The International Observatory of Human Rights launched NGO Focus, a show broadcast on the IOHRTV human rights TV platform dedicated to showcasing the work of non-governmental organisations and the heroes who dedicate their lives to the noble cause of championing civil society.

The first episode, filmed in a studio based on the banks of the River Thames in London will run on 15th November. Trish Lynch, IOHRTV senior correspondent interviewed James Denselow, Head of Conflict & Humanitarian Policy & Advocacy for Save the Children UK about the life-saving missions his global team conducts to help protect millions of children worldwide.

“Today we are seeing a threat to childhood itself, in particular in conflict zones. We are seeing one in six children globally living in areas affected by conflicts. Yemen is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis of this moment. Thousands of children are affected by the cholera epidemic, it’s a terrible place to be a child.

On average a child in Yemen would have witnessed 18,000 air strikes over the last few years, so we are seeing children who are afraid of the sky.

In Myanmar, 60% of those in need are children,” said Denselow as he summarised the magnitude of injustice children face in those troubled areas.

Episode two of NGO Focus features a moving sit-down interview with Lisa King, Director of Communications for Refuge a UK based non-governmental organisation mandated to support woman and children threatened by domestic violence.

“Two women a week are killed in the UK and three women every week take their own lives to escape domestic violence. This issue is so serious and only 25% of domestic violence is reported in the UK.

We help over 6,500 women and children. We are supporting them through all different projects: safe houses, refuges, community projects, a national domestic violence helpline that supports a further 240 callers every single day and we have advocates who support women who maybe want to go to court.” King explained in the course of the interview. 

Upcoming episodes of NGO Focus include heartfelt interviews with Chris Clements the Director of Reset, Sascha Lavin of the Policy and Advocacy Team at Care International, and Charlie Fraser, Director of TERN.

Valerie Peay, the Director of the International Observatory of Human Rights commented on the launch of the new show:

“Human rights defenders are being increasingly harassed, jailed and even killed worldwide for their selfless and invaluable work. At IOHR we have the opportunity to work with colleagues at human rights defenders across diverse fields from refugees to press freedom and will continue to support their invaluable work.

We created NGO Focus to showcase the wealth of knowledge and inspiration portrayed in global NGOs and charities. IOHRTV hopes to encourage a new generation of TV viewers to engage with human rights and to become invested in this crucial work.”