Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 65th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR and 39th African Human Rights Book
By John Gbenagnon (Consultant in Communication)
The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) will hold the Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 65th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and 39th African Human Rights Book Fair from the 17th – 19th October 2019, at the Paradise Suites Hotel – Kololi, The Gambia.
The Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the Ordinary Sessions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission), also known as the ‘NGOs Forum’ is an advocacy platform coordinated by the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies to promote advocacy, lobbying and networking among and between human rights NGOs, for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa. The bi-annual event, which precedes the Ordinary Session of the ACHPR, is an advocacy platform for discussing human rights issues in Africa with a view of identifying possible strategies for engagement or redress, which are forwarded to the African Commission as contribution to its work during a said Session. The NGOs Forum shares updates on the human rights situation in Africa by the African and international NGOs community with a view of identifying responses as well as adopting strategies towards improving the human rights situation on the continent.
Its objective is mainly to foster closer collaboration between and among NGOs and with the African Commission and other African human rights mechanisms, for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights in Africa.
The African Union declared 2019 as ‘The Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: towards durable solutions for forced displacement in Africa.
It would be recalled that the NGOs Forum held in Sharm El Sheikh, Arab Republic of Egypt in April, 2019 focused on the 2019 AU theme. In a bid to keep civil society actors engaged on such an important continental discussion, the October 2019 session of the NGOs Forum will focus on the same theme but specifically focusing on implementing commitments into action. The discussions will contribute to adopting strategies for monitoring the implementing of related Conventions and Treaties as signed by Member States.
The theme of the Forum will be ‘The Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: towards durable solutions for forced displacement in Africa – moving from rhetoric to action’. The Forum is expected to be addressed by a representative from Attorney General and Ministry of Justice of The Gambia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR-The Gambia), the representative of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) amongst other Speakers.
The situation of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, finding durable solutions to displacement and xenophobia, the rights of internally displaced persons, the status of intersex and transgender refugees, strategies and protection of displaced human rights defenders in Africa amongst other panels would be organized during the said Forum.
The Forum will attract about 300 participants from African civil society/NGOs, international NGOs from Africa and beyond working on youth, democracy, human rights and the rule of law issues, academia, media, etc.
For more information, please contact the African Centre on +220 4462340
Email: Ms. Adama Cooper-Jah (Administrator) admin@acdhrs.org / Mr. John Gbenagnon (Communication and Information Officer) communications@acdhrs.org
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