13/05/2026
The 10th Anniversary Democracy Defender Award presentation and seminar took place today at Schwedenhaus in Vienna.
We were pleased to honor Mr. Ion Manole, Executive Director of Promo-LEX, who joined us in Vienna to receive this year’s Democracy Defender Award on behalf of his organization.
Promo-LEX focuses on promoting democratic values, developing a strong civil society, and implementing internationally recognised human rights in Moldova. Promo-LEX is made up of human rights activists who work to provide legal assistance, strategic litigation, research, and human rights monitoring. It is also a leading actor in election observation, contributing to the integrity and transparency of electoral processes through monitoring, independent reporting, and advocacy for electoral reform in line with international standards
The Democracy Defender Award was established in 2016 to recognize a person or organization for exceptional contributions to the promotion of democracy and the defence of human rights in the spirit of the Helsinki Final Act and other OSCE principles and commitments.
The Award was first presented to coincide with the anniversary of the murder of Boris Nemtsov. The aim was to reflect on the serious human rights and democracy challenges that persisted throughout the OSCE region, and to hear from those who seek change in their communities and societies. The Award was also intended to provide recognition and support to democracy and human rights defenders throughout our region.
Over the past decade, the Democracy Defender Award has honoured a diverse group of courageous individuals and organizations. Past recipients have been on the frontline of documenting war crimes; they have advocated for the release of political prisoners; they have strengthened independent election monitoring; they have provided crucial support for independent journalism and media literacy; they have maintained critical oversight of human rights, including in areas of active conflict and occupation; and they have advocated for accountability and transparency. Collectively, their work represents a tireless effort to hold participating states accountable to their foundational commitments, often at great personal risk to their own safety and freedom.
Participating States have repeatedly acknowledged the important role that civil society can play in meeting OSCE human dimension commitments including, inter alia, protecting human rights; holding free and fair elections; building public trust in democratic institutions and facilitating public input into legislative processes.
Despite the diligent efforts of civil society, the past 10 years have, regrettably, not seen a resolution of serious human rights and democracy challenges. Instead, we are witnessing democratic backsliding and the shrinking of civic space in many states. Civil society has been increasingly targeted by repressive legislation and transnational threats.
In this context, the delegations in the Democracy Defender Award group organized a 10th Anniversary Democracy Defender Initiative Seminar in connection to the award ceremony. This provided an important opportunity to explore how civil society can help address democratic backsliding and build democratic resilience in the OSCE region.
საქართველოს ახალგაზრდა იურისტთა ასოციაცია, Медійна ініціатива за права людини, ZMINA. Центр прав людини, Центр Мемориал, Вясна. Правы чалавека ў Беларусі / Viasna. Human rights in Belarus, Իրազեկ քաղաքացիների միավորում - Union of Informed Citizens, CRTA, Center for Civil Liberties / Центр громадянських свобод,
