The mission of the Defenders’ Wellbeing Collective (DWC) is to understand the impact of human rights work on people who are from or directly working with communities to address human rights around the world.

The DWC has garnered an overwhelming response from human rights defenders worldwide. The remarkable interest demonstrates the urgent need for wellbeing support among human rights defenders and highlights the potential of the DWC to make a transformative impact on the field.

The program started in April 2023, the DWC is a two-year program that provides a space for human rights defenders to connect, learn, and strengthen their wellbeing practices, with virtual meetings and workshops every two months. The DWC plans to produce an internal work report, a survey of wellbeing on human rights defenders and a collection of reflections and shorter pieces of information for the overall public.

The Wellbeing Project co-created the DWC in collaboration with the Human Rights Resilience Project. The Wellbeing Project supports the work of the DWC in an administrative and advisory way.