Draft:Hassan Shire

Hassan Shire Sheikh is a Somali-Canadian pan-African human rights activist. He is the Executive Director of the East and Horn of Africa human rights activists Project also known as DefendDefenders). He is also the chairperson of the Pan-African Human Rights Activists Network (PAHRD-Net) which is also known as AfricanDefenders.    AfricanDefenders is an umbrella organization created to coordinate and strengthen sub-regional efforts to overcome many of the challenges and gaps identified in protection mechanisms.

Background and Education
Hassan Shire was born in Mogadishu Somalia and moved to Canada  after facing threats from extremist organizations in Somalia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science and government from Delhi University and a Master of Arts in Economics from Jamia Millia Islamia University New Delhi.

Personal Life and Career
While in Somalia, Shire co-founded the Dr. Ismail Jumale Human Rights Centre in 1996 served as it's director till 2001. He chaired the Peace and Human Rights Network Mogadishu, Somalia during the same period. He collaborated with Amnesty International Canada and the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University to establish the African Human Rights Activists Project while seeking asylum in Canada.

In 2005, Shire returned to Africa and founded DefendDefenders, based in Uganda, to support human rights activists across the East and Horn of Africa. He also played a pivotal role in forming coalitions of human rights advocates in multiple African countries like Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, and Somalia/Somaliland in the east and the Horn of Africa.

He currently serves as vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Centre for Civil and Political Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. He also serves on the Board of the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (Kampala, Uganda) and served as a board member at the Institute of Human Rights and Democracy in Africa located in Banjul, Gambia.

Hassan Shire is the Executive Director of the East and Horn of Africa human rights activists Project Kampala, Uganda (alias DefendDefenders) and also the chairperson of the Pan-African human rights activists Network (EHAHRDN) which is also known as AfricanDefenders. Under his direction, DefendDefenders supports human rights activists with advocacy, capacity building, awareness raising, emergency protection, well-being support, and technology assistance.

Hassan is a member of the Global Civil Society Movement. He is a member of the World Movement for Democracy Steering Committee.

Awards and recognitions
He has received several awards for his work, including the Richard C. Holbrooke Leadership Award from Refugees International in 2017, the human rights activist Award from the U.S. State Department in 2011 and the Leadership Award of the Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network (2015).