Advocacy Forum was founded in 2001, by a group of lawyers who wanted to challenge impunity and address cases of human rights violations for victims of Nepal’s 10-year civil war.

Now numbering around 100 staff and volunteers, their work throughout the country relates to torture, disappearances and extra-judicial killings, and includes the investigation, filing and prosecution of cases. Many of the cases taken up by the organisation are against high-ranking security personnel and its lawyers routinely face threats and obstructions to their work.

Advocacy Forum also works on raising awareness nationally and internationally of human rights issues in Nepal, while supporting legal reforms to make the justice system more efficient and accessible.

Co-founder Mandira Sharma‘s achievements were recognised on the international stage in 2006, when she received the Human Rights Watch Human Rights Defender Award.

PBI has accompanied Advocacy Forum since 2006.