Interview with Hannah Neumann - Progress and new challenges on human rights

Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December, we talked to Hannah Neumann, vice-chair of Parliament's human rights subcommittee, about how the situation has evolved in the European Union and globally since the Declaration was adopted.
Climate change and the rise of internet have created new threats to people’s rights to a healthy life and privacy. While all over the world people are more aware of their fundamental rights and are ready to stand up for them, authoritarian regimes continue to proliferate and to repress dissident voices, she says.
For Neumann, this is why the European Union should step up its support for human rights defenders.
“When we say we want to promote human rights all around the world, human rights defenders are our closest allies. They are the ones who do this in their country, in their community, in their family. And this is why they’re often threatened (...). It is crucial that the European Union does everything possible to protect them,” she said.