Approved by the Supervisory Council on January 25, 2021
Mission: We work together for Estonia that respects the human rights of each person.
Vision 2025: Estonia is an open society where human rights are important and supported by the government. Every person knows that their and others’ rights deserve to be protected.
Principles
- We follow the same values and principles in our work, which we want the society to adopt.
- We follow the Code of Ethics of Estonian NGOs.
- We are best in what we do.
- We intervene wisely, when and if we see a good opportunity.
- Our communication is accurate and based on human rights.
- We work together with those who have the same goals as we do.
EHRC has two strategic goals for 2021–2025:
Goal 1: Estonia is an open society where human rights are important, protected and guaranteed.
Goal 2: Every person knows that their and others’ rights deserve to be protected.
| GOALS | RESULTS | KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS |
|---|---|---|
Estonia is an open society where human rights are important and protected. | Prerequisites for equal opportunities are created by valuing diversity. | - diversity agreement network is expanding - the number of diversity label owners is growing - diversity agreement members attend training actively - number of events to celebrate diversity day is growing - funding for diversity and inclusivity area comes from different sources |
| Attention has been drawn to topics related to discrimination and human rights; specific places of concern have been tackled by strategic litigation. | - at least three strategic litigation cases have been dealt within a year - the number of lawyers and attorneys who are interested in cooperation is growing - every strategic litigation case has a plan of action and communication with donation activities for funding the case - there is a web-based tool for potential plaintiffs to test whether their case is related to discrimination |
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| Efficient and high quality legal aid is ensured for asylum seekers and refugees. | - primary legal consultation is offered to most of the asylum seekers in Estonia - at least five strategic cases have been dealt with in a year - area is funded from different sources |
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| Every person’s sense of security is increased by fighting prevalent hostility in the society. | - basic research is conducted on hate crimes in Estonia - there is a permanent funding for fighting hate speech and hate crimes |
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Every person knows that their and others’ rights deserve to be protected. | Awareness on human rights has improved. | - number of people who know what human rights are, is growing (at least 70%) - report “Human rights in Estonia” has been published every other year - study about public opinion on topics related to LGBTQ has been published every other year - input has been given to every political initiative and draft which we have competence for - Human rights guide platform is visited more often |
| People and organisations, who think standing up for human rights is important, have been brought together all over Estonia. | - human rights ambassadors program is a functional network with at least 15 ambassadors in 9 counties - volunteer feedback shows that they understand their tasks - there are 200 permanent donors and the sum of yearly donations covers EHRC’s indirect costs - equal treatment network is working actively - information channels have 14 000 regular visitors website traffic has risen from year to year |
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| The competence and scope of activity of Human Rights Centre has been increased. | - there has been an active contribution to the work of networks and organisations from Europe and all over the world - work has been started in regard to data protection and privacy - employees are informed on the centre’s goals, they are motivated and satisfied - the number of spokespersons has been growing along with speeches and appearances on media - funding comes from at least eight different sources in a year |
In order to implement the strategy, it is important to have:
- expertise – EHRC is an expert organisation, every new initiative needs thorough preparation and involving people with specific knowledge;
- leadership – change is only possible if every EHRC’s scope of activity has a leader and we will take a proactive role in dealing with strategic goals;
- resources – sufficient resources are important in order to implement activities, therefore we will continue working with our long-time supporters, find new funding opportunities and collect donations;
- cooperation – we will join forces with others whose goals match with ours’, including public authorities, international organisations, local authorities, businesses, non-governmental organisations and private citizens.
The strategy is supplemented by an annual action plan that takes into account the outlook for the near future. An action plan is approved by the board no later than December of the previous year. The implementation of the action plan is reviewed and assessed at the end of the year.
