ACDHRS schedule date for NGOs Forum

NGOs Forum: An advocacy tool for human rights activists

ACDHRS Office along Coastal Road, Senegambia

The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) has announced that the forthcoming Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Forum is slated for April 25-27, 2011. 

The Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 49^th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) and the 23^rd Human Rights Book Fair will be held in Banjul, The Gambia.

The Forum is one of the main advocacy tools that the Centre uses to promote networking among Human Rights NGOs, for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa. In collaboration with the African Commission and other human rights organizations, the African Centre has facilitated the participation of civil society organizations, academicians and other professionals from Africa and beyond in the African Commission's sessions. 

The last Forum held in Banjul, was attended by over 200 participants in November 2010 and ACDHRS said it was a “resounding success”.

“The Forum will deliberate generally on the human rights situation in Africa in general and attempt to bring to the fore specific situations that need to be highlighted in order to attract the attention of the African Commission in particular and the international community and other concerned bodies,” ACDHRS said.

NGOs Forum, Banjul, The Gambia  November 2010

Part of the Forum is the 23^rd African Human Rights Book Fair meant to enable NGOs to network and initiate or renew, the exchange of materials and information, as well as to publicize their activities.

The main objectives of the Forum are: To foster closer collaboration and co-operation among NGOs, and with the African Commission for the promotion and protection of human rights in Africa; to provide a discussion platform for organizations working on democracy and human rights issues in the continent; and to promote inter-regional or organizational networking for the implementation of decisions of the Forum as contained in the ACHPR Communiqué.

The topics proposed as the main themes for discussion include “Human Rights and Democracy Situation in Africa; African Women’s Decade, Protocol on Women's Rights in Africa; Disability Rights in Africa; African Charter on Elections, Democracy and Governance; The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights  and the International Criminal Court; Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa; Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Human Rights Defenders in Africa; Freedom of Expression in Africa; and Networking for Human Rights.

The Forum will be followed by the 49^th Ordinary Session of the African Commission, which is slated for April 28 - May12, 2011 in Banjul, The Gambia.

ACDHRS is an independent non-governmental pan-African organisation, established in The Gambia since 1989.  Since its inception, the Centre has been playing a central role in promoting and protecting human rights and democracy in Africa, through the media of capacity building, networking, action-oriented research, publication and documentation.