Centre for Human Rights - University of Pretoria

Center for Human Rights, CHR, and Sida entered into agreement in January, 2023 hence there is limited results reporting at this time. For the achievement of the overall objectives of the project the Center's organization is set up in following units: The units for Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Africa (SRRA) and Human Rights and Democratization in Africa (HRDA) offer two academic programs focusing on SRHR within an African context. There are also a number of students registered for LLD/PhD/DPhil in these fields. The Women's Rights Unit (WRU) is engaged in advocacy to ensure the Africa-wide ratification of the Maputo Protocol. The unit provides technical support to strengthen the capacity of government officials and state parties to prepare and submit their periodic reports under the Maputo Protocol, and it further supports the work of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa. The Children's Rights Unit (CRU) works through research, capacity strengthening, advocacy and training, to contribute to the discourse on the rights of children in Africa. It aims to influence laws, policies, and practice at national and regional levels, and it collaborates with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics Unit (SOGIESC) advocates for and works towards equality, inclusion, non-discrimination, non-violence, and non-heterosexism for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, questioning, and asexual persons (LGBTIQ persons). Its work is done through advocacy, training, policy development, social action, as well as providing legal aid for LGBTIQ victims of discrimination and violence. The Litigation and Implementation Unit (LIU) has the mandate to engage in human rights litigation and asses the implementation of decisions of international and regional human rights bodies. Its aim is to strategically use the law through the instrumentality of judicial and quasi-judicial institutions to enforce human rights, prevent violation of human rights and or seek redress for human rights violations. During 2023 the Center undertook a number of courses and workshops, gathering key stakeholders from all over the continent to enhance their understanding of sexual and reproductive rights and opportunities of women, linked to the human rights architecture in Africa, such as the African Charter and Maputo Protocol. By building the knowledge on the existing legal frameworks for advocating for SRHR and creating platforms for effective cross-learning on strategies for the advancement of these rights, the diverse pool of participants are capacitated to adequately engage with the issues on SRHR at the national and regional level in their specific areas of work or advocacy. For instance, a validation workshop (CHR and Sierra Leone MFA) on Sierra Leone's State Report on the African Charter and Maputo Protocol enabled the submission of the report to the African Commission, which in turn makes it possible for the Commission to exercise its protection mandate in ensuring state compliance with its treaty obligations and hold Sierra Leone accountable for the implementation of the rights in the treaties. In order to influence norms that promote SRHR in the region, courses were held on SOGIE issues, LGBTIQ activism and Resolution 275. This increases the number of LGBTIQ advocates across the continent capacitated to influence those norms. The Center also held a conference aiming to bring together commissioners from Human Rights Institutions and Commissions from across the continent in order to disseminate information on Resolution 275 and to facilitate capacity building on how Resolution 275 may be utilized by the institutions. A research colloquium was also planned on digital rights and innovations related to sexual reproductive rights in Africa. Papers presented at the colloquium will culminated in the first series of publications on SRHR under the Sida support. This is aimed at strengthening SRHR knowledge generation and management in Africa. The Center held a training on strategic litigation of SRHR claims before national and regional mechanisms expected to increase the quality and quantity of cases on the continent, which will improve accountability and implementation of SRHR norms in Africa. One immediate outcome was that some ongoing and potential SRHR claims were identified and CHR has commenced on engagements with relevant actors to provide support for the potential and ongoing cases. Furthermore, the Center provides overall technical support to the AU by sending interns/researchers to each of the Human Rights Bodies. They also support the AU Commission and Committee on ad hoc basis on various aspects of SRHR and gender issues through research studies, development of normative documents such as general comments, organizing and participating in related panels during sessions. In addition to their own project activities, the Center has been helpful in sharing their expertise with Sida in terms of the human rights architecture in Africa(in a seminar for embassy and HQ staff) as well as the composition and operations of the opposition(during the partner meeting in Pretoria).

The overall goal of the program is to strengthen the protection of sexual and reproductive rights in Africa. The goal will be achieved through four objectives: 1. To influence the interpretation of SRHR, women's rights norms and the rights of the girl-child at the regional and national levels. 2. To foster accountability for SRHR norm implementation in the Africa region. 3. To strengthen SRR knowledge generation and management in Africa 4. To promote the harmonization of African regional norms in sexual reproductive rights