ABSTRACT
Nongovernmental organizations in the field of human rights are the life-blood of the human rights movement. They promote awareness of existing human rights norms, urge the adoption of new norms where needed, undertake research on thematic issues as well as on particular situations, denounce violations of human rights, and engage in advocacy for the promotion and protection of human rights that is invaluable. Overall, their work is intended to have a preventive effect. Nevertheless, major human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, or the International Federation for Human Rights do not have pronounced preventive human rights strategies. They are mainly caught up in advocacy on particular situations or issues.
