CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: ANNUAL INAUGURAL SUMMER SCHOOL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS 2024
Are you passionate about defending human rights and democracy in Africa? Join us for the African Universities Hub for Human Rights’ (AUH) inaugural Summer School from 7 to 11 October 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa! The School, hosted at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), will offer you a unique opportunity to learn, network and contribute to the human rights and democracy discourse in Africa.
About the Summer School:
The Summer School will bring together civic activists and academics who defend human rights and democracy across the African continent (HRDs) to share knowledge and skills and network under the theme: “Recentring Human Rights Protection and Expanding Democratic Space: Innovation and Sustainability, beyond the Present”. The School will include multiple interdisciplinary sub-themes but mainly focus on leadership development, universities’ role in protecting human rights defenders, and reflections on psycho-social support for HRDs and academics in this field. Experts from various fields will lead mini-workshops, panel discussions and lectures during the five-day School. The full course will be shared with successful applicants.
Who should apply:
Civic activists and scholars working on human rights and democracy in Africa. We encourage those working outside major cities and/or with limited opportunities to participate in capacity-building programs to apply.
Details of support:
All participants will be offered accommodation and local transport to participate in the Summer School. AUH will also offer limited bursaries to cover economy return tickets to Cape Town, South Africa.
About AUH:
he African Universities Hub for Human Rights (AUH) is an initiative launched in 2023 by the Politics and Urban Governance Research Group (PUG) at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa. It came on the backdrop of collaborative research by PUG, the UNESCO Chair in the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Expansion of Political Space at the Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR) at the University of York, on the role of universities in protecting human rights and expanding democratic space. African universities have a long history of protest and activism, including their roles in anti-apartheid and anti-colonial struggles. Contemporary universities have the potential to play a multifaceted role in relation to the protection of human rights. They can foster and inhibit freedom of expression; provide ‘safe spaces’ and be sites of violence; facilitate the inclusion and exclusion of marginalised groups; and more broadly reflect, enhance and reduce societal tensions. This complexity is exacerbated at a time when universities are experiencing pressures ranging from privatisation to diversification (public/private, formal/informal), enhanced government scrutiny and budget cuts, and demands from students for affordable education. This shrinking civic and political space and democratic backsliding threaten the freedom and autonomy of academics, students and activists across the African continent. AUH acts as an “ideas lab” and conduit between activism and academia, thus supporting African universities to contribute to ‘protection’, both externally (of civil society activists and democratic freedoms) and internally (of staff and students). Read more about AUH here.
Apply Now!
Application Deadline: 10 July 2024, 23:59 SAST
Contact Information
For any inquiries, please contact email: pugresearch@uwc.ac.za
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