The Rafto Foundation 2016 Annual ReportB R N : 8 7 7 1 5 5 1 0 2

2

ContentsAnnual report 1. Foreword: 30 years promoting human rights ........................ 42. The 2016 Rafto Prize and Rafto 30 ....................................... 83. Follow-up work – Human Rights Defender Assistance Pro-

gramme (HRDP) ................................................................. 133.1 Assistance for the Rafto Prize Laureates ........................ 133.2 Free Speech to Overcome Hate Speech .......................... 153.3 Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights .................. 153.4 The Women’s Network .................................................. 19

4. Education and public liaison ............................................... 215. Communications .................................................................246. Operations ..........................................................................27

4 5

In 2016 we reinforced and enhanced our long-term programmes. The Women’s Network has held training sessions in Lebanon and continues to develop as an important platform for young female grassroots activists from the Middle East, North Africa and South-east Asia. Within work on free speech to combat hate speech, a series of seminars was organised in Hungary, and the #tacklehom-ophobia campaign enjoyed a high profile during Oslo Pride. In collaboration with the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), and in dialogue with a number of Norwegian businesses, we started work to develop a course on human rights for the busi-ness community.

In 2016 more than 5,000 young people, teachers and student teachers took part in the Rafto Foundation’s human rights training. We are experiencing major interest in our educational offerings at the Rettighetstanken educational facility in the Rafto House, as well as in school projects such as Fremtidspiloten (the Future Pilot) and Dembra (Democratic Preparedness against Racism and Anti-Sem itism). The educational tool Demokratikaken (the Democracy Cake) is now available in Norwegian, English, Arabic and Tigrinya. Translations have also been commissioned into Vietnamese, Kore-an and Russian. In 2016 the Rafto Foundation, on the initiative of the European Wergeland Centre and Utøya AS, also helped to devel-op democracy education classes for young people on Utøya.

2016 was an extraordinary year for us. The anniversary present-ed us with the opportunity to look back and honour the Prize Laure-ates from the last 30 years as well as to look forward and to perform the groundwork to reinforce the Prize Laureates’ campaigns in a world in which human rights are coming under severe pressure.

Jostein Hole Kobbeltvedt

2016 mARkeD 30 yeARS since the death of Professor and human rights activist Thorolf Rafto and the subsequent estab-lishment of the Rafto Foundation in his memory. Rafto 30 was commemorated through various events throughout the year. The anniversary year was rounded off with a grand gala event in a packed Grieg Hall in Bergen on 20 November, with 18 Rafto Prize Laureates in attendance.

At the event, the annual Rafto Prize was awarded to the Iraqi hu-man rights activist Yanar Mohammed, whose fight for the rights of women and minorities in war-torn Iraq exposes herself and her col-leagues to great personal risk. At the Rafto Conference Yanar stat-ed that the prize would secure a higher profile for her work in her homeland.

A number of previous Rafto Prize Laureates were also exposed to various threats and risks in 2016. Padre Melo’s close colleague Berta Cáceres was murdered for campaigning to preserve natural resources in Honduras. In Bahrain, Nabeel Rajab was imprisoned for tweets critical of the government. In Russia, the human rights group and lawyer association Agora’s office in Tatarstan was forci-bly liquidated, the organisation having been branded as a “foreign agent”. In Uganda, Frank Mugisha and several LGBT activists were imprisoned during Uganda Pride. In Vietnam, Thich Quang Do remains under house arrest for his non-violent work for religious freedom and democracy.

The Rafto Foundation has provided support and striven to high-light the extremely difficult situation in which many of our prize Laureates find themselves. As part of the 30th anniversary, the Raf-to Laureates’ Forum focused on the various challenges facing hu-man rights campaigners today. The forum brought together Prize Laureates and representatives from leading international human rights organisations and the UN, the eU and Norwegian authorities.

1 FOREWORD: 30 years promotinghuman rights

“The anniversary has provided us with an opportunity to look back and honour Prize Laureates from the last 30 years, as well as to look to the future”

In 2016 the Rafto Foundation commemorated its 30th anniversary and brought together previous Prize Laureates in Bergen. From front left: José Raúl Vera López, Trimivi Velliste, Ramesh Nathan, José Ramos-Horta, Nnimmo Bassey, Junita Upadhyay, Pavel Chikov, Ian Hancock, Padre Melo, Julie Gromellon, Tatyana Fernandes. From back right: Sidi Mohammed Daddach, Maryam al-Khawaja, Rebiya Kadeer, Yanar Mohammed, Asha Kowtal, Malahat Nasibova and Frank Mugisha. Photo: Hans Jørgen Brun

8 9

The anniversary concluded with a series of events to mark the presentation of the 2016 Rafto Prize in November.

The 2016 Rafto PrizeThe Rafto Prize was awarded to the Iraqi human rights campaign-er and Director of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), Yanar Mohammed (55). Yanar received the prize for her work for women and minority groups in war-torn Iraq. The Board of Directors decided on this year’s Prize Laureate in August, on the recommendation of the Rafto Foundation’s Prize Committee, chaired by Martin Paulsen. In 2016 the Committee comprised eight volunteer members, assisted by a secretary and an admin-istration intern.

This year’s award was announced on 29 September at the Raf-to House in an event streamed live via rafto.no and nrk.no. The prize received wide coverage in Norway, including from the Nor-wegian News Agency, broadcasters NRk Hordaland, NRk Dags-revyen and TV2, regional and local newspapers. The newspapers Bergens Tidende and Dagen also wrote editorials on the prize. The AFP news agency secured good international coverage, and we are aware of around 50 online international news articles cover-ing the prize, including on Alsumaria TV and in the Baghdad Post,

THe 2016 RAFTO PRIze cOINcIDeD with the Rafto Founda-tion’s 30th anniversary in November. It was important to ensure a high public and media profile for this year’s prize, at the same time as highlighting 30 years of campaigning for human rights and raising awareness of our Prize Laureates’ causes among the general public, organisations and politicians.

Internal organisationThe Executive Director was Project Manager of the 30th anniver-sary arrangements, and in 2016 the permanent position of Project Coordinator for the Rafto Prize was established. In addition to two project positions and an intern, communications advisers and ad-visers in the follow-up department made key contributions to this year’s project.

Our partner events arranger Kulturoperatørene played a key role in arranging this year’s largest events. The student group, which this year comprised 17 members, all of whom were volunteers, also made an important contribution to the prize project. We also engaged an extra group of volunteers to help arrange the various events we held in November.

Rafto 30 – Kick-off in Oslo The Rafto Foundation’s 30th anniversary featured prominently in the media and was marked with several events throughout the year. A separate visual identity was developed and the anniversa-ry was honoured at most of the year’s events.

The anniversary started in January with an event for our part-ners and supporters in Oslo. Rafto and Nobel Prize Laureate José Ramos-Horta and the Mayor of Oslo, Marianne Borgen, gave speeches, followed by a panel debate chaired by Inga Bostad, Direc-tor of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights at the University of Oslo (UiO). Dr Rajiv Narayan, an expert on Korea and senior advis-er to the International Commission against the Death Penalty, also participated in the debate.

2The 2016 Rafto Prize and Rafto 30

Raf to PRIze LauReate 2016 Yanar Mohammed spoke to 500 business leaders at the Bergen Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Conference in November. Photo: Bergen Chamber of Commerce

10 11

The Rafto Foundation’s Oslo Group, in collaboration with the podcast Du Verden!, arranged a public event at meSH, where Yanar Mohammed and Middle East researcher Cecilie Hellestveit dis-cussed the plight of women in modern-day Iraq.

The Rafto Prize 30th Anniversary CeremonyThe 30th anniversary in 2016 provided a fitting opportunity to honour each Prize Laureate from the last thirty years. A total of 18 Prize Laureates attended the award of the Rafto Prize and a gala dinner at the invitation of the Mayor of Bergen. This year’s prize ceremony was expanded into a major anniversary event at the Grieg Hall, where we celebrated 30 years of promoting human rights with a magnificent gala in front of an audience of 1,600.

El Mundo and the Daily Mail, to name but a few. In addition, Mar-tin Paulsen and Arne Strand wrote a piece on behalf of the Prize Committee that was published on dagbladet.no following the announcement. The Rafto Prize received wide coverage through shares, comments and likes in social media, both nationally and internationally. Following the announcement, a breakfast meet-ing was held at Bergen Public Library in collaboration with the Bergen Student Society, where Prize Committee Chairperson and author Per Egil Hegge discussed this year’s and the 29 previous Prize Laureates.

The Prize Laureate’s visit to Norway, 16 –24 NovemberYanar Mohammed arrived in Bergen on Wednesday 16 Novem-ber together with two members of her family. Her colleague from OWFI in Iraq arrived on Friday 18 November, and participated in the remaining programme.

The Rafto Foundation prioritised time for the press in the pro-gramme, and TV2, NRk Hordaland, the magazine programme Urix, Bergens Tidende, Bergensavisen, Dagen and student media all inter-viewed the Prize Laureate during her visit to Norway. In collabora-tion with the production company SmAU Film we produced an in-depth interview with Yanar Mohammed, along with mini portraits of all the Prize Laureates. Mohammed was also interviewed on stage in front of 500 business leaders during the Bergen Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Conference.

The Rafto Conference “Fearless Women of Iraq – A Struggle Against Violence” was held for the first time in the university’s assembly hall in front of an audience of around 350. A mixture of activists and researchers as keynote speakers provided a wide-ran-ging and interesting introduction to the challenges faced by wom-en and minorities in Iraq. Previous Prize Laureates also attended the conference.

Workshop and lobby meetings The follow-up department arranged a closed workshop for the year’s Prize Laureate, as well as meetings with various stakehold-ers in Norway during her visit. The purpose was to highlight and discuss specific challenges facing the Prize Laureate, and to de-fine relevant measures and partnerships for further prize-related work. Yanar Mohammed met Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, State Secretary Laila Bokhari, various Norwegian mPs and representatives from the Red Cross, NORAD and the Norwe-gian Defence University College. Her work generated great inter-est, and the government made an extra grant of NOk 2 million to Mohammed and her organisation, OWFI.

the 2016 Raf to PRIze and Raf to 30

the GRIeG haLL was fuLL when this year’s and the last 29 years’ Prize Laureates were honoured during the gala event on 20 November. Photo: Johannes Lovund

12 13

3.1 Assistance for the Rafto Prize Laureates Assisting the Prize Laureates, for example by working to help them reach political stakeholders, promoting political participa-tion, supporting democratic capacity-building and documenta-tion work, is a key part of the Rafto Foundation’s follow-up work. We also help to maintain the safety of Prize Laureates who are ex-posed to threats and sabotage. In 2016 we prioritised support for the following measures:

Activists in Sexual Minorities Uganda (SmUG – Rafto Prize Laure-ate 2011) were given support to maintain their safety. Following last year’s amendment of Ugandan legislation and subsequent ex-posure in the media, the risk of harassment and violence against SmUG has increased.

The Foundation donated funds to Bulambo Lembelembe Josué (2008) from DR Congo to hold a workshop to review the develop-ment of the human rights situation in the province of South Kivu during 2015 and 2016. The event, which was held in December, was attended by 86 people. International NGOs did not travel to the meeting due to security concerns in the country. A report currently being prepared will document incidents including attempted as-sassinations, murders, gender-based violence, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, destruction of private property, failures of water and electricity supplies, reduced school offerings, non-payment of sala-ries to public-sector officers, and corruption. The report will contain recommendations aimed at both the civil and military authorities.

We have also supported work organised by the Norwegian Sup-port Committee for Western Sahara to document the ongoing legal cases against activists from Western Sahara following the violent confrontations in Gdeim Izik in 2010.

We also provided funding for the Honduran activist Padre Melo (2015) for technical operation of the free radio station Radio Progre-so, in addition to funds, coordination and technical assistance for a wide-ranging programme to mark the station’s 60th anniversary in

International and national artists contributed to the celebrations, including major Norwegian stars such as Kygo, Sondre Lerche and Morten Harket. Hans Jørgen Brun’s photo portraits of the Prize Laureates displayed in the foyer of the Grieg Hall provided an excellent backdrop to the event.

The Rafto Laureates’ Forum The Rafto Laureates’ Forum was the most extensive specialist event in the anniversary programme. Participants included 16 Raf-to Prize Laureates and a number of leaders from prominent inter-national human rights organisations, as well as the UN and the eU. The overall theme was “Protecting, Supporting and Empowering Human Rights Defenders”, and the programme included plenary sessions as well as parallel sessions focusing on the three main areas of our follow-up work: women’s rights campaigners, free-dom of expression and hate speech, and the human rights respon-sibilities of the business community.

The forum was closed and was attended by more than 60 partici-pants, all with important positions and of major standing in their respective areas. This was a unique opportunity for the Prize Laure-ates to meet decision-makers and experts from important interna-tional resource pools face to face. For Rafto the forum provided an opportunity to establish and consolidate relationships with a num-ber of partners with a view to reinforcing work on matters affecting the Foundation and Prize Laureates.

Other events in Rafto Week in November: �� Portrait photography by Hans Jørgen Brun�� Group photo showing all attending Prize Laureates, by Hans

Jørgen Brun�� The students’ welcome dinner in honour of the year’s Prize

Laureate�� Meet and Greet with businesses�� Torch procession with an appeal from the Rafto Foundation’s

student group�� Reception in the Grieg Hall

3Follow-up work – Human Rights Defender

Assistance Programme (HRDP)

the 2016 Raf to PRIze and Raf to 30

18Prize Laureates were in Bergen to take part in the anniversary programme

14 15

The Rafto Foundation has also followed up and supported com-munication with relevant authorities about the situation of Thich Quang Do from Vietnam (2006), who is under house arrest in Sai-gon, and Nabeel Rajab (2013), who was arrested and mistreated in prison several times during the year, without trial as required under international standards. A third Prize Laureate to whom we devoted attention in 2016 was the human rights group and lawyer associa-tion Agora in Russia (2014), which was closed down after refusing to comply with the law on “Foreign Agents” in accordance with a rul-ing of the Supreme Court in May 2016. The Rafto Foundation front-ed national media coverage of the case. We also followed up the arrest and mistreatment of representatives of SmUG during Pride Uganda in August.

The Rafto Foundation’s follow-up department has additionally contributed to the education department’s work on developing the educational tool “the Democracy Cake” by commissioning transla-tions into Vietnamese and Korean. The resource is intended to be used by activist groups subject to authoritarian regimes.

3.2 Free Speech to Overcome Hate SpeechIn collaboration with the Prize Laureates we bring together activ-ists and expert researchers to share in-depth insights into various forms of hate speech, and to identify the best way to utilise free-dom of expression to promote at-risk groups’ human rights. In the long term this work is intended to result in publications aimed at the general public.

During 2016 the Foundation continued the international semi-nar series “Free Speech to Overcome Hate Speech”, in collaboration with Rafto Prize Laureates Péter Molnár (1989), Ian Hancock (1997) and Frank Mugisha (2011). The seminars highlight problematic re-strictions on freedom of expression in various countries, and how vulnerable groups’ ability to be heard in society is limited by hate speech. The seminars are intended to stimulate contact between re-search bodies and activists, and to provide representatives of groups under pressure from repressive regimes with the opportunity to meet and thoroughly examine issues relating to freedom of expres-sion. Two events were held during the year:

On 17 March we organised the international seminar “The Dam-ages of Anti-Gypsyism and Tools for Improved Responses” in col-laboration with the Central European University in Budapest (ceU). The event attracted an audience of 50 people. The seminar present-ed research and experiences about how the Roma identity has been and is perceived by mainstream society and the Roma community itself. Various forms of discrimination were discussed: discrimina-

December. Employees at Radio Progreso and the associated eRIc-SJ work at significant personal risk in collaboration with the indige-nous peoples’ organisation cOPINH and other activist bodies ex-posed to extreme violence and threat of execution. The murder of cOPINH leader Berta Cáceres in March 2016 had a major impact on the human rights situation in Honduras. The Rafto Foundation in-vited journalists and representatives from the Norwegian embassy in Mexico to the events, and introduced the seminar on freedom of expression and the concluding anniversary event.

2 · foLLow-uP woRk – human RIGhts defendeR assIstance PRoGRamme (hRdP)

the Raf to PRIze PRovIded LauReate Padre Melo with technical and coordination assistance and funding in connection with Radio Progreso’s 60th anniversary.

the #tackLehomoPhobIa camPaIGn PaRtIcIPated in Pride Parade in Oslo and Bergen.

16 17

3.3 Corporate responsibility for human rights One of the Rafto Foundation’s objectives is to help to ensure that the business community actively embraces its responsibility for respecting human rights. The aim is to encourage businesses to be both willing and able to pay the necessary attention to human rights and over the long term to be able to assist businesses with capacity-building measures. Parties affected by a business’s activ-ities shall be consulted and have access to complaints schemes. Another objective of the Rafto Foundation is to raise the compe-tence of grassroots activists so they can represent at-risk groups and enter into dialogue with businesses.

In 2016 we prepared the groundwork for long-term and system-atic work in this area. By participating in conferences and meetings with expert resource pools, the Rafto Foundation has established relationships with key players locally, nationally and internation-ally, and has secured access to specialist expertise in most areas where the business community, stakeholders and at-risk groups are encountering specific challenges. We have also worked to im-prove economics students’ access to relevant training.

Local and international partners The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) has been our main partner and has contributed to a range of activities: guest lectures at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH); the Thorolf Rafto Challenge; a breakfast meeting at the Bergen

tion and portrayals of the Roma community in institutions such as schools, academia and the health service; internal discrimination of sexual minorities among the Roma community; hate speech in social media. In addition to Prize Laureates Péter Molnár and Ian Hancock, the keynote speakers comprised leading activists, jour-nalists, educationalists and researchers from various Eastern Eu-ropean countries, Germany and Norway. Two-thirds of the keynote speakers were Roma. Representatives from several embassies in Budapest were among the audience.

On 19 May we held a similar seminar entitled “Damages of Hate Speech and Tools for Improved Responses in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania” in collaboration with the Center for European Neighborhood Studies at the ceU in Budapest. Around 50 participants took part. The discussion cen-tred on the status of freedom of expression in countries tending towards authoritarianism in Eastern Europe, and presented issues such as challenges relating to hate speech and grossly prejudicial speech in traditional and digital media from representatives of governing and opposition parties. Molnár was one of the keynote speakers, together with a number of researchers and activists from the countries mentioned.

On 22 September a panel debate was arranged on the advance of extreme right-wing groups in Hungary, based on the Hungarian documentary “The Érpatak Model”, which was part of the Check-point programme at the Bergen International Film Festival.

A third event to present and discuss the wide-ranging work “Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World”, written by Professor Timothy Garton Ash from the University of Oxford, was planned to be presented with ceU as main arranger in autumn 2016, but was postponed until February 2017 due to illness.

The programme “Freedom of expression and hate speech” also contains an anthology on North Korean refugees’ perception of themselves and a collaboration with the organisations Human Asia, PeN Korea and the North Korean Women’s Union.

The #tacklehomophobia campaign was relaunched in social me-dia and for the general public during Oslo Pride with a visit from Rafto Prize Laureate Frank Mugisha. The campaign had a stand in Oslo Pride Park, and participated in the parades in both Oslo and Bergen. The Rafto Foundation’s Oslo Group also organised an open seminar with Mugisha. Campaign participants included Norwe-gian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Mayor of Oslo Marianne Bor-gen, media personalities and professional footballers. On Saturday 25 June Frank Mugisha was a guest on TV2’s live broadcast from the European Football Championships studio at Kontraskjæret in Oslo.

2 · foLLow-uP woRk – human RIGhts defendeR assIstance PRoGRamme (hRdP)

In 2016 the toPIc of the thoRoLf Raf to chaLLenGe was Sport, Business and Human Rights. From left: Sveinung Jørgensen (Norwegian School of Economics), Vibeke Johannesen (Norwegian football team sk Brann), John Morrison (Institute for Human Rights and Business), Tom Høgli (fc København), Gjert Moldestad (Brann supporter) and Lars Jacob Tynes Pedersen (Norwegian School of Economics)

18 19

autumn 2017 as a higher education and continuing professional development offering.

3.4 The Women’s Network 2016 was a productive year in which the network for women activ-ists grew in numbers and strength. During the year we focused on providing training on useful tools and ensuring that the partici-pants communicated efficiently within the network.

Training course with grassroots activistsBetween 25–31 January a second training course was held for Group 1 in Beirut. For five days the participants received training in digital security, physical safety and mental well-being in the form of stress management techniques. An NGO forum was also arranged, where relevant organisations from the region present-ed their work and ways in which they could assist the participants.

Group 2 was recruited during the first quarter of 2016, and re-ceived its first training course between 16–23 May in Jezzine in Leb-anon. As for Group 1, a training course was held in digital security, physical safety and mental well-being, in addition to an NGO forum with relevant regional organisations that could potentially assist the participants in their work. 

On 29 May a meeting was held with the Advisory Committee where restructuring of the network was approved. From this date the Advisory Committee and General Assembly were merged to form the Consultative Group (cG).

Between 2–6 December the first joint meeting of Groups 1 and 2 was held in Beirut in Lebanon. The aim was to coordinate the groups

Chamber of Commerce; workshops with the business communi-ty, NHH students and human rights campaigners; and a series of consultancy meetings with internationally orientated business-es in Norway. In 2016 the Thorolf Rafto Challenge, which is an annual lecture in memory of Professor Rafto, was entitled “Sport, Business and Human Rights”. NHH’s assembly hall was packed, mainly with students.

The Rafto Foundation is a member of the International Resource Group at the Bergen Chamber of Commerce. In November 2016 the Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Conference adopted a strong fo-cus on human rights, with Prize Laureates Yanar Mohammed and Maryam al-Khawaja speaking to 500 business leaders in Bergen.

Meetings with businessesIn June 2016 the Rafto Foundation and the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) organised a meeting for businesses and institutions such as OecD’s Contact Point Norway, the Minis-try of Foreign Affairs, Oslo Stock Exchange, the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, the Norwegian School of Economics, the Norwegian Business School, Ethical Trading Initiative Norway and Business for Peace, where the topic was how different stake-holders can jointly contribute to capacity-building. In addition, meetings with businesses such as Statoil, DNB, Telenor and Hydro have produced useful knowledge about the business community’s needs and our role in work to implement the UN’s guidelines for the business community on human rights. An internal workshop for Snøhetta helped to embed greater understanding of challenges relating to women’s and employee rights in the Middle East.

Several Prize Laureates have been directly involved in work with the business community: The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights in the Caste Consultancy Project – Maryam al-Khawaja as lecturer and workshop participant; Frank Mugisha and SmUG or-ganising the consultation meeting in Kampala. SmUG was the local arranger of a regional consultative meeting managed by the Of-fice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHcHR), IHRB and the Rafto Foundation as part of OHcHR’s work on guidelines for the business community’s responsibility in rela-tion to global LGBTI rights.

Dedicated Master’s course at the University of Bergen (UiB) In 2016 the Rafto Foundation partnered with IHRB to prepare course content and a curriculum for a Master’s course in “Busi-ness and Human Rights” at the UiB’s Department of Comparative Politics. The course, which equates to 15 study points, starts in

2 · foLLow-uP woRk – human RIGhts defendeR assIstance PRoGRamme (hRdP)

PaneL debate duRInG the Raf to confeRence. From left: Navi Pillay, Yanar Mohammed, Shaista Aziz and Tormod Heier.

20 21

THe RAFTO FOUNDATION’S cORe OFFeRING IN human rights and democracy education is aimed at our main target groups

– students in upper and lower secondary schools. In 2016 we wel-comed school classes and held confirmation classes for young peo-ple from the following municipalities in Hordaland county: Askøy, Bergen, Bømlo, Kvam, Kvinnherad, Lindås, Meland, Stord, Os and Voss. We also provided teaching for students from the United World College from Fjaler and from Sund college in Inderøy municipality.

Marked growth in 2016

The statistics below reveal sharp growth for three groups in par-ticular. The number of teachers has grown more than fivefold since the previous year. This is primarily attributable to signifi-cant demand for education on inclusiveness and togetherness, for which the refugee crisis and the municipalities’ action plans for prevention of radicalisation and violent extremism form a basis. During 2016, together with RVTS Vest (Regional Resource Centre for Violence, Traumatic Stress and Suicide Prevention), the Rafto Foundation developed a course model for teachers on assignment from Bergen municipality. The Rafto Foundation has also provid-ed similar educational offerings in Fredriksstad and Sarpsborg, and at the request of the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training contributed to three county authority meetings for teachers and the school health service.

to enable them to work together in the network more efficiently. Work was performed on a joint action plan, with contributions from Amal Basha and Farida Nekzad, who are both members of cG.

Lobby meetings and public eventsBetween 12–19 March we participated in the 60th session of the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women, cSW60, in New York. Rafto also arranged a meeting with the Norwegian Ambassa-dor Geir O. Pedersen, Maryam al-Khawaja and Sara Brandt from cIVIcUS. 

In collaboration with event arrangers Bergen International Festival, on 28 May we arranged a panel debate in which Maryam al-Khawaja, Amal Basha, Caroline Ayoub and Farida Nekzad dis-cussed women’s rights and identity in the Middle East. The debate was streamed live via Festspillene’s YouTube channel.

On 30 May members of cG and Rafto attended meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In collaboration with the podcast Du Verden! and Rafto’s Oslo Group, the same day we invited the au-dience to participate in a panel debate focusing on women’s contri-butions to improving the human rights situation in the Middle East. Maryam al-Khawaja, Farida Nekzad and Amal Basha participated in the debate, which was held at Kulturhuset in Oslo.

During autumn we recruited a temporary replacement for our Project Manager, who started parental leave from 1 January 2017.

4Education and public liaison

3 training courses were arranged for female grassroots activists in 2016

bRave women: On 28 May the Rafto Foundation and event arranger Festspillene organised a panel debate on women’s rights and identity. From left: Programme chairperson Kari Birkeland, Caroline Ayoub, Maryam al-Khawaja and Amal Basha

#

!"#$%&' ( '!"#)*%&+,-*'$"%".-*&/'#)+'%&-,-#"')0'&1+,-"#,++,-#" '

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

High sc

hools

Student t

eachersTeachersStu

dentsConfir

mandsOrg

./oth

ers

Secondary sc

hools

Folk high schools

22 23

tumn 2016 Fremtidspiloten has been an established educational programme with six registered classes.

Demokratikaken – The Democracy CakeIn 2016 the Democracy Cake training tool was translated into Ti-grinya (a main language in Eritrea) and we provided “training of trainers” for the Eritrean diaspora living in Norway. The tool is also available in Norwegian, English and Arabic. Translation into Vietnamese and Russian started in 2016.

Democracy teaching on UtøyaDemocracy teaching on Utøya is a project in which students from up to ten different schools spend three days on the island learning about the terror attacks that took place in Norway on 22 July 2011. Here students discuss and work together on topics such as demo-cratic citizenship and prevention of hate speech, anti-democratic forces and extremism. The project is a partnership between the European Wergeland Centre, the Rafto Foundation, Utøya AS and the 22 July Centre. A pilot was implemented in April 2016, with two subsequent run-throughs in September. The project aims to bring schools from the whole of Norway together.

Several events and seminars were held to mark our 30th anniver-sary. This explains the significant increase in the category “organ-isations and other groups”. These are discussed under follow-up projects and activities relating to the Rafto Prize and the 30th an-niversary.

A final group whose activity levels were significantly up on the previous year was upper secondary schools. While much of the in-crease was attributable to school visits by seven of the Prize Lau-reates during the anniversary week in November, we are also con-fident that there is real and sustainable growth on account of the increased demand from teachers.

Dembra – Democratic Contingency against Racism and Anti-SemitismDembra is a competence development project that allows teach-ers to continue their professional development and develops teaching about critical democratic formation, inclusiveness and selected controversial topics. The teachers receive training and guidance on structuring teaching and educational welfare meas-ures adapted to individual schools. Dembra has been developed by the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities, the European Wergeland Centre and the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo. Dembra started in the Østlandet region in autumn 2013 as a pilot project for schools. The Rafto Foundation is responsible for the project in the Vestlandet region, and Dembra started working with three lower secondary schools in Bergen in autumn 2016.

The Fremtidspiloten projectThe Fremtidspiloten (Future Pilot) project is aimed at young peo-ple in upper secondary school, and has three main topics: human rights, understanding climate change and social entrepreneur-ship. The educational modules aim to link complex, global chal-lenges with knowledge about the individual’s opportunities to in-fluence change in society and their own future.

The Rafto Foundation has had two partners in this project, Bærekraftige Liv (Sustainable Life) and Impact Hub. The partners follow the classes using a concept development process based on Design Thinking methodology. As part of the pilot projects the research group LingClim (UiB) surveyed the students before and after the classes and identified two particular changes: greater un-derstanding of the link between climate change and human rights, and greater perceived knowledge about the climate.

From being a pilot project with four classes in 2015, since au-

4 · educatIon and PubLIc L IaIson

5,000 participated in the hu-man rights teaching

above: democRacy teachInG was heLd on utøya for the first time in 2016. Photo: ewc

beLow: democRacy cake exeRcIse – teachInG for members of the Eritrean diaspora living in Norway.

24 25

Rafto 30

In collaboration with Netlife Research we developed a special anni-versary visual identity and logo that were used for marketing and printed materials. In the run-up to the anniversary gala we took a number of PR and marketing measures to sell tickets to businesses, students and the general public in Bergen. This included distrib-uting e-mails and flyers, placing adverts on social media and in newspapers and a façade banner for the Grieg Hall. Rafto entered into an agreement with regional newspaper Bergens Tidende’s loy-alty programme, the BT card, to sell tickets for the gala.

ProductionsWe produced several films in 2016. In collaboration with Pandora Film AS we made a short introductory film about the Rafto Foun-dation, which premièred at the Bergen Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Conference, and has since been published on rafto.no and YouTube and via social media. We also partnered with SmAU Film to produce a series of mini portraits of this year’s Rafto Prize Lau-reate and all the Prize Laureates who were present in Bergen dur-ing the anniversary week in November. These videos were pub-lished in spring 2017.

The Rafto Foundation Fund commissioned an English version of the 2012 book Frykten får ikke vinne (Fear Shall Not Triumph), where

IN THe ANNIVeRSARy yeAR communications work was stepped up and the department’s capacity was increased through the appointment of a full-time project worker. In 2016 our aim was to raise the profile of the Rafto Prize in national and inter-national media, and to create local and national engagement in the anniversary activities through profiling and increased social media activity.

Press work Proactive media relations and handling media coverage are a key part of communications work. In 2016 we prioritised the Rafto Prize, the anniversary activities and profiling of a new Executive Director. The Rafto Foundation has also fronted items on our Prize Laureates in national media, through statements, debate articles and campaign work. The Executive Director has complet-ed a media training course organised by the communications de-partment.

Increased social media activities also received a high priority in 2016, in order to highlight the Rafto Prize, the 30th anniversary and other events during the year. The extra input has paid dividends in the form of more followers on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. In December 2016 we had a total of 7,200 followers, compared with 4,500 at the end of 2015.

Rafto.noIn 2015 we launched a new website, and website statistics reveal a sharp increase in traffic and page visits, from 22,200 visits in 2014 to 32,600 visits in 2016. The page discussing this year’s Rafto Prize received 4,634 visits, compared with 962 for the equivalent page in 2014 (Source: Google Analytics). On 1 September rafto.no’s educa-tion pages were launched and the old education portal was closed down. While some education and projects pages require further updating, we regard the new website to be fully implemented.

5 Communications

7,400people follow Rafto on social media

Raf to 30 staRted wIth a kick-off in Oslo and a speech from Rafto Prize Laureate José Ramos-Horta. Photo: Morten Hvaal

26 27

THe RAFTO FOUNDATION IS A not for profit foundation run by the Rafto House in Bergen. The Foundation’s object is, in the spirit of Professor Thorolf Rafto, to promote human rights, pri-marily intellectual, political and economic freedom. The work shall be performed on a humanistic basis without geographic de-marcation in order to promote human dignity. The Rafto Founda-tion’s work is extensively based on voluntary input.

The Rafto Foundation’s most important task is the award of the Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize – the Rafto Prize. The prize is awarded each year, whenever possible on the anniversary of Raf-to’s death on 4 November, and comprises a diploma and a cheque for USD 20,000. The actual prize award is paid out of the Rafto Foundation’s Prize Fund. The Rafto Prize has been awarded since 1987. In awarding the Rafto Prize, the Rafto Foundation shall set the agenda for and support those who are on the front line of the fight against oppression.

Values, main objectives and core activitiesThe Rafto Foundation’s values are courage, respect and solidarity. Our main objectives are: 1: The Rafto Foundation shall award the Rafto Prize to selected human rights campaigners.2: The Rafto Foundation shall actively participate in the fight for human dignity by acting as a long-term partner and support for the Rafto Prize Laureates in their work on human rights. 3: The Rafto Foundation shall, by means of education and public liaison, promote competence in and commitment to democracy, human dignity and human rights.Our core activity is organised under three activities: 1: The Rafto Prize – selection and award 2: Follow-up of the Rafto Prizes 3: Education and public liaison on human rights and democracy. Support functions are organised in three main areas: communications, organisation and financing.

the Rafto Foundation coordinated work on the publication. The book was published by John Grieg Forlag AS and launched in the anniversary week in November. The books were sold and marketed during the event in the Grieg Hall, and on our own stand during the Rafto Conference. The Rafto Foundation purchased 100 books and around 90 copies were sold during Rafto Week.

Partnership with Kygo The Rafto Foundation is partnering with Kygo. The international eDm artist contributed financial support for the Rafto Founda-tion’s work, initially to help finance premises for Prize Laureate Frank Mugisha’s organisation SmUG. In early summer Kygo was announced in the media as the first Rafto Ambassador, and the announcement was covered by NRk. Under the partnership some of the profits from Kygo’s own festival, Cloud Nine at Koengen on 20 August, were to be donated to the Rafto Foundation’s work. The Rafto Foundation had its own stand at the festival, and enjoyed a high profile on the screens on the main stage before an audience of 23,000.

6 Operations

kyGo became a Raf to ambassadoR in 2016 and supported financing of new premises for Sexual Minorities Uganda (smuG) and Prize Laureate Frank Mugisha. Photo: KygoMusic

The Rafto Foundation Menneskerettighetenes plass 1NO-5007 Bergen, NorwayRafto.no

@RaftoFoundation