In solidarity with all oppressed peoples for the common pursuit of justice and freedom for all.
About us
Together for the common pursuit of justice
Solidarity Rising is an international human rights organization that gathers activists from all walks of life together in the struggle for a world where everyone’s rights are respected. We stand in solidarity with occupied people and work every day to advocate, raise awareness and build the global solidarity movement for the common pursuit of justice and freedom for all.
We are funded by the people and persons like you. We are independent of any political ideology, economic interest or religion.
Team
Activists from all walks of life working together with the belief that we are stronger and more successful when we join forces and link up our struggles.
Benjamin Ladraa, Founder
Benjamin is a Swedish human rights defender and founder of Solidarity Rising. He’s walked from Sweden to Palestine, biked from Sweden to Western Sahara, visited multiple occupied territories and has spent more than a decade advocating for human rights in various contexts.
Some of his previous projects include:
WalktoPalestine – A 5000km walk from Sweden to Palestine in order to raise awareness about the occupation of Palestine and human rights violations committed by Israel.
Bike4Gaza – a 2000km bike ride through Sweden to raise funds for the Palestine Children’s Relief fund and their work to provide Palestinian children with prosthetics and rehabilitation.
SolidarityRiding – a 500km ride through France to raise funds for the PCRF and the Sahrawi Red Crescent and their work to provide refugees with basic food and medicine in the Sahrawi refugee camps.
Sista Klivet – a 500km walk from Gothenburg to Stockholm to demand amnesty for refugees in Sweden.
Sanna Ghotbi, Co-lead
Sanna is a human rights activist from Gothenburg, Sweden. Currently working at Greenpeace international she brings a wealth of experience from her many years in the fields of human rights, democracy, politics, feminism and advocacy. She is releasing her book “de vingklipptas dans” this september
She was elected in the city council of Gothenburg where she put forward many policy changes for the rights of undocumented migrants, unaccompanied refugee youth and women suffering domestic abuse.
She has worked with indigenous groups in Ecuador and Colombia. She co-founded the Digidem Lab that works with promoting participatory democracy, increasing citizen’s power of local decision-making in places like New York, Chicago and Sweden focusing on underfunded communities, youth and people of color.
Her main passion is to change the way democracy works so that those that are most affected by political decisions are the ones making them.
Meriem Naili
Meriem Naili is a PhD candidate at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom) in Security, Conflict and Human Rights. She holds a master’s degree in Public International Law from the University of Grenoble (France) and Amsterdam (The Netherlands).
She is a member of the steering committee of the International Academic Observatory on Western Sahara (OUISO) at the University of Paris Descartes and Western Sahara Campaign UK.
Her research focuses on the absence of human rights monitoring mechanisms within the MINURSO mandate and its impact(s) on the evolution and resolution of the conflict in Western Sahara. She is specifically interested in the issue of access to natural resources and in December 2019 published an article on the legal battle over the resources at the EU level.
She is also the author of a book chapter on ‘The legal aspects of the functioning of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara’ and an article about defeating illegal trade in Western Sahara.
Meriem has been invited to speak in Conflict Analysis modules at the Open University of Barcelona, the University of West England, Bristol and La Sorbonne University in Paris.
Sidahmed Jouli
Sidahmed Jouly is a saharawi activist and campaigner based in the saharawi refugee camps in South-west of Algeria.
He’s worked with several respected international NGOs, including Oxfam, in the Sahrawi refugee camps and is deeply involved in the Sahrawi civil society.
Sidahmed holds a Master degree in international relations from Chlef university in Algeria.
Sandra Johansson
Sandra is a Swedish activist with experience in administration, education, and grassroots work, focusing on human rights and sustainability. Based in Stockholm, she combines strong organizational skills with a deep commitment to social justice. Sandra actively supports vulnerable groups and works to build inclusive communities both locally and globally, valuing social and environmental sustainability. She has completed coursework in Social Anthropology and International Relations at Stockholm University and Södertörn University.
Latest Work Experience
Handled a variety of administrative tasks, including developing mappings for future projects in human rights and sustainability, as well as producing documentation.
Volunteer Work:
- Solidarity Rising (2025–): Volunteer in event planning and administration for solidarity initiatives.
- Alla ska få mat (2023–): Assists in food preparation and distribution for food-insecure individuals in Stockholm.
- Nobel Dinner After Party (2019): Supported guest management and event logistics at a high-profile national event.
Sandra Lööf
Sandra is a student in the Bachelor’s programme in Human Rights at Lund University in Sweden. Driven by a commitment to equality, freedom, and social justice, she combines an academic background in international law and civil society with strong analytical skills from a human rights perspective. Sandra also spent a semester at the University of Zaragoza in Spain, studying Spanish language and the history of feminism.
Her experience in the NGO sector includes work with organizations such as Artikel2, where she completed an internship focused on awareness-raising and advocacy work concerning Western Sahara. Using a human rights approach, she contributed to initiatives by applying analytical and organizational skills, supporting advocacy efforts and stakeholder engagement.
With a strong interest in global human rights issues, she strives to create spaces for dialogue-driven change. She is fluent in Swedish, Spanish and English, and brings a multicultural perspective to her work.
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