The Network was established in 2017 with the support of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-East Africa Regional Office and has its secretariat currently hosted by DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project). The mission of the Network is
AfricanDefenders (the Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network) is a network of five African sub-regional organisations, dedicated to the promotion and protection of human rights defenders (HRDs) across the African continent.