With a common focus on supporting and protecting HRDs at risk, initiatives can be broadly divided into two types: • For Emergency relocation programmes provide immediate support, including evacuation, where an HRD is facing an imminent risk to their safety. • Other temporary relocation programmes offer support to HRDs who may not be in immediate danger but would benefit from taking rest and respite to get back to human rights work with new energy. Some examples of relocation and respite programmes include: • Front Line Defenders Rest & Respite Programme has a flexible approach and hosts defenders in Ireland or another destination, for 1 week to 3 months, to enable people to take some time out, recharge their batteries and learn new skills in a safe environment. “Before the support, I had serious burnout caused by the stress from my work, especially from a domestic violence case I was working on when I was attacked and my computer and phones taken. I had a constant headache and was very stressed, but I’m feeling well again and am back to work.” - HRD, Cameroon, Rest & Respite Programme Source: Front Line Defenders 3 • Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights – Asia Pacific offers funding to women and non-binary activists, their families and their organisations in times of crisis, including a security and well-being grant for those who need urgent funding to ensure safety from physical or emotional harm. • FORUM-ASIA’s Protection Plan for defenders at risk aims to further strengthen protection and provide timely and efficient assistance to HRDs at risk in Asia, through emergency relocation and other types of urgent temporary assistance. • The European Union Temporary Relocation Platform (EUTRP), an initiative of the European Commission, is a network of entities engaged in temporary relocation of at-risk human rights defenders at the local, national, regional and international level. How long are relocation programmes? Relocation programmes are normally temporary (e.g. up to 3 – 6 months), which often provides time for a critical situation to calm down, so a person can return home and continue their work. However, sometimes human rights defenders need to continue their stay for longer and the fact that established programmes are limited in time can pose a challenge in this respect. In the most extreme cases, people are not able to return to their homes, building their lives and in some cases continuing their work in exile. 4 Who is involved in supporting relocation and respite? A range of actors may be involved in facilitating a HRD’s relocation, in addition to the coordinators of relocation programmes themselves. 18 Relocation and Respite Toolkit