INFORM was established in 1990 to monitor and document the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, especially in the context of the ethnic conflict and civil war. The organizationwork by reporting on the situation through written and oral interventions at the local, national and international level, rights advocacy and awareness building work, including work on policy change. Presently, INFORM focuses on Freedom of Expression (FoE), protection of human rights defenders (HRDs) and lobbying and advocacy on the promotion of human rights and accountability in Sri Lanka.

INFORM has been a key constituent in election monitoring and media freedom work at the national level; is involved with the Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), and the Free Media Movement (FMM).

INFORM has been working with NGOs and HRD networks, collaborating with local activists, groups and networks as well as regional (Asian) and international human rights networks, focusing on rights of specific groups such as with families of enforced disappearances, women’s rights, rights of lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, media organisations, trade unions, academics etc.

INFORM is one of the two member organisations from Sri Lanka of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and closely associated with its activities, and has also served on its Executive
Committee. It has maintained close links with HRDs and national level human rights organisations in Asian countries, including several regional women’s rights organisations.

INFORM has been associated for a number of years with international women’s rights movement on global campaigns and advocacy on women’s rights. It was a founding member of the International coalition on Women HRDs and was the primary host of the first International Consultation on Women HRDs in 2005. INFORM has also worked closely with leading international human rights organisations such as Amnesty International (AI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), International Crisis Group (ICG), International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Front Line Defenders (FLD) and FORUM-ASIA.