Building on recent reviews of its academic programs and lessons learned from the previous Project to Support the Human Rights Teaching, Research, and Community Engagement of CHR (CHR-STRACE I), the Center for Human Rights (CHR) has developed the Second Phase of the Project to Support the Human Rights Teaching, Research, and Community Engagement (CHR-STRACE II). This initiative is set to run for three years, spanning from 2022 to 2025, with the overarching objective of strengthening the Center’s capacity to institutionalize a culture of human rights in Ethiopia through education. This ambitious goal will be pursued through three interrelated avenues: Human Rights Teaching, Research, and Community Engagement.
The project articulates three main objectives to guide its efforts: Firstly, to enhance the capacity of state agencies in respecting and protecting the rights of various marginalized groups, including women, children, persons with disabilities, workers, and migrants. Secondly, to empower civil society organizations to actively promote and safeguard the rights of these vulnerable populations. And thirdly, to bolster mechanisms for the protection of the rights of women, children, persons with disabilities, workers, and migrants within Ethiopian society.
To achieve these objectives, the project will undertake activities organized under three distinct Sub-Projects:
This sub-project aims to design new graduate-level human rights education programs, review existing MA and Ph.D programs, provide specialized training on human rights to government and civil society officers, integrate human rights training within Addis Ababa University (AAU), and organize academic conferences to foster dialogue and collaboration.
Here, the focus is on fostering collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to promote informed policy discussions and dialogue rooted in a human rights-based approach. This includes organizing policy dialogue forums, facilitating common action against human rights violations, and improving the availability of empirical academic resources and publications on human rights protection in Ethiopia.
This sub-project is dedicated to training and supporting community-based organizations in engaging with human rights promotion and protection activities, as well as providing legal and related services to disadvantaged social groups. Additionally, mechanisms will be established for the dissemination of successful models among other relevant actors in the community.
Through these targeted efforts, CHR-STRACE II aims to contribute significantly to the advancement of human rights education, research, and community engagement in Ethiopia, fostering a culture of respect, protection, and promotion of human rights across all sectors of society.
