Human Rights Watch seeks to document abuses against the world’s most vulnerable populations, and ultimately, to bring those abuses to an end and secure justice for victims.

Through research in over 90 countries, public spotlighting of abuse in the international media, and advocacy with key policy-makers, we build intense pressure for real improvements in rights protections worldwide.

Human Rights Watch has earned a reputation as a leading human rights defender because of our ability to respond quickly and effectively to a broad spectrum of human rights concerns—from discrimination to genocide. We are unique in our ability to combine research with policy recommendations, and conduct advocacy in a variety of ways, including at the highest levels of government. Deep and careful research lies at the core of our ability to influence public debate and champion human rights. We stake our credibility on the facts we report, devoting great effort to ensuring the accuracy and fairness of every word we publish.

If abuses we have investigated and reported on decrease, our work has been successful. Often, since it takes a great deal of time to bring entrenched human rights abuses to an end, we consider interim criteria for evaluation. These include: • Whether we have succeeded in generating prominent press coverage about the abuses. • Whether other governments and institutions have acted on these revelations by protesting the abuses or exerting diplomatic or economic pressure on the abusive actor. • Whether the abusive actor has seen it necessary to engage with us. • Whether the abusive actor adopts and implements new policies aimed at ending abuses. • Whether the abuses we have investigated and reported on decrease or come to an end.

Some of our most significant achievements include: • HRW co-founded the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. The Mine Ban Treaty now has 164 States Parties. • Working with coalition partners, we mobilized a global campaign to ban cluster munitions (indiscriminate weapons that maim or kill civilians), which led to the creation of a ban treaty that 120 countries have joined. • We wrote the definitive history of the genocide in Rwanda, and our staff testified as expert witnesses at the international tribunal where those responsible for atrocities were tried. Moving forward, we seek to focus more systematically on both the human rights causes and consequences of poverty and inequality. This will lead us to further elevate the profile of our already extensive work on economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as to grapple with the ways in which climate change, artificial intelligence, and migration further exacerbate inequalities.