About PBI

PBI is an international NGO that has been promoting nonviolence and protecting human rights since 1981. The founders of PBI shared a profound conviction that ordinary people can take action to stop war and human rights violations even when their governments cannot or will not.

Our work is based on the principles of non-partisanship and non-interference in the internal affairs of the organisations we accompany. We believe that lasting transformation of conflicts cannot be imposed from outside, but must be based on the capacity and desires of local people. Therefore we do not take part in the work of the organisations we accompany. Rather our role is to open political space and provide moral support for local activists to carry out their work without fear of repression.

Our non-partisanship means that we are free of the constraints faced by the UN and governments. This enables us to build relationships of trust with the organisations we accompany. Our unique access to information and our objectivity increases our credibility with all parties to the conflict and gives us access to authorities nationally and internationally. This strengthens our ability to argue the case for international support for human rights defenders under threat.

Protective accompaniment

The main focus of our work is international accompaniment, a technique pioneered by PBI for protecting human rights defenders threatened with violence because of their work. Since 1981 we have protected the lives of hundreds of activists in nine countries, enabling them to carry out their work.

In 2006 PBI had an average of 65 volunteers from 25 countries working in Indonesia, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Nepal. backed up by an international structure of 15 country groups.

Groups we accompany include indigenous communities in Mexico and Guatemala, environmental organisations in Guatemala and Indonesia, lawyers in Colombia and Nepal, women’s organisations in Colombia and Indonesia, trades unions in Guatemala, and relatives of the disappeared in Mexico, Colombia and Guatemala. All have faced severe harassment and some even death threats from military or paramilitary groups because of the nature of their work.

Human rights abuses require the direct or indirect collaboration of those in authority locally, nationally and internationally. Therefore effective protection requires mechanisms that influence the different layers in the chain from the local military authorities to governments internationally.

Effective protective accompaniment consists of:

• teams of international volunteers based in conflict areas who are responsible for:
• undertaking a thorough analysis of the political situation,
• accompaniment of threatened organisations and communities to deter potential attacks and provide moral support. In extreme circumstances this could mean round the clock accompaniment. In other situations, volunteers stay with threatened communities or in the offices of organisations or accompany activists when they travel,
• meeting with local and national civilian and military authorities and embassies to raise the profile of PBI and the organisations we accompany and discuss issues of concern about human rights abuses
• using our in-depth knowledge of the political situation as it affects human rights to provide objective information to be circulated internationally.

• an international network of country groups working with projects are responsible for building international support networks. These networks can be activated to pressure governments to comply with international commitments to protecting their own citizens.

Peace education

In addition to protective accompaniment, PBI also works with local partner organisations on Peace Education programmes that aim to strengthen society's capacity to resolve conflicts without violence. Our programmes focus on trainings and workshops in conflict transformation.