At the founding of Aim for human rights the objective was to promote the compliance to human rights by stimulating the public and political debate on human rights in the Netherlands. In time, Aim for human rights developed into a human rights organisation that specifically focuses on promoting effectiveness.

Aim for human rights is committed to increase effectiveness around human rights. Effectiveness of the human rights policy of governments and effectiveness of human rights organisations ánd companies. We strive to achieve this objective by developing evaluation methods, handbooks and questionaires with which the effect of policy on the human rights can be made visible. We usually develop these methods in cooperation with local human rights organisations that want to use the impact assessment. Thus, these instruments are practical and user friendly. We also strengthen the effectiveness of human rights organisations by capacity enhancement. By taking their needs as a starting point, Aim for human rights as well hopes to work as effectively and efficiently as possible. Read more on our Procedure

Until October 2007 Aim for human rights was called the Netherlands Committee on Human Rights (HOM). Several facts contributed to the decision to change the name of the organisation. Increasing international cooperation demanded a more international name. 'Humanist' was often understood to mean humanitarian, and this led to misunderstandings. In addition, the word 'committee' no longer covers the various activities of the organisation, which include supporting local organisations, trainings, research and advocacy. Finally, the shorthand HOM was felt to be to masculine by many. We want to show that we are an organisation that lists many projects on women's human rights. The word 'humanist' no longer features in the name, but the work of Aim for human rights remains based on humanist values such as freedom, human dignity and equality.