Projects for 2005-2006
Africa: Supporting the Africa Democracy Forum
Level of action: Regional
Rights & Democracy began a three-year project this year with the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) in its role as Secretariat of the Africa Democracy Forum (ADF), a regional network of African organisations promoting democracy. This project has three aims: to reinforce the ADF; to contribute to the development, adoption and implementation of regional democratic norms in Africa; and to contribute to the diffusion of practices in favour of the participation of women in political processes in Africa. Rights & Democracy will directly support the functioning of the ADF Secretariat (i.e. salary of the coordinator; administrative expenses; translation). Rights & Democracy will also support the organization of three regional and annual workshops on democracy in Africa, the first of which took place in Nigeria in July 2005 on the international and African processes of promoting democracy.
Africa: Supporting the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
Level of action: Regional
This year, Rights & Democracy continued its close partnership with the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS), based in Banjul, Gambia. The ACDHRS is a pan-African NGO dedicated to the promotion and protections of human rights. By deepening its long-time partnership with the ACDHRS, R&D seeks to support the implementation and development of norms and mechanisms to protect human rights and democracy in Africa. This year, Rights & Democracy focussed on supporting one of the main programmes of the Centre: the Networking for Human Rights programme. This programme has three aims: to develop a formal network of African human rights organizations, with national and sub-regional focal points; to organize an NGO Forum prior to the bi-annual sessions of the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights; and to maintain an information, documentation and research section at the Center.
African Commission: Improving regional mechanisms of human rights protection in Africa
Level of action: Regional
Since March 2006, four Canadian jurists have joined the team of the African Commission for Human and People’s Rights in Banjul to support the mandate of the jurists and Special Rapporteurs of the Commission. Conducted with financial support from CIDA, this two-year project also aims to increase awareness in Canada of the African regional system of human rights protection and promotion of the African Union. The young Canadian jurists also get the opportunity to exploit their knowledge and acquire international experience. This support makes it possible for the African Commission to improve its capacity to fulfill its human rights mandate. The project is supported by the Law Faculty of McGill University and the Centre for International Studies at Université de Montréal (Cérium).
Democratic Republic of Congo: Supporting the Transition to Democracy
Level of action: National
Rights & Democracy supports Congolese civil society on several fronts. In March 2006, Rights & Democracy held a five-day training workshop in Kisangani on international and African regional mechanisms dealing with the protection and rights of victims and witnesses to crimes, especially with respect to violence against women. The workshop also focused on the struggle against impunity and the process for peace in the DRC. One purpose of the workshop was to train NGO members to enable Congolese organizations to document sexual violence against women, particularly in eastern Congo. The initiative was funded by Foreign Affairs Canada’s Human Security Fund, and organized with the support of Groupe Lotus and la Coalition congolaise pour la justice transitionelle, two human rights NGOs. During the training, participants focussed on capacity building to enable NGOs to bring crimes perpetrated specifically against women before the International Criminal Court (ICC). Rights & Democracy became involved setting up the training programme following an announcement by the ICC of an inquiry into crimes of sexual violence, and at the request of Congolese NGOs. Stemming from the practical training session, participants submitted the Kisangani Declaration to the Prosecutor of the ICC, urging him to take sexual violence into account in their investigations and to ensure victim protection throughout the process. This initiative is the result of an intensive work by the Coalition for Women’s Human Rights in Conflict Situations, a coalition created and coordinated by Rights & Democracy. Rights & Democracy also supports notably, the Congolese NGO Solidarité féminine pour la paix et le développement intégral (SOFEPADI), which is a local group focussed on the defence and promotion of human rights within the DRC, and ESSAIM, a network of 40 women’s organizations promoting dialogue and action for the defence of women’s rights.
Rights & Democracy also supported Congolese civil society throughout the process leading up to the elections scheduled for July 30, 2006. In particular, we are working with the Centre national pour le développement et la participation populaire (CENADEP), so that it could pursue its activities to promote free and transparent elections, and the rule of law. This support aimed as well to ensure that information on voting practices is better disseminated throughout the population. To this end, Rights & Democracy has also supported the work of Women as Partners for Peace in Africa (WOPPA), and Ligue nationale pour les élections libres et transparantes (LINELIT).
Ivory Coast: Building the Capacity of Civil Society to Fight for Human Rights
Level of action: National
Despite international pressure and the coming into power of a new national reconciliation government in December 2005, the crisis continues in Côte d’Ivoire. In view of a flagrant lack of democracy and peace, Rights & Democracy has made Côte D’Ivoire one of its priority countries. Our goal is to build civil society’s organizational capacity and skills, and to increase its ability to influence government policies linked to the protection and defence of human rights.
We provide support to the Regroupement des acteurs ivoiriens des droits humains (RAIDH), a coalition of NGOs which advocate for democracy. Started in January 2005, this coalition gives its civil society members a greater voice to promote human rights and expose violations of them. Our support notably enables the publishing of L’Appel, a monthly news and awareness bulletin on the human rights situation in Côte d’Ivoire. This free publication, with a print run of 6000 copies, is mainly distributed in Abidjan and cities of the interior.
Rights & Democracy has also facilitated the attendance of Ivorian civil society members at international forums on civil society and democratic development. For example, in October 2005, a RAIDH representative participated in a conference organized jointly by Rights & Democracy and the Africa Democracy Forum (pan-African NGO network) in Conakry, Guinea, that focused on democratic development issues in post-conflict situations. In July 2005, Rights & Democracy and RAIDH organized a seminar on election issues from a civil society perspective. Over 20 Ivorian NGOs participated and were able to define a platform for joint action for the elections scheduled in October 2005. In March 2006, we organized a training workshop for ten NGO members of RAIDH on topics such as civil society action and advocacy and on integrating a gender perspective into their activities. Training material was prepared for the workshop and tested during it. The people who received training went on to train 50 other NGOs, including 15 in Bouaké, an area controlled by rebel forces known as Forces Nouvelles. Rights & Democracy is the only Canadian organization supporting civil society in Côte d’Ivoire.
Malawi: Right to Food
Level of action: National
Rights & Democracy continues to support the Malawi National Right to Food Taskforce. The aim of the project is to promote the right to adequate food in order to end famine and undernourishment around the world. In the fall of 2005, we organized and accompanied a cross-Canada tour by taskforce representative, Mildred Sharra. The Canadian tour included conference presentations, meetings with representatives of the Government of Canada and with Canadian non-governmental organizations. In addition to working to defend the right to food, in terms of the right to an adequate standard of living, this project aims to develop a framework for advocacy around the larger mandate of supporting agricultural development in poor countries where the majority of people earn their living from small-scale farming.
Zimbabwe: Supporting Litigation against Human Rights Abuses
Level of action: National
Land seizures, torture, housing demolition and massive evictions: these are some of the offences committed in Zimbabwe by President Robert Mugabe’s regime. In September 2005, the Association of Canadian Journalists for Freedom of Expression (CJFE), in collaboration with Rights & Democracy, invited Gabriel Shumba, a Zimbabwean lawyer forced into exile in South Africa in 2003 following death threats, to bear witness to this mass destruction and violation of human rights. Mr. Shumba’s tour of Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal was the starting point of a partnership between Rights & Democracy and the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF), led by Mr. Shumba. In November 2005, Rights & Democracy’s support made it possible for two victims and their lawyer to testify before the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights regarding the violations they had suffered. Subsequently, a resolution adopted by the African Commission criticized the human rights violations perpetrated in Zimbabwe. Encouraged by this decision, the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum now plans to gather 1200 testimonial accounts, particularly from women, some of which will be submitted to the African Commission. In order to support this initiative, Rights & Democracy organized a training workshop in Pretoria in March 2006 on integrating a gender-sensitive approach into the documentation of human rights violations.
