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Centre for Human Rights: Righting wrongs in Africa
Righting wrongs in Africa
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Centre for Human Rights trains hundreds of human rights experts over the last 21 years
The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, is an internationally recognised hybrid institution; both an academic department in the Faculty of Law and a NGO/CSO that combines academic excellence, effective activism, education, training, research and capacity-building to advance human rights in Africa. About the Centre for Human Rights
The Centre was established in the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, in 1986, as part of domestic efforts against the apartheid system of the time. Over the years, the Centre has positioned itself in an unmatched network of practising and academic lawyers, national and international civil servants and human rights practitioners across the entire continent, with a specific focus on human rights law in Africa, and international development law in general.
The Centre presents 10 annual advanced human rights courses, has nine thematic research units, offers five Master’s degree programmes, presents two major moot court competitions, publishes three journals and houses one university press. Today, a wide network of Centre alumni contribute in numerous ways to the advancement and strengthening of human rights and
Graduation Class
democracy all over the Africa continent, and even further afield.
In 2006, the Centre was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education, with particular recognition for the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition and the LLM/MPhil in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa. On the occasion of marking 25 years of its existence in 2012, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ rights awarded its Human Rights Prize for civil society oranisations to the Centre. About the Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa
Established in 2000, the Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HRDA) aims to develop capacity in the form of experts in the field of human rights and democratisation in order to strengthen national and regional structures that deal with human rights and democracy. It is a regional cooperation initiative involving 13 leading African universities representing all the main geographic subregions, languages and legal traditions in Africa. Candidates are taught by eminent lecturers in the field of human rights and undergo many practical training exercises. It is the only course of its kind in Africa. Graduates become members of the HRDA Alumni Association whose 590 members are currently active in the full spectrum of human rights work: from grassroots, through civil service, to international organisations including the African Union and the United Nations.
The story of the HRDA programme started in the year 2000. By then, the Centre had over 15 years established itself as a human rights hub, with a South African-focused Master’s programme on human rights, and a growing African footprint gained by organising the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition together with law schools across the continent. With the adoption of its Constitutive Act in the same year, the African Union (AU) started to reshape a more human rights-responsive regional governance landscape. The time was ripe for the Centre to introduce a postgraduate academic programme focusing on human rights within Africa, generally, and the AU, specifically. Together with its founding partners, the Centre designed and implemented the HRDA to nurture and mould a core group of committed change agents eager and able to more firmly anchor the principles of human rights adherence and democratic governance on African soil.
Since then, for 21 years, the HRDA has run annually, without interruption. The Centre’s network has grown into 12 collaborating partners, stretching from the western-most part of the continent (Université Gaston Berger in Senegal) to the far east (University of Mauritius), and from the southern tip (University of the Western Cape) to the Horn of Africa (Addis Ababa University). Wonderful colleagues – programme managers, assistants, teachers, tutors – have come and gone; and some have stayed much longer than expected. They were consistently supported by the full Centre for Human Rights team.
Since the year 2000, a total of 590 candidates from 46 countries (38 of them in Africa) survived the rigours of the programme, and proudly graduated. If, by its proverbial fruits a tree is appraised, the alumni of 21 years allow the Centre, its partners, collaborators and supporters
to withstand the strictest tools of measurement. The HRDA alumni testify not only to the manifold fruits of the labours of love, but also to the seeds they have planted to foster further growth in human rights and democratic governance. HRDA graduates are involved in all the dimensions of human rights practice, mostly on the African continent, but also beyond its borders. The Centre is privileged to count among its alumni: chairpersons of the African Union’s two main human rights bodies; Chief Justices; Cabinet Ministers; and many more graduates holding positions of great influence.
Gatherings of human rights practitioners and academics in Africa frequently include a number of HRDA alumni who invariably make outstanding contributions. It is a constant highlight to encounter alumni on the sidelines of events, and to experience the broadening of networks and the reaffirmation of a solidarity of vision, value and purpose. HRDA alumni have founded NGOs in challenging circumstances, they have stood up for human rights at great cost to themselves and they have spoken up when others remained silent. The Centre aims to continuously grow and support the graduates of the HRDA into a network that collectively bends the arc of the moral universe towards justice and human rights.
Applications for the Class of 2022 are now open. Up to 25 full scholarships are available for African citizens. Applicants must have excellent academic credentials and demonstrate human rights experience or interest. Women, as well as members of minority groups such as indigenous people, LGBTI persons and persons with disabilities, are particularly encouraged to apply
For more information on the Centre for Human Rights, visit www.chr.up.ac.za
For more information on the HRDA, visit www.chr.up.ac.za/hrda Contact details: Yolanda Booyzen Communications and Advocacy Manager Centre for Human Rights Faculty of Law University of Pretoria yolanda.booyzen@up.ac.za 012 420 4512 / 012 420 3810
