The Human Rights Monitoring Institute (HRMI) was founded in 2003 as an independent non-governmental organisation in Lithuania to support human rights efforts in the Baltic region, focused on Lithuania. Since 2008, the HRMI has used domestic and international courts to protect against discrimination., The Human Rights Monitoring Institute also works in an education campaign to raise awareness of the effects of discrimination and racism in public life, highlighting Human Rights Month as a time to consolidate efforts and draw media and government attention to ongoing issues.