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Institute For Human Rights And Development In Africa

IHRDA envisions an African continent where all have access to justice via national, African and international human rights mechanisms.

 
 
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“The granting of asylum to refugees is a peaceful and humanitarian act and shall not be regarded as an unfriendly act…” Article 2 (2) OAU refugee Convention.

 
 

“State Parties to the present Charter shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate harmful social and cultural practices affecting the welfare, dignity, normal growth and development of the child...” - Article 21, African Children’s Charter

 

“Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation, and is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace. “ - Kofi Anan (Former UN Secretary General)

 
 

“…human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right…” - Article 4, African Charter.

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Our work can be summarized in three words: defend, educate, inform.

The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) is a pan–African non-governmental organization (NGO) working to promote awareness of human rights in Africa and improve the effectiveness of the African Human Rights system. IHRDA envisions an African continent where all have access to justice via national, African and international human rights mechanisms.

IHRDA was founded by two human rights lawyers, Julia Harrington and the late Alpha Fall, who formerly worked for the Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. IHRDA was established in 1998 in Banjul, The Gambia. IHRDA’s determination in defending the human rights of Africans has been its motivating force ever since.

Defend

We “defend” victims of human rights violations before domestic and regional judicial bodies and also make sure that the judicial decisions lead to positive change.

Educate

IHRDA we “Educate” by training human rights actors and ensuring that domestic laws epitomize international human rights standards.

Inform

IHRDA we “Inform” by disseminating information about cases from the African Human Rights System, we also publish and distribute our books on various human rights issues.

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Database

African human rights case-law analyser

Database

Africa child rights case-law database

Database

Africa SGBV legal resources

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