On September 18-19 2023, the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria hosted a hybrid Human Rights Strategic Litigation and Advocacy Training Workshop to curb the adverse effects of Climate Change and environmental shocks in Africa, at the Plant Sciences Complex in the University of the Pretoria. The event brought together legal professionals, judges, and scholars from Southern Africa to explore the critical intersections of climate change, human rights, and climate justice in Africa, with a specific focus on the SADC region. The event was opened by the convener of the event, Dr Elvis Fokala and soon after, the Assistant Director of the Centre for Human Rights, Mr Lloyd Kuveya and the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Elsabe Schoeman welcomed the participants to the University and wished them a very productive stay in Pretoria.
The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, together with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, cordially invites you to a hybrid human rights based strategic litigation and advocacy training Workshop to curb the adverse effects of climate change and environmental shocks in Africa.
The rising number of people who are compelled to migrate within and outside their countries in connection with the impacts of climate change, disasters, and environmental degradation is a concerning global issue. Addressing this pressing issue requires a variety of responses that prevent their displacement, safeguard their rights before, during, and after displacement, and facilitate conditions that enable them to attain durable solutions.
Through research, capacity building, and advocacy, the Migrants' Rights Unit endeavors to promote rights-based responses. As part of these efforts, the Centre for Human Rights, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Southern Africa Bureau (UNHCR-RBSA), has embarked on a research project on the application of the OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (OAU Refugee Convention) to cross-border displacements in the context of climate change, disasters, and environmental degradation in Africa.
This research project seeks to explore the applicability of the OAU Refugee Convention for the protection of refugees whose displacement is linked to the adverse impacts of climate change, disasters, and environmental degradation in Africa, and to inform legal and policy responses through evidence-based recommendations.
25-29 April 2023, University of Ghana, Accra
The Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) seeks to provide Africa-based early career researchers working on the themes of peace, democracy and climate change on the continent with the space and intellectual community to transform a draft paper into a publishable journal piece. The 5-day writing workshop is designed to provide early career scholars with the opportunity to contribute to knowledge production in one of the three fields of research focus for this workshop: peace, democracy and climate change.
Over two days, 15 and 16 November 2022, the Children Rights Unit at the Center for Human Rights, hosted a training workshop to capacitate selected state officials from varied ministries on strategies to incorporate the impact of Climate Change on children’s Socio-economic Rights in their state reports to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African Children’s Committee).
In collaboration with the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies, Wits University Natural Justice will host a two-day conference to empower young activists and students with knowledge and tools to influence climate justice in South Africa.
S4 E5: #GreenJusticeAfrica: Impacts of Climate Change to African Indigenous Communities
In conversation with Dr Malaku, Xanne Bekaert, Jean-Mary Tjiohimba and Martin Simotwo
As part of the Christof Heyns African Human Rights Moot Court Competition, which takes place from 25 to 30 July 2022, at the Faculty of Law, the British University in Egypt, in Cairo, Egypt, a one-day International Human Rights Conference will also be held on 28 July 2022.
Over 100 students, academics and experts from more than 50 countries joined the four-day long Global Classroom 2022 on internal displacement, amiably hosted by the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. The programme included presentations by seven student research teams on regional approaches and case studies on topics such as climate disaster-induced displacement; the impact of ongoing conflicts on displaced women and children; an analysis of the Kampala Convention and the UN Guiding Principle on internal displacement; and the role of state and non-state organisations in supporting IDPs.
