ABOUT PHILRIGHTS

The Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights) is the research and information arm of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA). PhilRights was formally constituted on December 18, 1991, although it was already operating starting July 1991.

The formation of PhilRights resulted from discussions that started as early as 1986, the year PAHRA was founded by some 150 human rights organizations and individual advocates. Human rights advocates had long felt the need for a research and information institution that would provide information, documentation, research and analyses not only for the Philippine human rights movement but for the broader public as well. This need was validated in a national consultation in June 1990. By the 3rd National Congress of PAHRA in December 1990, the resolution for a human rights center was firmed up. Thus was PhilRights born.

PhilRights is an associated NGO of the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) and has a special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC).

PhilRights’ Vision, Mission and Goals:

PhilRights envisions a just, democratic, peaceful and prosperous Philippines founded on a culture of human rights and gender equity. It envisions a society where each individual is able to fully realize one’s potential as a human person, to participate effectively in the economic, political and cultural life, and to share equitably in the benefits of economic progress.

To achieve this, PhilRights seeks to empower Filipinos, either directly or through their organizations by:

1. Deepening awareness, knowledge and understanding of PAHRA and the general public about human rights conditions, issues and mechanisms;

2. Working for a dynamic human rights movement that is able to mobilize sectors and groups for timely and effective intervention in the promotion and defense of human rights, by providing human rights information and tools in information handling and dissemination;

3. Helping ensure state compliance with its human rights obligations through active monitoring and engagement;

4. Strengthening cooperation and partnership with local and international networks in the conduct of human rights activities through lively exchange and sharing of information; and

5. Enhancing people’s capability to promote and defend human rights through education and training on research, advocacy, and information handling and dissemination.