RWI Human Right Basket-Inception (2017-2018) RWI Human Right Basket-Inception (2017-2018) The proposed support for the Raoul Wallenberg Institute's Regional Africa Human Rights Programme (Inception phase 1 April 2017-30 September 2018) aims to contribute to fair, inclusive and sustainable development in Africa by contributing to strengthened human rights enforcement in the region.

The programme is based on two main components:

1. Increased capacity and efficiency of Human Rights compliance (respect, protection and fulfillment of human rights) with a selection of institutions within the AU and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

2. Increased regional cooperation between a selection of official regional institutions, academic institutions, civil society organisations and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in the sub-Saharan African region.

The purpose of the Inception programme is that RWI develops existing partnerships established in the previous regional Africa programme and also adds new partnerships in accordance with the evaluation recommendations. During the Inception phase, RWI, in close dialogue with its partners, will develop a consolidated programme for the Implementation phase, including budget (1 October 2018-31 December 2021), develop a full Results Framework and make a full risk assessment and develop a plan for how these risks should be handled. Synergies will be systematically sought with the bilateral RWI programmes already on-going in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Sierra Leone, and the Ethiopia programme starting soon. Det föreslagna stödet till Raoul Wallenberg Institutets regionala Afrika-program för mänskliga rättigheter (Inception-fasen 1 april 2017-30 september 2018) syftar till att bidra till en rättvis, inkluderande och hållbar utveckling i Afrika genom att bidra till att stärka efterlevnaden av mänskliga rättigheter i regionen. 

Programmet bygger på två huvudkomponenter:

1. Ökad kapacitet och effektivitet hos ett urval institutioner inom AU och de regionala ekonomiska samarbetsorganen (Regional Economic Communities, RECs) med avseende på deras roll att respektera och försvara mänskliga rättigheter. 

2. Ökat regionalt samarbete mellan ett urval akademiska institutioner, civilsamhällesorganisationer och nationella MR-institutioner (National Human Rights Institutions, NHRIs), och kapacitet hos dessa organisationer och nätverk.

Syftet med Inception-programmet är att RWI utvecklar de befintliga partnerskap som etablerades i det föregående regionala Afrika-programmet och även utökar med ytterliga partnerskap i enlighet med utvärderingens rekommendationer. Under Inception-fasen ska RWI, i nära dialog med sina partners, utveckla ett konsoliderat program med budget för Implementeringsfasen (1 oktober 2018-31 december 2021), utveckla ett fullständigt resultatramverk och göra en fullständig riskbedömning och ta fram en plan för hur dessa risker ska hanteras.

Sida gör bedömningen att insatsen är relevant och att RWI och det planerade regionala programmet har goda förutsättningar att bidra till målen i den i ovan nämnda strategin. The overall objective of the proposed Programme is to strengthen implementation of human rights commitments in Africa. This objective is framed by the premise that the problem of ensuring better human rights protection, and in turn the rule of law and good governance and thereby conditions to better deal with development challenges, is not primarily about lack of standards and institutions, but making existing standards and institutions work. This premise especially holds true in the African context, mainly because, while many African States have ratified several key international and regional human rights instruments, much work remains in advancing political will, capacities, and broader solutions for States to comply with human rights standards in practice.  In order to design an Implementation Phase that will effectively work towards this objective and to monitor and evaluate achievement of expected results, this inception phase has put in place a strategy of thoroughly reviewing (through inter alia research and studies) the current implementation status of relevant commitments, as well as the main factors underlying both implementation successes and failures. Through this, the Inception Phase ensures that all RWI future regional Africa Programme initiatives are evidence-based, with a thorough grounding in research and catering for continuous monitoring to ensure their effectiveness.  This follows from recommendations from the evaluation of the previous RWI Regional Africa programme to include a strong research component having a more holistic approach to enable the utilisation of research as evidence-based data under the programme in support of monitoring progress of other priority areas. This will further facilitate understanding what works and why. Part of this approach also relates to ensuring regional ownership. Achieving the anticipated change will fail if relevant initiatives come – or are perceived as coming from – outside agencies. Intrinsically linked to this is the need for local knowledge and understanding: where outside agencies are involved, it is essential that they possess the required experience and connections to effectively contribute.  Thus, during this phase RWI and its partners will cooperate throughout on a series of studies and other initiatives providing not only new knowledge, but also towards the establishment of clear baselines and targets to be incorporated into the Implementation Phase proposal, as well as the design of Programme activities. Central to the process will be wide-ranging consultations with relevant stakeholders, both through key networks and specific events arranged for this purpose.  The Inception Phase will also serve to further to develop the theory, or theories, of change for the Programme, providing for joint reflection among partners to explore change and how it is expected to happen – and what that would mean in and for particular contexts, sectors and groups of people.