Annual Report 2020

2020 turned out to be a strange year for all of us – including for the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. The Covid-19 pandemic changed our work in many ways. 

As an organization working for human rights in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and globally on themes such as freedom of religion or belief, always wanting to be out in the field and observe with our own eyes – it has been far from ideal to be confined to our home offices.

The most visible change is that Bjørn Engesland resigned from his position in September after 25 years as the Secretary General, when the NHC grew from being just a handful of people to what we are now, about 30 professional, dedicated people. I want to use this opportunity to thank Bjørn for his impressive and devoted efforts for the cause of democracy and human rights. I also want to applaud Gunnar M. Ekeløve-Slydal, for his great work in the challenging time he was the Functioning Secretary General.

The recruitment of a new Secretary General is obviously an essential task for a board and required a lot of time and effort during the autumn. We are therefore delighted with the recruitment of Geir Hønneland as the new Secretary General of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. He has extensive experience from various leadership positions, at research institutions as well as from organizational life, and not least from some of the countries of our field of work. We have great expectations for the NHC ahead with Geir at the helm.

To our great sorrow, 2020 was also the year we received the sad news that our colleague Enver Djuliman had passed away. We mourn the loss of such a real fighter for young people to understand the value of democracy and human rights, especially in terms of conflict resolution, intercultural understanding, and reconciliation. It was particularly sad that we could neither come together and take farewell, nor be able to properly honour him because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

2020 turned out to be a year of new significant challenges and inspirations for our work in the field. The demonstrations in Belarus after the August Presidential Election which developed into a rebellion against the regime of Aleksandr Lukashenka is awe inspiring. We are proud of our long-lasting work in Belarus and the strong ties with our impressive partners on the ground. At the time of writing, despite repressive police operations, people are getting together all over Russia protesting the treatment of Alexei Navalny and authoritarian rule. One day, democracy and free elections will prevail!

In the Oslo headquarter of the organization, a major part of last year was used to further develop administrative procedures and work methods. Improved fundraising strategies play an essential part in this work. I am confident that after this process, the NHC will be even better prepared for future challenges and go out and do the work we are here to do: To fight for democracy and human rights!