Partners who fund and accompany women human rights defenders want to see the work for themselves. In 2026, ambassadors, cooperation agencies and African Union mechanisms came to RFLD’s offices to meet our teams and the organisations we work with. Each visit gave defenders a direct line to people who shape policy and funding. Here are three of those moments, all in Dakar.
16 June 2026: the African Commission, Sweden and Germany at our office
On 16 June, RFLD’s Dakar office hosted a convening on the protection of women human rights defenders in West Africa. Hon. Prof. Rémy Ngoy Lumbu of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, H.E. Catharina Cappelin, Ambassador of Sweden, and representatives of Germany joined about thirty institutional actors.
The discussion focused on what defenders face in practice: threats, online attacks, and the gap between protection commitments and support that arrives in time. It also prepared the ground for the work RFLD carried to the 89th Ordinary Session of the Commission in Dakar in October. Read the full story of the convening.
1 October 2026: received at the Embassy of Sweden
A few days before the African Commission opened its session in Dakar, Ambassador Catharina Cappelin received RFLD’s Senegal team for an exchange on women human rights defenders. Sweden is a long-standing supporter of civic space in Africa, including through Sida’s support to NAFASI, the consortium in which RFLD works with Magamba Network and DefendDefenders to protect activists online. Read more about the exchange.
14 October 2026: GIZ SEA-T visits our Dakar team
During the 89th Session, Konstanze Ricken, Programme Director of SEA-T at GIZ, met our Dakar team. She came to see the work SEA-T supports with women human rights defenders and partner organisations in francophone West Africa. SEA-T is implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Read about the visit.
Why these visits matter
A visit is more than a courtesy. It lets partners hear directly from the organisations they support, and it lets defenders explain what protection means where they live. It also holds us to account: partners see our systems, our teams and the organisations we fund.
Not every partner appears on this page. Some of the foundations and donors who support RFLD have asked to remain anonymous, and we respect that choice. Their support reaches the same organisations and the same defenders.
Come and see the work
RFLD has six offices, in Accra, Dakar, Porto-Novo, Banjul, Lagos and Igolo. Partners and funders who want to meet our teams or the organisations we accompany can write to gbenagnon.john@rflgd.org. Find our offices on the Where we work page, and see what this partnership has achieved on Our achievements and Impact in numbers.
