenders and journalists, his motivation, and key takeaways from his experience.

From October 7-11, 2024, 15 human rights defenders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine gathered for a week of advocacy as a part of the Network of Human Rights Houses’ 30th anniversary celebrations. Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) and Network partners aimed to deepen engagement with Norwegian policymakers and raise awareness of critical human rights challenges across the region, emphasising the need for increased political and financial support from Norway for civil society.