News
June 9, 2026
Growing the movement in the Americas
On 6th June, at the Shelter City Global Partners’ meeting hosted at Itsasmuseum Bilbao, Justiça Global signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Justice & Peace Netherlands, marking the official launch of Shelter City Rio de Janeiro.
Shelter City Rio de Janeiro will be coordinated by Justiça Global, a non-profit organization founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1999. Since then, Justiça Global has focused its efforts on the protection of human rights defenders in Brazil and worldwide. In addition to conducting research, the organization develops resources for the protection of human rights defenders, files complaints, and monitors the development and implementation of protection policies and the effective guarantee of their political and activist rights.
The organization continues to play an integral role in shaping protection policies in the region and in Brazil, which remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for human rights defenders. This is particularly evident through its participation in the Sales Pimenta Working Group, a collective composed of, among others, civil society organizations and government representatives, responsible for drafting a proposal for a National Plan and a Draft Law to regulate the national protection policy for human rights defenders.
In 2022, inspired by temporary relocation programmes in the region, Justiça Global established the Comprehensive Protection Centre (CEPI), a space designed to offer temporary relocation to human rights defenders at risk or in emergency situations, and to strengthen their work. Alongside workshops on physical, digital, and organization security, human rights defenders at risk are also offered legal and psychological support, opportunities to network with allies, and to rest and reenergize in the vibrant city of Rio de Janeiro.
Shelter City Rio de Janeiro is the 29th Shelter City in the global movement and the third Shelter City in the Americas.