Application Form Below, Following Workshop Invitation.

 All Applications should reach IWRAW Asia Pacific by 28^th November 2015

AFRICA REGIONAL WORKSHOP FOR LAWYERS LITIGATING ON WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS USING CEDAW

Nairobi, 7 – 10 December 2015

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

IWRAW Asia Pacific in collaboration with FIDA Kenya is organising an Africa Sub-Regional Workshop for Lawyers Litigating on Women’s Human Rights Using CEDAW to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 7^th – 10^th December 2015. The Workshop is aimed at building capacities of lawyers on CEDAW from the following countries: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

IWRAW Asia Pacific is an international women’s rights organisation based on Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, working towards the realisation of women’s human rights through application and implementation of CEDAW and other international standards. Since the past 22 yrs the organisation has worked with national organisations in 140 countries across the world and across regions to strengthen implementation of CEDAW and enhance state accountability for violation of women’s human rights. The Workshop is being held in keeping with IWRAW Asia Pacific’s ongoing strategy of supporting lawyers to litigate cases relating to women’s human rights at the domestic level founded on the principle of equality and non-discrimination.

FIDA Kenya is the premier women’s rights organization in Kenya that was established in 1985 during the 3rd UN Conference on women held in Nairobi. As a membership organization of over 1,000 women lawyers and law student FIDA Kenya which is committed to the creation of a society that is free from all forms of discrimination against women in Kenya. Since the past 30 years offered direct legal aid services to over 300,000 women and positively impacted in structural, institutional, and legal reforms within Kenya to ensure gender sensitivity and responsiveness.

CONTEXT

CEDAW is a widely ratified treaty in Africa with 52 independent States having acceded to the treaty. However the implementation and incorporation of CEDAW in domestic legal systems varies amongst different regions in the continent. State Parties from northern and north-western regions of Africa have registered the most number of reservations to various articles of CEDAW, while implementation of the convention in its entirety has been a continuous challenge in most of the other regions.

The CEDAW Committee, vested with the role of monitoring implementation of CEDAW by State Parties, has repeatedly expressed concern over the general lack of compliance with international standards on women’s human rights in countries within Africa. Grave violations of women’s human rights have been noted to persist despite wide ratification of regional instruments such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa and the existence of mechanisms such as the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights.

In specific the Committee has repeatedly urged State Parties within Africa to review their legal frameworks to address discrimination against women holistically as well as in specific areas such as violence against women, right to property and inheritance, rights in marriage and upon divorce, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Committee has noted lack of awareness of the Convention, and the rights and obligations enshrined in it, as common obstacle in achieving gender equality within countries. In addressing the above the Committee has recommended that State Parties ensure that the Convention and related domestic legislation are made an integral part of legal education and the training of judicial officers, including judges, lawyers and prosecutors, so as to firmly establish in the country a legal culture supportive of women’s equality and non-discrimination.

The proposed Workshop aims to address Anglophone and common law countries primarily from the Southern and Eastern regions that have reported before the CEDAW Committee in the past 5 years or are expected to report before the CEDAW Committee in the upcoming 63^rd CEDAW Session.

The long term goals of the workshop are as follows:

1. To enhance legal environment for strengthening women’s access to justice, including but not limited to strengthening initiatives for legal and judicial reforms, monitoring application of law and engendering adjudicative processes.
2. To contribute to an increased capacity of lawyers in drawing State accountability for the realization of women’s human rights grounded in principles of equality and non-discrimination through litigation at domestic, regional and international levels;

• To enhance positive jurisprudence and State practice on universal application of CEDAW’s framework of equality and non-discrimination in realisation of women’s human rights.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES OF THE WORKSHOP

The Africa Regional Workshop for Lawyers Litigating on Women’s Human Rights Using CEDAW is therefore being organised to meet the following objectives:

1. To strengthen understanding of CEDAW, including the object and purpose of the treaty, its role and position in the treaty body system, the principles enshrined in it, and mechanisms for ensuring state accountability.
2. To identify obstacles and challenges to realisation of women’s human rights within individual countries as well as collectively in the region.

• To identify and address challenges to application of international principles, specifically those enshrined in CEDAW, in legal frameworks and through adjudication at the national and regional levels.

1. To strengthen capacity for drawing State accountability towards the realization of women’s human rights through application of the CEDAW framework of equality and non-discrimination at domestic, regional levels and international levels;
2. To identify strategies that support and strengthen litigation and legal reform on women’s human rights at the national, regional and international levels.

The expected outcomes of the Workshop are as follows:

1. Enhanced capabilities of a group of lawyers within the region as peer trainers and agents for advocating conceptual understanding and use of CEDAW amongst lawyers, judges, paralegals and others as stakeholders in law enforcement;
2. Potential cases and strategies identified for pursuance of strategic litigation and law reform at the national, regional or international level with support from/ in collaboration with IWRAW Asia Pacific.

• Build-up of a system of information exchange relating to best strategies in litigation and positive jurisprudence on women’s human rights from within the region and with lawyers from across the world.

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Lawyers who are engaged in litigation with minimum of 5 yrs experience in representing cases relating to human rights and/or women’s human rights from Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia are invited to apply for the workshop.

Selected participants shall be provided full funding to attend the workshop and will be expected to share their experiences and inputs on litigation at national levels which will further the development of IWRAW Asia Pacific’s initiatives on use of law and litigation. 

Applications (Application Form Attached) along with the applicant’s Curriculum Vitae are requested to be emailed to amarjargal@iwraw-ap.org and ayesha@iwraw-ap.org.

All Applications should reach IWRAW Asia Pacific by 28^th November 2015.

Contact Persons:

Ayesha Sen Choudhury and Amarjargal Davjayev

Programme Officers, IWRAW Asia Pacific

APPLICATION FORM

AFRICA REGIONAL WORKSHOP FOR LAWYERS LITIGATING ON WOMEN’S HUMAN RIGHTS USING CEDAW

Nairobi, 7 – 10 December 2015

Please submit this application form along with the following documents:

• Curriculum Vitae/ Resume (maximum 3 pages)

• A letter of recommendation/support from your organisation (if applicable)

The letter of recommendation should include information on how your participation in the training will benefit the organisation; in what way the organisation works on CEDAW or plans to incorporate CEDAW into its activities; and to what extent the organisation plans to organise or support future CEDAW trainings.

All applications should be submitted by 28 November 2015 to Ayesha Sen Choudhury & Amarjargal Davjayev at the following email address or fax number:

Email: ayesha@iwraw-ap.org & amarjargal@iwraw-ap.org

Fax No.: +603 2283 2552.

INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED

Please note the following:

• The workshop is only open to lawyers who are currently engaging in litigation.
• Due to limited spaces, only selected few applicants shall be invited to participate. 
• Countries that would be prioritised are: Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.

1. PERSONAL DETAILS

2. INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR WORK

Your answers to the following questions will be used to understand the nature of your work and the expertise you would bring to the Workshop.

1. What is the predominant legal system in your country?

[   ] Common Law

[   ] Civil/ Continental Law

[   ] Religious Law

[   ] Pluralistic System. Please explain  _________________________________

[   ] Others. Please Explain __________________________________________

1. How long have you been a litigating lawyer?

[   ] Less than 5 yrs            [   ] 5 – 10 yrs              [   ] More than 10 yrs

1. What has been your primary area of practice?

[   ] Constitutional law

[   ] Criminal law

[   ] Family law

[   ] Employment/ Labour law

[   ] Immigration and emigration law

[   ] Environmental law

[   ] Others. Please specify ______________________________________________

1. Which court/s do you mostly appear before and in what capacity (e.g. senior/lead counsel, junior counsel)?

1. How often do you represent women?

      [   ] Mostly       [   ] Often         [   ] Rarely       [   ] Never

If you do represent women, what are the main issues in the cases (e.g. property, violence, citizenship, employment etc.)?

1. How often do you refer/use the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in the cases you represent?

[   ] Mostly       [   ] Often         [   ] Rarely       [   ] Never

1. Have you referred/used any other international treaty or instrument in your legal arguments? If so, please list the cases along with the treaties that you have referred below:

1. Have you attended/ participated in any trainings or courses on women’s human rights? If yes, please provide details of the dates, locations, organisers and substantive contents of the training(s).

1. Have you conducted any workshops or trainings for lawyers, paralegals, other civil society organisations? If yes, please provide information in brief below:

• KNOWLEDGE ON CEDAW

This section will help us assess your understanding of CEDAW.

1. CEDAW is:

[   ] International Treaty

[   ] Customary international law

[   ] International Declaration

[   ] International Guideline/ Principle

1. Can you name the 3 main elements of CEDAW?

1. Which of the following statements are true?

[   ] CEDAW is a persuasive policy document for states on rights for women.

[   ] CEDAW provides a legally binding framework for States on implementing women’s rights in their countries.

[   ] Non-discrimination is a principle of customary international law.

[   ] Women’s human rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

[   ] CEDAW is not applicable for violations by non-state actors/ private entities.

[  ] States can make Reservations or Declarations to any article of CEDAW which challenges state sovereignty or is inconsistent with a country’s customs and traditions.

[   ] CEDAW allows differential treatment of men and women.

4. EXPECTATIONS AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

1. The workshop will be conducted in English. Please indicate your proficiency and level of comfort in English:

1. What are you expecting to gain from the Workshop? Please select the appropriate answers:

[   ] Knowledge on CEDAW

[   ] Skills on applying principles of non-discrimination and equality in framing arguments for cases relating to women’s human rights

[   ] Sharing/ learning best practices and strategies from other countries on litigation on women’s human rights

[   ] Networking with other lawyers who litigate on women’s human rights within the region

[   ] Others. Please specify:________________________________________________

1. How do you intend to use the knowledge gained at this workshop?

[    ] Engaging in Strategic Litigation in your home country

[    ] Providing general Legal Aid services in your home country

[    ] Training other lawyers in your home country

[    ] Training paralegals in your home country

[    ]  Engaging in Advocacy/ Awareness raising workshops with judges and other law enforcement officials. Please mention   at which level, e.g. district court judges, appellate court judges etc._________________________________________________________

[    ] Others. Please specify_______________________________________________

5. CASE SUMMARY

Please provide summary of ONE case relating to violation of women’s human rights that you are CURRENTLY representing

1. Facts of the case in chronological order

1. Violations identified

1. Domestic laws/ provisions that are applicable (please mentioned specific articles and sections)

1. Jurisdiction – please mention which court of law you are planning to approach or have approached

1. Relief sought from the courts