EMDHR Conducted Training in Kampala

EMDHR conducted a two-day training held in Kampala Uganda on 29 & 30 April 2019 for Eritrean human rights defenders (HRDs). The human rights defenders came from various countries, Egypt, Sudan, Kenya and Uganda.

The project was funded by Lifeline and supported by Civicus. The training was undertaken by David Kode of CIVICUS on 29 April, and the training on 30 April was provided by Helen Kidan of EMDHR and Mrs Sarah Ogbay of Network of Eritrean Women.

The session was an invaluable opportunity for the Eritrean human rights defenders to network with each other and strengthen their capacity. The session looked at documenting, reporting and monitoring of human rights violations in Eritrea and to those Eritreans refugees in the vicinity of Eritrea who continue to suffer. It also enabled them to understand the UN Mechanism.

We also done democracy cake training which enabled the participants to understand the process of democracy and how to build it. This created much discussion and enabled the participants to understand their role for the development of democracy in Eritrea. We were able to come out with action points post the conference and have developed a manual which will enable us to take the work forward.

The session also highlighted the security concerns of many human rights defenders and to ensure the protection of all HRDs in doing their work. The training in Kampala enabled participants to develop relations amongst themselves and the evening provided opportunities to discuss and share ideas.

At this moment in time the situation in Eritrea is drastically changing at a fast rate and it is important that Eritrean HRDs can assist the Eritrean people. Therefore, time is of the essence and we are now beginning to implement the actions points that were agreed in Kampala.

We would also like to take the opportunity to thank all those who supported the training in various capacities CIVICUS, Africa Monitors, Network of Eritrean Women, Mr Hussein Zame Zame and the participants themselves.

Democracy Cake Training – Working in Various groups discussing how to construct a democratic state.

Participants listening to David and engaging in discussions amongst themselves

Nadia discussing the points of her group to all the participants engaging in Q&A discussions