The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) is an international, nongovernmental organization constituted by national Helsinki Committees and Cooperating Organizations in the participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The IHF seeks to promote compliance with the human rights provisions of the Helsinki Final Act and its follow-up documents, with international legal obligations undertaken in the Council of Europe (CoE) and the United Nations (UN), and with human rights norms promoted by the European Union (EU). The IHF mandate is to protect and strengthen civil society groups that monitor and report on human rights issues from a non-partisan perspective, and to bring them together on a common international platform. The IHF represents its affiliates on the international political level and in the media, supports and assists their human rights monitoring and advocacy activities, and disseminates documentation based on their research.