Yared Hailemariam, Director of the Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Centre and Defend Defenders’ liaison to the African Union, was interviewed. The Executive Director of the Ethiopian Human Rights Defender Centre is Yared Hailemariam. Under his direction, EHRDC offers human rights defenders emergency protection, advocacy, public education, capacity building, and technological assistance.
Yared is credited with founding both the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE) and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network. After being driven into exile and returning to his native country, Yared assisted in founding a number of human rights organisations. Our centre puts a lot of effort into enhancing the capabilities of human rights defenders in the nation, with a focus on women and human rights defenders.
EHRDC offers financial, psychological, and physical support to human rights advocates across Ethiopia. After 60 HRDs and organisations working for human rights gathered in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia in December 2019 for the Claiming Space forum hosted by DefendDefenders, the Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Centre (EHRDC) was created.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Centre (EHRDC) is a national network of human rights defenders that will be established by the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project in partnership with the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia, Consortium of Ethiopian Human Rights Organisations (CEHRO), and Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO).
