Bali, Indonesia, September 2025 – Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), with support from the Urgent Action Fund and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, organised the “Resilience, Resistance, and Care” workshop and retreat for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs). Held in Bali from 8 to 16 September 2025, the program gathered 20 HRDs, including women and non-binary activists, from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Timor-Leste.
This program was a response to the escalating challenges faced by activists, community leaders, and women human rights defenders across Asia, such as criminalisation, digital surveillance, gender-based attacks, and social stigmatisation. Many are experiencing exhaustion, trauma, or burnout as they continue their struggle against injustice in increasingly hostile environments. In this context, sustaining wellbeing is a vital act of resistance, essential for keeping defenders grounded, connected, and resilient.
AJAR Director, Galuh Wandita, underscored the program aim:
This initiative was designed to address these challenges by integrating rest, care, and strategic learning acknowledging that wellbeing and resilience are essential for sustaining justice movements.
The program opened with a workshop on the shrinking civic space in Asia, where rising authoritarianism increases risks like surveillance, harassment, and criminalisation for HRDs. Sessions on democracy, transitional justice, gender, digital security, and advocacy strengthened participants’ strategic confidence and protection mechanisms. HRDs shared experiences, analysed threats and explored tools for documentation and sustaining civic engagement.
Affirming the importance of collective support and cross-border solidarity, HRDs recognised common risk patterns across the region and globally. In a pre-recorded message, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, emphasised worldwide threat patterns and the shrinking respect for human rights. She stressed the centrality of wellbeing, stating, “Caring for yourself is also an act of resistance. By protecting your own wellbeing, you ensure that your voice and impact remain strong for the journey ahead.”
The workshop transitioned into a healing retreat, providing a safe space for rest, reflection, and recovery, framing care and solidarity as resistance. Through creative and reflective methods––including cultural activities, art, yoga, and storytelling––participants recovered wholeness, reconnected with their bodies and emotions, and found strength after years of conflict-related work. The retreat helped HRDs process trauma, rebuild trust, and restore hope, grounding their activism in the community.
The ten-day program balanced healing with strategy, exploring care as essential to political struggle and sustained activism. Participants developed concrete plans for regional solidarity, protection networks, and collaborative advocacy.
The program reaffirmed the urgent need for intentional spaces where HRDs can heal, learn, and connect. In a time of heightened risks, the program not only strengthened knowledge and skills but also renewed purpose and solidarity, reminding that mutual care is a powerful act of resistance.