Letter from the Executive Director
The state of the world is harrowing. 5.7 billion people live in autocracies, a 23 percent increase compared to ten years ago, meanwhile more than 120 armed conflicts are happening around the world and there are more refugees than ever before. Compounding these problems, climate change radically threatens the lives and livelihood of people around the world. An increasing number of authoritarian regimes are actively undermining the international human rights legal framework; alarmingly, the United States is also now weakening respect for human rights and accountability and even hindering the lifesaving work of the World Health Organization. These regressive forces threaten the well-being of people everywhere.
To meet this moment, PHR will double down on our effective strategies for stemming human rights abuses.
To meet this moment, PHR will double down on our effective strategies for stemming human rights abuses. We will wield the power of the health care community to promote justice and healing to protect those who are particularly vulnerable. We will mobilize to protect asylum seekers, women whose reproductive rights are under attack, and minorities who are all too often targeted by police in the United States as well as sexual violence and torture survivors and health care professionals working in conflict zones globally, among others.
PHR’s strategic plan for 2025 to 2028 allows us to meet the urgent need for the expertise and insight of health professionals, who are uniquely positioned to have a powerful impact at the intersection of health and human rights. Health professionals are not only able to assess and document human rights abuses, but they are also often among the first to recognize emerging crises as frontline responders providing critical medical care to those affected. When health professionals embrace the role of human rights advocates, they are some of the strongest assets in the fight against injustice.
PHR’s strategic plan for 2025 to 2028 allows us to meet the urgent need for the expertise and insight of health professionals, who are uniquely positioned to have a powerful impact at the intersection of health and human rights.
Therefore, a key component of PHR’s strategic plan for 2025 to 2028 is to strengthen our networks of health professionals by expanding partnerships and creating new opportunities for health professionals and allied partners to speak out and share their expertise to inform policymakers, opinion-shapers, and the public. In this consequential time for global human rights, this strategic plan will allow PHR to wield our proven approaches against serious violations including sexual violence, torture, and attacks on health in conflict, while ensuring we are able to respond effectively and nimbly to new challenges such as climate change.
Cover: Injured patients in the wards of Bukavu General Hospital days after M23 rebels launched their attack on Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo, 2025. Photo by Hugh Kinsella Cunningham/Getty Images