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Between 1989 and 2023, more than 350 advocates from nearly 100 countries have attended the program. HRAP participants have ranged from early-career advocates who cut their teeth in very urgent human rights situations to mid-career advocates who have founded organizations. HRAP alumni have served as UN special rapporteurs, in the ministries of their governments, and at leading human rights organizations around the globe. They have been recognized with honors including the Rafto Prize, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, the highest acknowledgment from the international human rights community.
Below are the biographies of current Advocates and descriptions by select alumni as to why they became human rights advocates.
To see a list of additional past Advocates click here.
To read about more about the work of our Advocates click here .
Nigeria, 2013
Executive Director, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants-Nigeria
Sylvester Uhaa is the founder of Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE-Nigeria), which he initiated as a chapter of International CURE in 2008. CURE-Nigeria advocates for the provision of opportunities for those in prison, alternative sentencing, especially for juveniles and women, respect for the rights and dignity of those in prison, the minimum use of pre-trial detention, a moratorium on the construction of new prisons in Nigeria, and the abolition of the death penalty and other cruel and inhuman treatment of suspects. CURE-Nigeria also provides legal aid for detainees who cannot afford to pay for the services of a lawyer and establishes educational programs in the prisons. Under Uhaa’s leadership CURE-Nigeria has developed from a state to a national organization.
CURE-Nigeria has coordinated the release of over 180 detainees from prisons through legal aid. The organization also publishes a newsletter “The Advocate.” Uhaa has also completed research on female detainees and prisoners and on individuals incarcerated on debt-related issues. Other on-going projects include the establishment of libraries in prisons and public primary schools, legal aid for indigent detainees, campaigns against the use of torture, the construction of an information and technology center in the Kaduna Juvenile Borstal Institution, and a campaign for the domestication of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015.
Uhaa writes: “HRAP presented me with the biggest stage or platform to spring up since I began CURE-Nigeria in 2007 in terms of exposure to new funding opportunities, networks, and people. It added to my confidence, gave me additional skills and sharpened already acquired skills.” As a member of HRAP, Uhaa was able to collaborate with Jaclyn Sawyer, a graduate of the Columbia School of Social Work, who was awarded the Davis Project for Peace grant to travel to Nigeria to contribute to his “Books Behind Bars” Project.
Uhaa earned a master's degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford in 2015, and has been offered admission for the PhD in Politics and International Relations at the University of Reading, UK.
—Updated by Gabrielle Isabelle Hernaiz-De Jesus in 2016
—Updated by Claire Kozik, Program Assistant, Summer 2018
Nepal, 2013
Director of Programs, Youth Action Nepal
Ms. Rupa Upreti is a lawyer and women rights activist in Nepal since 2005. She co-founded the Forum for National Building (FNB) Nepal where she is also providing pro-bono legal services on gender-based violence issues. Rupa has a LLM in Human Rights and Gender Justice and a MA in Political Science with varied international trainings and fellowship experiences in the area of human rights, development leadership and insider mediation. Rupa served (July 2016-July 2020) as a Central Committee Member of the National Youth Council (NYC) of Nepal, an autonomous government body under the MOYS. She also currently serves as Director of Programs of Youth Action Nepal (YOAC). Previously, Rupa worked with the Attorney General's (AG) Office of Nepal as a trainee lawyer working on cases at the Supreme Court of Nepal and as a research team member on the research conducted by the AG Office. She has engaged in the youth movement of Nepal through YOAC and Association of Youth Organizations Nepal (AYON) in various capabilities.
