About the project
The Human Rights Training and Public Education project began in 1996 with the establishment of the organisation and from inception its mandate has been to promote awareness and appreciation of fundamental human rights as well as the various mechanisms and instruments used in the enforcement of such rights. The project is a vital and integral part of ZLHR and through its various activities has managed to increase the competences and capacities of different groups of human rights defenders (HRDs)
 
Objective
The project seeks to provide consistent, continuous and quality capacity building-oriented support to HRDs at a local, national and sub-regional level. The ultimate aim is to enable HRDs to improve and expand their capacities thus enabling them to continue defending human rights in their communities and respective spheres of influence.

Beneficiaries of the Project
Through a range of workshops, seminars, focused group discussions, consultations, and public discussions, the project targets legal practitioners, members of civil society, women, traditional leaders, grass root HRDs, HIV/Aids activists, teachers, students, youth leaders, government officials from the judiciary and law enforcement institutions.

Project Activities
The activities are centered around key human rights issues such as the rule of law, women’s rights, economic and social rights, HIV/AIDS, good governance and other related subjects. These above mentioned issues are addressed through a variety of training activities including;

o Annual national human rights trainings,
o HRD situational trainings,
o grassroots trainings,
o specific sector trainings,
o regional trainings and symposium
o public debates
o Production of simplified human rights publications and training manuals.

Annual Trainings

Women’s Rights Litigation workshop: this is a three day training workshop that focuses on the use of international and regional human rights standards and norms in litigating to advance the rights of women in Zimbabwe.

Litigating Economic and Social Rights: The annual intensive economic and cultural rights’ training is a comprehensive three day course that covers the fundamentals of economic and social rights and the related mechanisms of how they are enforced.

Practical Ways of Combating Torture: This training forms a part of an advocacy strategy to combat the widespread use of torture by state and non-state actors at the national level. This training examines the various legal instruments and methods of combating torture and how to deal with torture victims.

Prisons and Prisoners Rights: The prisons and prisoners rights workshop targets key stakeholders in the penal justice system. The training focuses on HRDs and organizations who deal with prisoner’s rights and this invariably includes members of the prison service, police officers, magistrates, prosecutors, law officers and counselors.

Sector Specific HRDs Training
The one day trainings target HRD’s from various organizations, groups, religious bodies and other grass root level activists. Some of the past beneficiaries of these sector specific trainings include community leaders, youth leaders, students, trade unionists, teachers, chiefs, headmen, rural teachers and other opinion leaders.

Situational Trainings
The one day trainings are specifically designed for clients that have public interest litigation cases under the Public Interest Project within ZLHR. Situational trainings are designed to educate the litigants on their rights and clarify information on practical litigation strategies under taken by legal practitioners. The trainings are designed for communities, associations and organizations. 

Public Discussions
The project also provides platforms for debate and deliberation by various professionals and other civic minded individuals on key or topical issues affecting the political, economic growth of the country. The public debates stimulate dialogue amongst Zimbabweans while also acting as an advocacy tool which empowers the citizens on key issues. These debates have been held in Harare and Bulawayo; efforts are underway to hold such discussions in other parts of the country.

Regional Trainings
In fulfilling its mandate as the Human Rights Secretariat for the Southern African Development Community Lawyers Association (SADC Lawyers Association), ZLHR continues to expand its programming to create platforms for discussion and information exchange at the regional level on human rights challenges faced by countries within the SADC region.

SADC symposium on the Administration of Justice: The SADC symposium is a forum that brings together senior legal practitioners, judges, magistrates and HRDs from the region to address issues of administration of justice and rule of law. The annual regional symposium analyzes international and regional legal instruments relating to the independence of the legal profession, human rights and constitutional issues in each country. The symposium is a collaborative initiative with the Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) and SADC Lawyers Association.

Litigating at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights: The workshop is an intense two day training that focuses on the concept of human rights lawyering as an important skill for all practicing lawyers. This then allows lawyers to mainstream human rights into litigation, using the various special mechanisms under the African human rights system. The training aims to capacitate lawyers in the use of the African Commission and procedures relating to bringing matters before it.

SADC Trial Observation Training: The two day training focuses on strengthening the administration of justice in the SADC region through human rights monitoring and trial observation meant to safe guard the rights of an accused person during pretrial, trial and post-trial procedures.

Publications
The publications provide an opportunity for the project to increase human rights awareness in Zimbabwe as well as providing HRDs with the necessary information on key human rights issues. The publications are in the form of workshop reports, collated international and regional instruments, training manuals, simplified and translated publications, brochures, fact sheets among others.

Contact the

Projects Manager
Human Rights Training and Public Education Project
6th Floor, Beverley Court, 100 Nelson Mandela Avenue,
Box CY 1393, Causeway, Harare,
Tel: (+263-4) 251 468, 705730, 708118,
Fax: (+263-4) 705 641,
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,
http://www.zlhr.org.zw/