Advocacy and policy
PBI UK provides protection through advocacy.
Globally, PBI advocates at all levels - from the soldier at a local checkpoint to UN leaders - to help create the security, policy and political environments in which human rights and environmental defenders can carry out their vital work.
In the UK, PBI mobilises resources and action from a range of UK stakeholders to enhance the safety and impact of activists globally. And we campaign alongside them for policy change so that governments and businesses respect rights and proactively protect defenders.
Enhancing defenders’ safety & the impact of their campaigns
Our goal is to build the conditions for human rights and environmental defenders in Latin America, Asia and Africa to create radical change at the local, national and international level, with a focus on land, environmental and Indigenous rights, women’s rights and gender equality, and peace, justice and the rule of law.
In the UK, PBI’s advocacy mobilises resources and actions from key stakeholders to both contribute to the immediate security of threatened activists and advance their longer-term causes and campaigns. Our advocacy works towards this by:
Working with defenders to influence the Government, politicians and diplomats. These actors then take action to support defenders, advance their causes, and influence the behaviour of those who seek to harm them or ought to protect them, feeding into PBI’s holistic security strategies to support those at risk.
Connecting lawyers, NGOs and other civil society groups with defenders at risk. This ensures that grassroots activists have the technical, legal, financial and other support that can amplify their campaign impact.
Linking up defenders with peers from different countries and regions. This enables the sharing of knowledge and resources and a broadening of movements for change.
We advocate alongside activists from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal and Nicaragua.
Campaigning alongside defenders for policy change in the UK
In the UK, we campaign for policy change so that governments and businesses respect rights and protect those working to defend them. PBI’s two key campaigns call for change on:
Business, human rights and the environment
As part of the Corporate Justice Coalition (CJC), PBI campaigns for the introduction of a new law by the UK government to protect people and the planet from human rights abuses and environmental destruction caused by UK companies – a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act.
PBI brings its on-the-ground knowledge to the campaign, emphasising the importance of consulting affected communities and human rights defenders - both in the UK and around the world - in the development of the legislation, and connects activists directly with decision-makers to ensure their voices are heard.
Additional resources related to our policy advocacy can be found on our Policy Advocacy Resource Hub.
Support for human rights defenders
Globally, hundreds of human rights defenders are murdered each year and countless others are imprisoned, threatened and disappeared. PBI campaigns to strengthen UK government policy on support and protection for human rights defenders at risk.
Using advocacy, research and communications, we push for the UK to implement effective diplomatic strategies to recognise and protect activists, transform the nature and scale of funding for civil society to be sustainable and flexible, and develop protection mechanisms, respite schemes and rapid response support for those facing the gravest threats.
advocacy news: Sustained engagement with the UK government keeps human rights defenders on the UK agenda
In March 2025, the head of the Central America team at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office met with Indigenous woman human rights defender Sandra Calel, from the Guatemalan organisation UVOC, to discuss the ongoing challenges related to land rights and Indigenous peoples' rights in Guatemala. In the same month, at the UN Human Rights Council, the UK delegation made an intervention highlighting the need for stronger protections and underscoring the essential role they play in advancing human rights globally.
At PBI UK, we carry out persistent and strategic advocacy with the UK government - both in London and through its diplomatic missions abroad - urging the UK to support the vital work of human rights defenders. This helps to keep the issue of human rights defenders high on the UK’s agenda, prompting different parts of the government to take action. These kinds of actions are a critical piece of the puzzle for helping to keep defenders safe, offering both moral and political support, and reinforcing the international framework that enables them to carry out their work without fear of harassment.