Hope Center

OUR IMPACT CONT..

Human Rights First Rwanda provides legal aid and human rights education programs through community clinical legal aid project  that assist poor, indigent and vulnerable persons more especially women in rural districts.  The clinic has an outreach to schools, prisons and community at large using university law students .
 In partnership with the Ministry of Justice, Danish institute of Human Rights, and three other NGOS, the organization conducted a baseline survey on legal aid in Rwanda. The survey was aimed at identifying various gaps in access to Justice in the country and come up with various recommendations.
The organization has been conducting debating programs in Schools so as to awaken young citizens to be more proactive in analyzing and discussing issues that affect its society openly.
 It  has partnered with AJPRODO a youth association to sensitize youth on gender based violence and it consequences.
The organization has Conducted civic education programs; it has trained communities on electoral laws and constitutional protected rights of individuals in the electoral process during the parliamentary elections.

The organization commissioned a research on public interest litigation in partnership with the Legal Aid Forum Rwanda whose main aims were to assess ways and means of bringing PIL test cases. 
It was part of the taskforce that was charged with developing a standard paralegal manual for NGO paralegals in Rwanda.
Where we work
Human Rights First Rwanda Association operates all  around the country with its headquarters at Kicukiro District near INILAK University

ACHIEVEMENTS

In 2011-2012 we managed to empower over 180,000 members of the community with basic knowledge on their rights through our ‘Access to Justice’ and Human Rights education projects g. In the quest of upholding the rights of L.G.B.T.I.’s rights, Human Rights First Rwanda Association was at the forefront in campaigning against the anti-Homosexuality Bill. Great success was registered when this particular bill was set aside, seen as a great victory for gay rights and the organizations values. Equally important is the advocacy that the organization made on behalf of women to the right of choice in abortion matters more especially in cases of rape, incest and the danger of the loss of life of the mother in case of delivery of the fetus. Most of its recommendations were duly incorporate in the new penal code. We are currently trying to empower and assist 30 000 women access land titles registered under their names in a project we are currently running dubbed ‘your land your rights’. We reach out to these marginalized women by the use of the University students who educate these women on land and gender related legislations as well as assisting them in the registration process. We were amongst the founding members of the Legal Aid Forum and who chaired it at its inception for two years, an Umbrella body of all Legal Aid service Providers in the country. It brings together over 30 likeminded organizations that aim to bring pro bono services to those who cannot afford or access it country wide. through this network we are able to surge forward a massive front having the support from establishments with similar objectives as ours. On a Regional Plane we were also amongst the initiative members of The East African Civil Society Forum, a platform that brings together Civil Society Organizations from all East Africa member states. We have been on its governing council for the last three years, This enables us to network and engage other establishments from across the region breaking the boundaries and borders. We set out to engage the Civil Society in the Region to aptly play a role in the Integration Process and promote Human Rights as well as share ideas from across the borders. Through the Eastern Africa International Criminal Justice Initiative, Human Rights First Rwanda Association has taken centre stage in trying to promote the role of the International Criminal Court. In a bid to put a complete halt to Impunity, war crimes and Crimes against humanity we collaborate with The International Commission of Jurists, Kenyan Chapter to sensitize the public, parliament, members of the judiciary and the fourth estate on the benefits of this particular court in putting to book all main perpetrators of such atrocities that are so rampant in the region. On a global scale, we are part and parcel of the Beyond 2015 Governance Framework team of expert panelists. Bringing together individuals and organizations from all continents we undertake to design an workable framework that seeks to enhance Governments accountable to the citizenry who put them in power through democratic governance. In the advent of the realization of the respective Millennium Development Targets, worldwide we seek to design a framework that will encompass accountability in administration and accountability BY Governments. This framework is has a timescale of the year 2015 and beyond.