Association Burkinabè de Fundraising

The Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law, has launched an intensive one-week (online) course on civil society law in Africa from 1 to 5 August 2022.

The aim of the course is to build capacity in legal and regulatory principles affecting civil society and to provide opportunities for interaction between legal professionals, civil society leaders, students, government officials and legislators in the region with a view to facilitating the exchange of ideas and experiences.

Through the Legal Education Initiative, ICNL partners with selected African educational institutions to promote the study of laws affecting civil society. The Legal Education Initiative aims to :

• Build the capacity of stakeholders in relation to the legal and regulatory principles affecting civil society.
• In collaboration with partner institutions and organisations, develop (model) courses on civil society law that are aimed at various audiences and can be used in law faculties, legal aid clinics, continuing education programmes, community legal education courses, etc. throughout the region.
• To provide opportunities for interaction between legal professionals, civil society leaders, students, government officials and legislators in the region with a view to facilitating the exchange of ideas and experiences.

Objectives of civil society law in Africa

• Exchange views and experiences on the role of civil society in a state.
• Building capacity on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association in international law and comparative perspectives.
• Raise awareness of the challenges facing civil society and the efforts being made to respond to these threats.
• To strengthen the practical capacity to identify and analyse legal obstacles to the right to freedom of association.
• To stimulate interest in civil society law and encourage new research in this area.
• Build a network of legal professionals working in the field and encourage collaborative efforts within the network.

The rights of civil society in Africa

Topics may include the following:

• Perspectives on the role of civil society
• Conceptual issues relating to the right to freedom of association
• The right to freedom of association in Africa and international law
• Regulation and governance within the civil society sector
• Access to resources and sustainability of associations
• Right to freedom of peaceful assembly, including peaceful demonstration
• Freedom of association and peaceful assembly online

Eligibility criteria

Potential presenters/hosts may include:

• People working in the field of civil society law
• Regional and national organisations with expertise
• Government representatives
• Representatives of global and regional human rights bodies working on relevant issues, for example the Special Procedures of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the United Nations.

For more information, please visit the Centre for Human Rights .