Representatives of human rights institutions from more than ten African countries are meeting in Johannesburg tomorrow. The South African Human Rights Commission will host the representatives from countries including Morocco, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana and Senegal until Wednesday. During the two-day conference the institutions that are mainly concerned with the protection and the promotion of a human rights culture on the continent will discuss ways on how to conduct effective human rights education programs.

The community of African National Human Rights Institutions has grown exponentially since 1996. There are now about 28 Human Rights Institutions on the continent and more are in the process of formation. As a result of this phenomenal development on a continent that has for many years seen a gross violation of human rights, there is a growing demand to ensure that these institutions have the necessary capacity to conduct effective human rights education and training programs.

These institutions have wide mandates in their respective countries to address issues of human rights. The National Human Rights Institutions in Africa seek to interpret their mandates creatively to address major challenges such as the Aids pandemic and the marginalisation and discrimination of particularly vulnerable groups such as women and children. Traditionally, human rights education has generally focused on making people aware of their rights and building their knowledge of the various instruments and mechanisms available for the protection and promotion of human rights.

It has thus become imperative that each of these institutions has the capacity to deal with the protection and promotion of all rights recognized by international law as human rights.

The institutions have also developed a project that seeks to consolidate their position of strength by building capacity within the education and training departments. This project is a joint initiative of the South African Human Rights Commission, the British Council, and the Centre for Conflict Resolution. The conference will also look at ways of ensuring that these institutions play a leading role in the establishment of human rights education programmes and practices that are affirming of human rights values and which contribute meaningfully to the establishment of a human rights culture.

The conference will also be attended by other international bodies including non-governmental organisations from Canada and the UK.

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