FW: International Human Rights Internship Program (IHRIP)

[Katalin Fabian]

> Subject: International Human Rights Internship Program (IHRIP)
> 
> PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND EXCHANGE PROJECTS
> Introduction
> Because the political, economic and social contexts in countries
> and regions change on a regular basis—often very rapidly—human
> rights organizations and activists are typically under pressure
> to respond efficiently to new human rights challenges and to be
> effective under swiftly evolving circumstances. How can they do
> this? One way is through taking part in training and exchange
> projects that expose them to new ideas and strategies, or that
> allow them to hone critical skills needed to be competent in
> their work. IHRIP facilitates and supports such professional
> development opportunities.
> 
> A key aspect of the projects IHRIP supports is the exchange of
> knowledge and experience among organizations and activists in
> different countries. Although each country and organization has a
> unique history and development process, it is the program's
> experience that human rights activists have a lot to gain from
> being able to "capture," in one form or another, other activists'
> knowledge and experience. What did an organization do when
> confronted with a particular social or political situation? What
> strategy or response did they find was effective or not effective
> in that context? How does an organization handle certain types of
> cases? What strategies has it adopted and why?
> 
> Human rights activists work under severe constraints of time and
> resources. Through an exchange of knowledge and experience on
> specific, focused topics with others working on similar issues,
> they can learn about strategies and techniques that have been
> effective in other contexts and about mistakes made by others.
> Through this process they can enhance and deepen their own
> understanding and effectiveness.
> 
> 
> Project types and application forms
> IHRIP provides support for professional development projects for
> staff of human rights organizations and individuals in countries
> of the global South, East Central Europe and Republics of the
> former Soviet Union.
> 
> The program gives priority to applications from organizations,
> rather than from individuals. It will, on occasion, provide
> support to an individual activist not affiliated with a human
> rights organizations, but normally only if the activist is
> working in a country where there are few human rights
> organizations. 
> 
> The projects IHRIP supports address a broad range of skills
> (e.g., fact-finding and documentation, legal aid), address
> specific rights or the full range of rights (civil, political,
> economic, social and cultural), and explore work with different
> constituencies (e.g., women, children, indigenous peoples).
> Projects typically take one of three formats:
> 
> 
> On-site training projects. A trainer experienced in a specific
> aspect of work is invited to provide training to an
> organization's staff, board members and/or volunteers at the
> organization's locale. Since training is specifically tailored to
> the organization's needs and is provided to a number of people at
> one time, the impact can be substantial.
> 
> Professional attachments. In a professional attachment a person
> works for one or more months in another organization. The longer,
> more focused exposure of a professional attachment provides a
> valuable opportunity for an activist to hone his or her skills in
> a particular area of work.
> 
> Study tours. Study tours do not generally allow for the skill
> development that is possible in professional attachments, but
> they are useful in enabling activists to compare differing
> approaches to specific human rights issues or the organizational
> structures or strategies adopted by a number of organizations in
> another country or countries.
> While IHRIP occasionally sponsors individuals to attend a course
> or seminar, it does so infrequently. Because most such programs
> are short and not specifically tailored to individual attendees,
> they do not provide the type of in-depth, focused training to
> which IHRIP gives priority.
> 
> 
> Location: Various
> Deadline: Various
> Website: http://www.iie.org/Website/WPreview.cfm?CWID=333&WID=171
> 
>