The three phase approach to human rights work taken by the African Women Millennium Initiative in Zambia (AWOMIZ) involves, first, engaging in regional, and international, human rights systems by submitting relevant periodic reports, and attending sessions.
The second phase involves lobbying the Zambian government to ratify relevant human rights instruments and pushing for the implementation of these instruments.
The final phase of AWOMIZ’s plan sees the organisation promoting the development of advocacy related information and lobbying work, as well as its participation in the sessions of the African Commission.
Despite this approach, there is a shortage of civil society organisations (CSO), and human rights defenders (HRD), in the activities of the African Commission and the African Court.
To address this, this project will build national networks of CSOs, in active engagement with the African Commission and African Court. This will be achieved by equipping more than 20 CSOs with the skills to engage with these bodies; promoting civil society’s interest and involvement in litigation; and providing opportunities for CSOs to submit reports to, and attend the two annual sessions of, the African Commission and African Court.
The project will assemble a loose network of 80 Zambian HRDs and provide them with the means necessary for understanding the protection, and monitoring, of human rights.
In order disseminate information regarding the Zambian human rights situation, and that country’s commitment to implementing human rights systems, high profile human rights cases will be documented, and published.
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