Funded by

The project is funded by the Swedish International Development Institute and Royal Norwegian Embassy.

Duration

Since December 2017, CHR has been implementing the STRACE project for three years and with additional no-cost extensions until 31 December 2022.

Project sites

The project targets people in five project sites: Addis Ababa, Adama, Hawassa, Ambo, and Debre Birhan.

Objective

The Project to Support the Human Rights Teaching, Research and Community Engagement of CHR (Project STRACE) aimed at ensuring the respect of all human rights of all Ethiopians; the Project set three interrelated goals: State agencies will have increased capacity to respect human rights and to protect the rights of women, children, persons with disabilities, workers, and migrants; Civil Society Organizations will be empowered to be active actors in human rights promotion and in protecting the rights of women, children, persons with disabilities, workers, and migrants; and the rights of women, children, persons with disabilities, workers, and migrants will be better protected. To contribute to the realization of these goals, the Project carried out activities that are grouped under four Sub-Projects: Multidisciplinary Human Rights Teaching and Training; Policy and Practice Collaboration and Diffusion; Community Based Human Rights Promotion and Protection; and Learning, Partnerships and Capacity Development. The Project will launch two new graduate-level human rights education programs, provide short term specialized training on human rights, produce textbooks for the multidisciplinary teaching of human rights, organize policy dialogue forums, promote the multidisciplinary engagement of human rights, train, and support community-based organizations to engage in human rights promotion and protection, and provide legal and related services to members of disadvantaged social groups. Research activities carried out in collaboration with relevant stakeholders will serve as a feedback mechanism among the different activities and components of the Project. The Project also establishes mechanisms for the diffusion of its model among other actors.

Major Activates Accomplished

Through multidisciplinary human rights teaching and training, CHR introduced a new graduate program and conducted numerous training courses, enhancing knowledge and skills among government officials and CSO leaders. In policy and practice collaboration, CHR facilitated dialogue on human rights issues and disseminated project models among regional universities, fostering collaboration. Moreover, community-based initiatives empowered grassroots associations, reaching over half a million community members through awareness campaigns and providing legal services to vulnerable groups. CHR’s efforts also facilitated shared understanding and collaboration among stakeholders. Evaluation findings underscore the importance of CHR’s leadership in capacity development, the integration of research components, and gender mainstreaming within Addis Ababa University departments, guiding future endeavors toward sustained impact in human rights promotion and protection in Ethiopia.