The Training of Trainers (TOT) is an activity under the project ‘Consolidating civil society’s role in the transition from African human rights standards to practice’ to be implemented by the Consortium composed of, International Commission for Jurists(European Institutions and Kenya branches), Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS). The TOT will be organized in collaboration with the International Centre for not – for Profit Law (ICNL).

Independent civil society actors and human rights defenders are key players in the African human rights system and the main drivers of social change at the national and local levels who monitor the application of international human rights standards, follow-up of the implementation of judgments, decisions and recommendations of African regional human rights mechanisms. They also contribute to the consolidation of States’ capacity to ensure implementation ofregional and international human rights standards.

Available anecdotal evidence suggests that there is correlation between active participation of civil society and the effectiveness of the African human rights system within a given state. In states and sub-regions where a well-informed, vibrant and active civil society is present, there is a general tendency for State authorities to cooperate more with regional human rights mechanisms. While such well informed and vibrant civil society presence can generally be found in Anglophone and Francophone Africa, the same cannot equally be said about Lusophone Africa. This training is therefore one of the measures aimed at addressing this gap.

Objective of the Training