Since 2016, we have within the Zimbabwe Programme conducting a series of Professional Training Programmes (PTPs) on Human Rights on various thematic human rights issues such as:
- Human rights of women
- Human rights and local governance
- Human rights of persons with disabilities
- Human rights of vulnerable groups
The PTPs are organised in cooperation with the Centre for Applied Legal Research, based in Harare.
Increasing knowledge and skills on key human rights issues
The PTPs aim at increasing knowledge and skills on key human rights issues among participants. Thanks to the trainings, participants and their institutions are expected to be better equipped to contribute to human rights reforms and related initiatives for the promotion and protection of human rights.
The trainings contain different elements such as lectures, group work, roundtable discussions, study visits. A key element of the training is the development and implementation of individual projects by participants.
The projects must be of relevance for the participants’ respective institution or organisation, and shall be replicable, or otherwise contain element of sustainability.
Examples are curricula development, policy briefs, minor research projects, awareness- raising activities, etc.
Supporting platforms for dialogue
The PTPs target a cross-section of participants drawn primarily from government institutions (including ministries), parliament, independent commissions, traditional leaders, academia, independent research centres and civil society organizations in Zimbabwe.
By engaging stakeholders from different sectors, the PTPs aim at reinforcing, or establishing, platforms for interaction among stakeholders that otherwise have limited opportunities to interact, thus contributing to opportunities for increased structured dialogue and joint initiatives between participating institutions on relevant human rights issues.
Relevant themes
The thematic focus of PTP’s organized so far was decided upon in a consultative workshop in 2016 bringing together representatives of the above-mentioned stakeholders. The topics have been chosen in order for them to feed into the ongoing constitutional alignment process, which is expected to see legislation and policies being adapted to provisions, including the bill of rights, in the 2013 Constitution.
Case stories from former PTP participants:
Creating Spaces for Human Rights Learning in Zimbabwe
Creating Spaces for Human Rights Learning in Zimbabwe, Part II
Creating Spaces for Human Rights Learning in Zimbabwe, Part III
PTP’s carried out to date
- Human Rights and the Zimbabwean Constitution – 2016
- Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – 2017
- Protection of Vulnerable Groups in Zimbabwe – 2017
- Introduction to International Human Rights Law for Emerging Leaders – 2018
- Equal Status and the Rights of Women – 2018 and 2019
- Human Rights and Local Governance – 2019
- Human Rights and Local Governance in the context of SDGs – 2020
- Human Rights of Women in the context of Climate Change and Displacement – 2020
- Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities – 2021
- Human Rights and the Devolution Process – 2021