VICTIM SUPPORT, REHABILITATION & RECOVERY
INTRODUCTION
Supporting Survivors. Restoring Dignity. Building Hope.
Survivors of human rights violations often continue to face profound physical, psychological, social, legal, and economic consequences long after the immediate crisis has ended. Torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, sexual and gender-based violence, unlawful killings, forced displacement, trafficking, persecution, and other serious violations can leave lasting impacts on individuals, families, and communities. Meaningful recovery requires more than emergency protection—it requires sustained support, coordinated assistance, respect for survivors' dignity, and opportunities to rebuild lives with safety, confidence, and hope. At the Confederation for Democracy and Human Rights (CDDH), we believe that every survivor has the right to dignity, recognition, recovery, and access to appropriate support. A survivor-centred approach respects the experiences, choices, resilience, and aspirations of those affected while promoting their active participation in decisions concerning their recovery. We recognise that rehabilitation is a longterm process that is strengthened through collaboration, specialised expertise, and inclusive community support.
The Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme is dedicated to supporting survivors of human rights violations and their families by facilitating access to appropriate services, strengthening protection pathways, promoting recovery, and encouraging long-term resilience. Guided by the principles of dignity, confidentiality, informed consent, inclusion, accountability, non-discrimination, and respect for international human rights standards, the programme seeks to ensure that survivors receive coordinated, rights-based, and person-centred support. Our work encompasses survivor accompaniment, referrals to specialised medical, psychosocial, legal, rehabilitation, humanitarian, and social support services through trusted partner organisations; family support; community reintegration; advocacy for survivors' rights; documentation of lived experiences with informed consent; institutional engagement; and initiatives that strengthen resilience, recognition, and long-term recovery.
The programme also promotes collaboration among rehabilitation centres, healthcare professionals, mental health specialists, victims' associations, legal practitioners, humanitarian organisations, community groups, and international partners to strengthen comprehensive support systems. Through institutional learning, survivor-informed approaches, and coordinated partnerships, CDDH contributes to environments where recovery is supported, dignity is restored, and survivors are empowered to rebuild their lives. By supporting survivors, strengthening access to specialised assistance, promoting rehabilitation through trusted partnerships, and advancing long-term recovery, the Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme contributes to a future where those affected by human rights violations are not defined by the harm they endured but are supported in reclaiming their rights, rebuilding their lives, and participating fully in their communities with dignity and hope.
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Supporting Recovery. Restoring Dignity. Strengthening Resilience.
The Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme is committed to promoting the long-term recovery, rehabilitation, dignity, and resilience of survivors of human rights violations and their families. CDDH recognises that recovery is a deeply personal and often lifelong process that requires coordinated support, respect for survivors' choices, and access to specialised services delivered through trusted partners. Every intervention seeks to strengthen survivors' well-being, reinforce their rights, and support their meaningful participation in society. Our strategic priorities are designed to improve access to survivor-centred support, strengthen coordinated rehabilitation pathways, reinforce community resilience, and promote environments where survivors can recover with dignity, safety, and hope.
Our priorities include:
- Promoting survivor-centred approaches that respect dignity, informed consent, confidentiality, participation, cultural sensitivity, non-discrimination, and the individual priorities of survivors throughout every stage of the recovery process.
- Facilitating access to specialised medical, psychosocial, rehabilitation, legal, humanitarian, livelihood, and social support services through trusted partner organisations, ensuring that survivors and their families receive coordinated and appropriate assistance.
- Supporting survivors of torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, unlawful killings, persecution, forced displacement, and other serious human rights violations, including survivors living in exile and those returning to their communities where appropriate and safe.
- Strengthening family support, community reintegration, peer support initiatives, and survivor networks that reduce isolation, reinforce resilience, and encourage long-term social inclusion and mutual assistance.
- Promoting recognition of survivors' experiences through survivor-informed advocacy, documentation undertaken with informed consent, memorialisation initiatives where appropriate, and efforts that reinforce dignity, truth, justice, and accountability.
- Strengthening collaboration among rehabilitation centres, healthcare providers, mental health professionals, legal organisations, victims' associations, humanitarian actors, community groups, and international partners to improve coordinated rehabilitation and recovery pathways.
- Integrating Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact (MEL), survivor feedback, organisational learning, and evidence-based improvement into programme implementation to strengthen quality, accountability, and long-term impact.
- Encouraging innovation, adaptive approaches, and interdisciplinary cooperation that improve survivor support, expand access to specialised services, strengthen institutional responses, and reinforce community resilience.
Through these strategic priorities, CDDH seeks to transform survival into recovery, rehabilitation into renewed opportunity, and coordinated support into lasting resilience for survivors, families, and communities. By combining survivor-centred practice, trusted partnerships, coordinated referrals, family support, institutional learning, and an unwavering commitment to human dignity, the Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme contributes to a future where survivors are recognised, supported, empowered, and able to rebuild their lives with dignity, confidence, and hope.
AREAS OF ACTION
Supporting Survivors Through Recovery, Rehabilitation and Resilience
The Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme operates across a comprehensive range of survivor support, rehabilitation, recovery, coordination, and resilience initiatives designed to promote dignity, facilitate access to specialised assistance, and strengthen long-term well-being for survivors of human rights violations and their families. Through survivor-centred approaches, trusted partnerships, and coordinated support pathways, CDDH helps individuals rebuild their lives while contributing to stronger communities and more responsive protection systems.
Our principal areas of action include:
Survivor Accompaniment and Recovery Planning
Providing survivor-centred accompaniment, identifying recovery priorities, facilitating individual recovery planning, and supporting informed decision-making while respecting each survivor's dignity, choices, and personal circumstances.
Referrals to Specialised Rehabilitation Services
Facilitating referrals to trusted partner organisations providing medical care, physical rehabilitation, mental health and psychosocial support, legal assistance, humanitarian services, livelihood support, and other specialised services appropriate to survivors' needs.
Family Support and Community Reintegration
Supporting families affected by human rights violations, strengthening community reintegration, encouraging peer support, reducing isolation, and promoting inclusive environments that facilitate longterm recovery and social participation.
Support for Survivors in Exile and Displacement
Supporting survivors living in exile or displacement by facilitating access to protection pathways, specialised services, legal and social support, community networks, and recovery opportunities through trusted national and international partners, while recognising the additional challenges created by displacement and transnational repression.
Recognition, Documentation and Survivor Participation
Promoting survivor-informed approaches through documentation undertaken with informed consent, recognition of lived experiences, participation in advocacy where freely chosen, memorialisation initiatives where appropriate, and efforts that reinforce dignity, truth, justice, and accountability.
Institutional Coordination and Survivor Networks
Strengthening cooperation among rehabilitation centres, healthcare providers, mental health professionals, legal organisations, victims' associations, humanitarian actors, community organisations, and international partners to improve coordinated recovery pathways and long-term support.
Learning, Quality and Organisational Resilience
Integrating Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact (MEL), survivor feedback, organisational learning, knowledge management, programme evaluation, and continuous improvement to strengthen survivor support, institutional effectiveness, and long-term programme quality.
Together, these areas of action enable CDDH to transform immediate assistance into sustained recovery, coordinated referrals into meaningful rehabilitation, survivor participation into empowerment, and institutional learning into stronger support systems for individuals and communities affected by human rights violations. Through survivor-centred accompaniment, trusted partnerships, specialised referrals, family support, community reintegration, and continuous learning, the Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme contributes to a future where survivors regain dignity, rebuild their lives, strengthen their resilience, and participate fully in society with confidence, recognition, and hope.
OUR APPROACH
A Survivor-Centred, Rights-Based and Partnership-Driven Approach
The Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme adopts a survivor-centred, rights-based, trauma-informed, and partnership-driven approach to supporting individuals and families affected by human rights violations. CDDH recognises that every survivor's experience is unique and that recovery is not a linear process. Effective rehabilitation requires respect for dignity, informed choice, cultural sensitivity, long-term commitment, and coordinated support that responds to each survivor's individual needs, priorities, strengths, and aspirations. Our approach combines survivor accompaniment, coordinated referrals, advocacy, institutional engagement, family support, community reintegration, and continuous learning to strengthen recovery pathways while respecting the autonomy, resilience, and lived experiences of survivors. We work within our mandate and collaborate closely with specialised organisations that provide medical, psychosocial, rehabilitation, humanitarian, legal, livelihood, and other services beyond CDDH's direct operational role.
Through this programme, we:
- Place survivors at the centre of every intervention by respecting their dignity, informed consent, confidentiality, safety, choices, and active participation in decisions concerning their recovery and future.
- Conduct individual and context-sensitive assessments that identify recovery priorities, protection needs, available support networks, and appropriate referral pathways while recognising the diversity of survivors' experiences and circumstances.
- Facilitate coordinated referrals to trusted partner organisations providing specialised medical care, physical rehabilitation, psychosocial and mental health support, legal assistance, humanitarian services, livelihood support, and other appropriate forms of assistance.
- Promote family-centred and community-based approaches that strengthen social support networks, encourage community reintegration, reduce isolation, and reinforce resilience for survivors and their families.
- Support survivors living in exile, displacement, or other situations of heightened vulnerability by facilitating access to protection mechanisms, specialised services, community networks, and coordinated assistance through national and international partners.
- Promote survivor-informed advocacy, documentation with informed consent, recognition initiatives, and participation opportunities that reinforce dignity, truth, justice, accountability, and respect for survivors' voices without exposing them to unnecessary risk.
- Integrate Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact (MEL), survivor feedback, programme evaluation, organisational learning, and evidence-based adaptation to strengthen the quality, effectiveness, and long-term impact of recovery initiatives.
- Continuously strengthen partnerships, professional standards, interdisciplinary cooperation, and institutional learning to ensure that survivor support remains ethical, responsive, inclusive, and aligned with evolving international good practice.
Our work is guided by the principles of dignity, humanity, confidentiality, informed consent, nondiscrimination, inclusion, accountability, do no harm, and respect for international human rights standards. We are committed to supporting survivors in ways that recognise their resilience, protect their rights, and reinforce their capacity to rebuild their lives on their own terms. Through this integrated approach, CDDH transforms accompaniment into empowerment, coordinated referrals into meaningful recovery, survivor participation into restored dignity, and collaborative learning into stronger rehabilitation systems that help individuals, families, and communities heal, recover, and move forward with hope.
ADVANCING VICTIM SUPPORT, REHABILITATION & RECOVERY
Restoring Dignity. Supporting Recovery. Empowering Survivors.
At the Confederation for Democracy and Human Rights (CDDH), we believe that every survivor of a human rights violation has the right to recovery, rehabilitation, recognition, and the opportunity to rebuild a life of dignity, safety, and hope. The consequences of torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, persecution, forced displacement, and other serious violations often extend far beyond the initial abuse, affecting individuals, families, and entire communities. Supporting recovery therefore requires sustained commitment, coordinated partnerships, and a comprehensive, survivor-centred approach. The Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme is designed to accompany survivors throughout their recovery journey by strengthening access to specialised services, reinforcing protective environments, promoting social inclusion, and supporting long-term resilience. Through coordinated referrals, survivor accompaniment, advocacy, family engagement, and institutional collaboration, CDDH helps ensure that survivors are supported with dignity while maintaining control over decisions affecting their recovery.
Through this programme, we seek to:
- Promote survivor-centred recovery by respecting dignity, informed consent, confidentiality, participation, cultural sensitivity, and the individual priorities of every survivor throughout the rehabilitation process.
- Facilitate timely referrals to trusted partner organisations providing specialised medical care, physical rehabilitation, psychosocial and mental health support, legal assistance, humanitarian services, livelihood support, and other recovery services appropriate to survivors' needs.
- Support survivors of torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, persecution, forced displacement, and other serious human rights violations, including survivors living in exile or displacement who face additional barriers to recovery and social integration.
- Strengthen family support, peer networks, survivor groups, and community reintegration initiatives that reduce isolation, encourage mutual support, and foster inclusive environments where survivors can rebuild their lives with confidence.
- Promote survivor-informed advocacy, documentation undertaken with informed consent, recognition initiatives, memorialisation where appropriate, and participation in justice and accountability processes in ways that respect survivors' safety, dignity, and personal choices.
- Reinforce collaboration among rehabilitation centres, healthcare providers, mental health professionals, legal organisations, victims' associations, humanitarian actors, community organisations, and international partners to improve coordinated recovery pathways and long-term support systems.
- Integrate Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact (MEL), survivor feedback, programme evaluation, organisational learning, and evidence-based adaptation into programme implementation to strengthen quality, accountability, institutional effectiveness, and continuous improvement.
- Encourage innovation, interdisciplinary cooperation, and adaptive approaches that improve survivor support, strengthen institutional responses, expand access to specialised services, and reinforce longterm resilience for survivors, families, and communities.
Our impact extends beyond recovery alone. By strengthening survivor support systems, expanding access to specialised assistance, reinforcing family and community resilience, and promoting recognition and dignity, CDDH contributes to environments where survivors are empowered to reclaim their rights, participate fully in society, and shape their own futures. Through survivor-centred practice, trusted partnerships, coordinated referrals, continuous learning, and an unwavering commitment to human dignity, the Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme works toward a future where every survivor is recognised, supported, empowered, and given the opportunity to heal, recover, and thrive with dignity, resilience, and hope.
WORKING WITH PARTNERS
Working Together to Support Recovery and Restore Dignity
The Confederation for Democracy and Human Rights (CDDH) believes that meaningful recovery is achieved through collaboration, trust, and coordinated action. Survivors of human rights violations often require comprehensive support that spans healthcare, rehabilitation, psychosocial assistance, legal services, humanitarian support, protection, social inclusion, and community reintegration. By working closely with specialised partners, CDDH helps strengthen survivor-centred support systems while ensuring that survivors and their families can access the expertise and services best suited to their individual needs. The Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme works with a broad network of national, regional, and international partners to improve recovery pathways, strengthen rehabilitation systems, promote long-term resilience, and reinforce the rights and dignity of survivors.
We collaborate with:
- Rehabilitation centres, hospitals, healthcare providers, physical rehabilitation specialists, and public health institutions.
- Mental health professionals, psychosocial support organisations, trauma specialists, counselling services, and survivor support centres.
- Human rights organisations, victims' associations, civil society organisations, humanitarian organisations, and community-based organisations.
- Lawyers, legal aid providers, bar associations, judicial support organisations, and organisations promoting access to justice and reparations.
- United Nations entities, regional organisations, diplomatic partners, international cooperation agencies, and development organisations supporting survivor assistance and rehabilitation.
- Community leaders, faith-based organisations, peer support groups, women's organisations, youth networks, and local organisations promoting inclusion and community resilience.
- Academic institutions, research centres, and professional associations contributing to survivorinformed practice, rehabilitation research, and continuous professional development.
Together with our partners, we:
- Facilitate coordinated referrals that enable survivors and their families to access specialised medical care, physical rehabilitation, psychosocial support, legal assistance, humanitarian services, livelihood support, and other appropriate forms of assistance.
- Strengthen cooperation among rehabilitation providers, legal professionals, humanitarian actors, community organisations, and protection networks to improve continuity of care and long-term recovery pathways.
Promote survivor-centred approaches, informed consent, confidentiality, ethical practice, and traumainformed methodologies that respect the dignity, safety, choices, and lived experiences of survivors.
- Support family-centred recovery, community reintegration, peer support initiatives, and locally led recovery efforts that strengthen resilience, reduce isolation, and encourage sustainable social inclusion.
- Encourage survivor participation, where freely chosen and appropriate, in advocacy, memorialisation, documentation with informed consent, and justice initiatives that reinforce recognition, accountability, and respect for survivors' voices.
- Share lessons learned, Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact (MEL) findings, survivor feedback, good practices, and organisational knowledge to improve programme quality, strengthen collaboration, and promote continuous learning across the rehabilitation community.
- Foster innovation, interdisciplinary cooperation, and evidence-informed practice that improve recovery services, strengthen institutional responses, and expand access to comprehensive survivor support.
Every partnership is guided by dignity, humanity, confidentiality, informed consent, independence, accountability, inclusion, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to supporting survivors in ways that promote healing, empowerment, and long-term well-being. CDDH values partnerships that recognise survivors not only as beneficiaries of assistance but also as rights holders, partners, and contributors to stronger and more resilient communities. By working alongside trusted partners across sectors and disciplines, CDDH transforms collaboration into recovery, specialised expertise into renewed opportunity, and shared commitment into stronger systems that help survivors rebuild their lives with dignity, resilience, hope, and respect for their rights.
LOOKING AHEAD
Advancing Recovery, Resilience and Survivor Empowerment
The Confederation for Democracy and Human Rights (CDDH) remains committed to promoting survivorcentred recovery, strengthening rehabilitation pathways, and advancing long-term resilience for individuals, families, and communities affected by human rights violations. As the nature of human rights crises continues to evolve—including armed conflict, political repression, transnational persecution, forced displacement, digital harms, and climate-related emergencies—CDDH will continue adapting its approaches to ensure that survivors receive coordinated, ethical, and rights-based support throughout their recovery journey. Looking ahead, the Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme will continue expanding partnerships, improving referral pathways, strengthening survivor participation, and reinforcing institutional learning. By combining coordinated support, evidence-informed practice, and collaboration with specialised partners, CDDH seeks to contribute to recovery systems that are more accessible, inclusive, responsive, and sustainable.
Our future priorities include:
- Expanding survivor-centred support by strengthening coordinated referral pathways to specialised medical, rehabilitation, psychosocial, legal, humanitarian, livelihood, and social services provided by trusted partner organisations.
- Reinforcing long-term recovery strategies for survivors of torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, sexual and gender-based violence, trafficking, persecution, forced displacement, and other serious human rights violations, including survivors living in exile or displacement.
- Strengthening family support, peer networks, survivor communities, and community-based recovery initiatives that promote social inclusion, reduce isolation, and reinforce collective resilience.
- Advancing survivor participation, where freely chosen, in advocacy, documentation undertaken with informed consent, memorialisation, and accountability initiatives that recognise survivors' experiences while safeguarding their dignity, privacy, and security.
- Promoting collaboration among rehabilitation centres, healthcare providers, mental health professionals, legal organisations, victims' associations, humanitarian actors, academic institutions, and international partners to improve coordinated recovery systems.
- Integrating Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Impact (MEL), survivor feedback, programme evaluation, organisational learning, and evidence-based adaptation to strengthen programme quality, accountability, and long-term effectiveness.
- Encouraging innovation, interdisciplinary cooperation, digital solutions where appropriate, and research that strengthen rehabilitation practices, expand access to support, and improve institutional responses to survivors' evolving needs.
- Investing in strategic foresight, professional development, and knowledge sharing to ensure that CDDH and its partners remain prepared to respond to emerging recovery and rehabilitation challenges in changing global contexts.
Our vision is a future where every survivor is recognised as a rights holder with the opportunity to recover, rebuild, participate, and thrive in safety and dignity. We aspire to strengthen systems that not only respond to harm but also restore hope, reinforce resilience, and support survivors in shaping their own futures. Through survivor-centred practice, trusted partnerships, continuous learning, responsible innovation, and an unwavering commitment to human dignity, CDDH will continue strengthening recovery pathways that empower survivors, support families, reinforce communities, and contribute to more just, inclusive, and compassionate societies.
CONTINUE EXPLORING
Continue Exploring Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery
The Victim Support, Rehabilitation & Recovery Programme reflects CDDH's commitment to accompanying survivors of human rights violations with dignity, compassion, and respect for their rights. Through survivor-centred approaches, coordinated referrals, trusted partnerships, family support, community reintegration, and long-term recovery initiatives, we help strengthen pathways that enable survivors to rebuild their lives, restore their confidence, and participate fully in society. Recovery is one stage of a broader human rights protection journey. Sustainable progress also requires effective emergency response, continued protection, resilient communities, and action to address the structural causes of violations. We invite you to explore our related programmes and discover how they work together to provide a comprehensive, rights-based framework for protection, recovery, resilience, and justice.
Continue Exploring
Emergency Response & Rapid Action
Discover how CDDH coordinates timely, rights-based responses to urgent human rights situations through emergency preparedness, rapid coordination, crisis monitoring, strategic advocacy, and trusted partnerships that help protect lives and reduce harm.
Protection & Assistance
Explore how CDDH strengthens the safety of individuals and communities at risk through protection planning, case accompaniment, coordinated referrals, digital safety, advocacy, and access to national, regional, and international protection mechanisms.
Humanitarian Action & Community Resilience
Learn how CDDH promotes rights-based humanitarian action, strengthens local preparedness, supports community resilience, and helps communities anticipate, withstand, and recover from crises through collaborative and locally led approaches.
Environmental Justice, Natural Resources & Corporate Accountability
Discover how CDDH addresses the human rights impacts of environmental degradation, climate change, natural resource exploitation, and corporate activities by promoting environmental justice, responsible business conduct, corporate accountability, and the protection of affected communities and environmental human rights defenders.
Together, these programmes form an integrated framework that transforms emergency action into protection, protection into recovery, recovery into resilience, and resilience into lasting prevention. By connecting survivor support, humanitarian action, environmental justice, institutional learning, and strategic partnerships, CDDH strengthens its capacity to protect human dignity, promote accountability, and help individuals and communities recover from human rights crises with hope, confidence, and renewed opportunity. Every survivor's journey is unique, but no survivor should face recovery alone. Through collaboration, compassion, respect, and a steadfast commitment to human rights, CDDH works alongside survivors, families, communities, and partners to help build a future where healing, justice, dignity, and resilience are accessible to all.