The activities of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) commenced in 1999 with human rights training courses for the Palestinian security forces. Since 2003, several regional as well as bilateral human rights cooperation programmes have been carried out.
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute cooperation in the MENA region has involved representatives from a broad range of sectors, including academic institutions, governmental and non-governmental organisations, and national human rights institutions, and has generally aimed at reinforcing national, regional and international human rights protection and promotion systems.
Currently, the Institute is implementing a regional programme entitled “Building Human Rights Knowledge and Resources in the Middle East and North Africa”. The overall objective of the programme is to contribute to the role of partner universities and judicial training academies in formulating and disseminating knowledge on human rights in the MENA region being more responsive to the needs of users and influential in guiding court rulings, legal reform and policies developed within national states and the region at large.
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute’s partners currently include judicial training academies from six Arab countries in the region, academic institutions from four Arab countries and 16 trainers from the whole region. With academic partners, the Arab Academic Human Rights Network was established in April 2010.
The Raoul Wallenberg Institute regional programme in MENA is financially supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
For more information on the Institute’s cooperation in the MENA region, please contact:
