The Award, which is now in its 14^th year, is given to a human rights defender who has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of human rights in their community over the past twelve months. The EU congratulates the three shortlisted nominees, who were chosen following a review of dozens of nominations received from members of the public. 

1. Aloikin Praise Opoloje is a young feminist and activist dedicated to social justice with a strong passion for upholding human rights. She is in in her final year for a Law Degree at Makerere University in Kampala. She interned at Chapter Four Uganda as a Legal Trainee and also serves as the Student Engagements Lead at OpenParly Uganda, a youth-led parliamentary monitoring initiative, where she organizes student debates on parliamentary issues. She has been involved in several anti-corruption protests in Uganda and the protest against civilians in military detention. She envisions a country where women are given fair and equal opportunities to participate in the political process and has called for involvement of women in leadership spaces.

2.   Hussein Kato Muyinda is a lawyer and environmental rights defender, co-founder of Earth and Rights Initiative. He holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Kampala International University and has pursued further studies in Human Rights and Public Service at Colgate University (New York). He was elected General Secretary of Climate Action Network Uganda (CAN-U), the largest environmental coalition in the country, with over 200 member organizations. His advocacy influenced the Kikuube District Council to upgrade the Bugoma Central Forest Reserve to a National Park. He has also been at the forefront of projects aimed at empowering climate justice in communities. 

3.  Norah Kobusingye is a journalist and human rights activist dedicated to fighting corruption, promoting social justice, defending women's rights and amplifying voices of the marginalized communities/groups. She is co-Executive Director at Freedom Hive Uganda, a young human rights organisation that empowers Ugandans to advocate for social justice, gender equality, women rights, civic rights, climate justice, and rights of marginalized groups through community organizations, activists, and social movements. She has participated in several anti-corruption protests in Uganda and the protest against civilians in military detention.

We salute each of the HRDs for their excellent work in defence of the rights of others. The winner of the EU Human Rights Defenders Award 2025 will be announced during a ceremony in Kampala hosted by the Embassy of Sweden on 15^th May 2025. 

The EU encourages members of the public who would like more information about the award to contact us on DELEGATION-UGANDA-HUMAN-RIGHTS-DEFENDERS@eeas.europa.eu.