Impact

DTP’s impact is in the work of more than 3,500 individuals DTP has trained since 1990 – DTP’s alumni. DTP alumni are working every day in over 90 countries for the promotion and protection of human rights, to defend their communities and their natural environment. DTP’s alumni include grassroots activists, award-winning advocates, human rights commissioners, ambassadors, and community leaders.

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Awards

2019: Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award – Taiwan Foundation for Democracy
2015: Sir Ron Wilson Human Rights Award – Australian Council for International Development (ACFID)

DTP’s Award-Winning Alumni

DTP Alumni are active working for human rights in many different countries and fields. Some of them have received awards for their work and contributions to the human rights of others. These are some of them.

Chalida Tajaroensuk

DTP Alumni Profile

Chalida is a prominent Thai human rights defender with over 30 years of experience of working on peace building, human rights, solidarity and democracy in Thailand and across Asia. She currently is the Chairperson of People’s Empowerment Foundation (PEF). In 2019 her solidarity for human rights and self-determination in Timor-Leste was recognised by the Timorese government with the Order of Timor-Leste.

Jonathan Mesulam

DTP Alumni Profile

Jonathan is a leading environmental and human rights defender in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Founder and Director of the West Coast Development Foundation (WCDF) and a leader of the Alliance of the Solwara Warriors, his award-winning NGO has been leading the campaign against Deep Sea Mining (DSM) which threatens the fragile ecosystems and sustenance of Pacific island communities.

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Sumita Rabidas

Sumita received the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Bangladesh for her contributions as a Youth Leader in the promotion of human rights in Bangladesh.

Joshua Creamer

Winner of the 2008 Griffith University Rubin Hurricane Carter Award for Commitment to Social Justice.

Mandira Sharma

Winner of the 2007 Human Rights Watch Human Rights Defender Award

Human Rights Watch article

Dickson Ntwiga

In 2015 Dickson was awarded the Leading Women of Africa's Award.

DTP Stories of Change

Respect for human rights is a shared dream that is made real by efforts of individuals working together in their own communities and across borders.

José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, DTP’s Founder & Patron

Nayela Akter

DTP Alumni Profile

Nayela participated in the DTP/MFA migrant worker program in Bangladesh in 2015/16. She now works with the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions (APF) managing their EU funded Inter-Governmental Mechanism (IGM) project.

I remember the DTP training vividly. The training was a continuous initiative with some effective results. DTP training brought all the migrant rights NGOs in Bangladesh together to formulate a coherent national advocacy agenda for migrant workers' rights.

Sr Nicola Emmanuel

Sr Nicola Emmanuel, a nun in Sri Lanka, provides legal support, relief, rehabilitation, education and livelihood support to the families of the displaced, “disappeared” and imprisoned in Sri Lanka. One year after the DTP program, Sr Nicola put her training into practice, and took these issues to Geneva for the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council and met the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein.

At the DTP training program we had a role-play on the Human Rights Council in Geneva. It never occurred to me that I will get a real-life experience at United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to present my case and the issues in Sri Lanka. DTP’s training helped me to take the voices of the victims to Geneva, so that the world could hear them and act.

Mark Munnich

Mark Munnich, a descendent of the Yawuru and Gunwggandji peoples is studying law and working as a community legal educator with the Northern Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA). Mark was subsequently selected to participate in the prestigious UN Indigenous Fellowship Program in Geneva.

DTP program empowered me to share the knowledge I learnt on the program with others and also helped me to secure an Indigenous Fellowship at the United Nations in Geneva.