Apply Now (Only for Lusophone Countries) – Training of Trainers on African Human Rights Mechanisms

INTRODUCTION

The Training of Trainers (TOT) is an activity under the project ‘Consolidating civil society’s role in the transition from African human rights standards to practice’ to be implemented by the Consortium composed of, International Commission for Jurists(European Institutions and Kenya branches), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS). The TOT will be organized in collaboration with the International Centre for not – for Profit Law (ICNL).

Independent civil society actors and human rights defenders are key players in the African human rights system and the main drivers of social change at the national and local levels who monitor the application of international human rights standards, follow-up of the implementation of judgments, decisions and recommendations of African regional human rights mechanisms. They also contribute to the consolidation of States’ capacity to ensure implementation of regional and international human rights standards.

Available anecdotal evidence suggests that there is correlation between active participation of civil society and the effectiveness of the African human rights system within a given state. In states and sub-regions where a well-informed, vibrant and active civil society is present, there is a general tendency for State authorities to cooperate more with regional human rights mechanisms. While such well informed and vibrant civil society presence can generally be found in Anglophone and Francophone Africa, the same cannot equally be said about Lusophone Africa. This training is therefore one of the measures aimed at addressing this gap.

Objective of the Training

The general objective of the TOT workshop is to improve awareness of the African human rights system among civil society actors in Lusophone Africa and to get Portuguese speaking countries to engage and be more involved as well as to build the capacity of a large group of trainers representing human rights NGOs, Journalists and Lawyers in Lusophone speaking countries.

The workshop is also to equip Portuguese speaking civil society actors with added knowledge and skills for appropriate and more effective way of engaging with mechanisms of the African human rights system such as the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights especially in relation to strategic advocacy and litigation. This Training will serve as an induction especially for those HRDs with little or no prior experience engaging with the African human rights system

Participants

The training will target representatives of human rights NGOs, Human Rights Practitioners/Lawyers, Journalists from ONLY Lusophone speaking countries, mainly: (Angola, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, & Sao Tome Principe).

Criteria

Application and Selection Procedure: Owing to the limited spaces available, selection for participation at the workshop will be very competitive.

Interested participants are encouraged to apply online on or before 13th September 2019

Be actively involved in the last three years in human rights work - Submit a motivation statement

Submit abridged curriculum vitae (maximum one page) - Submit a copy of your passport

Shortlisted applicants will be required to Submit (prior to arrival in Maputo) a report on the human rights situation in their respective country (maximum 5 pages)

Resource Persons

Resource Persons will be drawn from the Organizers andPartners pool of Resource Persons.

Languages

The Training of Trainers (TOT) will be conducted in English & Portuguese with simultaneous interpretation services.

Additional Information

Methodologies: The course will comprise of general lectures, presentations, discussions, debates, case studies and break-out sessions.

Themes/ Modules: African Human Rights Systems & Mechanisms, International Human Rights Systems & Mechanisms, Freedom of Assembly & Association.

Expected Outcomes

The Training will offer participants the opportunity to:

Form a pool of Lusophone Trainers that work on the African human rights system in Africa

Be familiar with the African human rights instruments, including theoretical and practical knowledge of the instruments

Have more Portuguese speaking countries to be involved in the African Commission Sessions and other Human Rights Forums

Enhance their knowledge for advocacy, lobbying, engagement and litigation before the African Commission, the African Court and Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child

Create a network with Lusophone civil society organizations on issues of mutual Interest
Learn and share the best practices for engagement (applying for Observer status, filing communications and complaints, making statements at Commissions Sessions, etc.)

Important to Know

Monitoring and Evaluation: An immediate evaluation will be carried out following the end of the TOT. A follow-up evaluation will be done six months thereafter to further evaluate how participants have progressed in engaging with the Mechanisms, if any.

Certificate: Certificates will be given to participants at the end of the training.

To Apply, Click Here

Contacts

Contacts: For more information please contact: Ms. Joanna Forster–Assistant Project Officer - Email: programs@acdhrs.org Ms. Annetta Mahoney – Personal Assistant – csec@acdhrs.org & Mr Yankuba Keita – Documents and Information – library@acdhrs.org

For Portuguese, Clik Here