Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa
From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations
Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa
Brusubi Layout 949, Coastal Highway
Po Box 1896, Banjul, the Gambia
Tel: [+220] 7751200, 996 22 80, 775 12 01
Fax: [+220] 441 0201, 449 41 78
Email: info@africaninstitute.org
Website: http://www.africaninstitute.org
Description
The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa is a Pan-African NGO based in Banjul, the Gambia. It was conceived in mid-1997 with the overall objective of making the African regional human rights system an effective instrument for redress for human rights violations on the continent. At that time the African regional human rights system consisted solely of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. In pursuit of this objective, the Institute set out to improve the performance of the African regional human rights system itself; and improve civil society’s interaction with and use of the system.
The Institute’s work was underpinned by the recognition that the African Commission could not be an effective instrument unless it performed more efficiently, independently, and actively. However, and matter how well it functioned, it would depend on civil society groups for its information, cases, and ultimately, relevance. Conversely, civil society’s engagement would make little difference if the mechanisms of the system did not work. The Institute’s founders were confident that action on both fronts at once was possible, and indeed mutually complementary.
The African regional human rights system has now grown to three institutions: The African Commission, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights . The Institute has expanded its activities to include all three institutions while maintaining its original focus on improving the performance of the system and civil society’s interaction with it.
The Institute works in four main program areas: Legal Advocacy; Research and Publications; Capacity Building; and Cooperation with the African Human Rights system.
Track Record
The Institute has established itself as the premier African organization undertaking litigation before the African Commission. It has trained hundreds of lawyers and activists from around the continent in the procedures of the African regional system. The Institute was the first organization to publish the Commission’s jurisprudence, and its compilation of decisions, available in English and French, is still the only publication dedicated exclusively to this jurisprudence. The Institute’s partnerships with the African Commission’s special rapporteurs have made possible country missions that would otherwise not have taken place.
The Institute is establishing a close relationship with the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. It is one of very few NGOs to attend the Committee’s sessions and it has been invited by the Committee to hold workshops in conjunction with these sessions. The Institute has also assisted with the development of the Committee’s procedural guidelines.
The Institute is closely monitoring the development of the African Court. It is a founding member, and currently chairperson, of the NGO Coalition for an Effective African Court (see separate profile), a network of NGOs and independent national human rights institutions formed during the first conference for the promotion of the protocol to the African Charter establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Niamey, Niger in May 2003.
Over the years, the Institute has employed many highly qualified professionals, most with LLMs and some with doctorates, from The Gambia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Uganda. Its fellowship program has attracted young lawyers for three to six-month stays from Nigeria, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Congo, the Netherlands, DRC, Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA. It has established a reputation as a competent, transparent and professional organization. The Institute now owns its own, purpose built headquarters building in The Gambia.
Challenges
A major challenge faced by the Institute is attracting and maintaining highly qualified African staff. The success of the Institute, as with any organization, depends on highly skilled and dedicated human resources. In recent years, there has been tremendous growth in the number of human rights organizations, especially within Africa, offering competitive salaries and benefits. The demand for qualified human rights lawyers comes now not only from organizations based in Northern capitals, but from new organizations established in South Africa and other African counties. In order to achieve its objectives and maintain its character as an international organization, the Institute will need to offer and sustain more competitive remuneration, and focus more on creating conditions for staff development at the Institute.
Dependency on donors is an additional and related challenge. In a rapidly evolving and developing African human rights landscape, the Institute often needs to be able to respond and adjust quickly but finds itself constrained by funding. While the Institute is taking steps to achieve some level of self sufficiency in the next ten years, as a non-profit organization it will be difficult for the Institute to meet all its costs.
Working from a relatively small country like the Gambia presents further challenges like accessibility, poor power and telecommunications facilities. An important advantage however is proximity to the African Commission’s secretariat. As the Institute begins to work more closely with the Committee of Experts (currently sitting in Ethiopia) and the African Court (Arusha, Tanzania), access and/or proximity to these institutions becomes a critical issue that the Institute needs to address.
Opportunities
The stage is set for the development of African human rights jurisprudence, and the Institute is well positioned to contribute significantly to this development. A new strategy is currently being implemented that involves working with in-country partners to develop cases on key human rights issues that can be litigated at the regional level. Sustained financial support from private foundations will enable the Institute to achieve its goal.
