Partnership Programmes
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Kenya Partnership Programme 2008-(ongoing)Youth Alive! Kenya and KIOS Partnership Programme has been running since July 2008. The Programme aims to identify and support community based human rights groups to harness their full potential and become key human rights actors in their region and ultimately nationally. These pilot groups chosen in the Programme are community based groups that have shown unique commitment to advancing human rights in their communities and who have capacity and drive to become significant human rights advocates in a wider context. The central aspects of the Programme are networking the pilot groups with each other and with other relevant institutions in the country (whether governmental or non-governmental), and providing individualised training and mentoring on issues that will be identified together with the participating groups. The Programme also includes a small grant to each pilot group to implement their human rights activities in the community. During its first year (2008-2009), Partnership Programme encaged eight pilot groups, with whom both YAK and KIOS worked closely to build the capacity. The second Programme year started in August 2009, and a new set of eight pilot groups were chosen to the programme for the year 2010. We expect to choosing new pilots next time in 2011. If your organisation is based in Kenya and interested in joining Partnership Programme in Kenya in 2011, please get in touch: kios@kios.fi or info@youthalivekenya.org. Read more about Youth Alive! Kenya on their website. Read about the evaluation on the Partnership Programme made in 2010.
Africa Regional Partnership Programme 2011One of KIOS´s strategic goals for the period 2011-2015 is the empowerment of KIOS partners through networking locally, regionally and internationally. KIOS strategic goals also include the necessary resources of our partners to do human rights work, the capability of the partners to influence the decision making in the society and the professional and sustainable work of KIOS partners to promote and protect human rights. KIOS strategy identifies 6 focus countries in Eastern Africa: Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Human Rights Defenders in the East and Horn of Africa sub-region are exposed to great personal risks as much of this region has experienced massive human-rights abuses going back many years, in the context of single-party and military dictatorships, struggles for democracy, civil wars and, in the extreme case of Somalia, the collapse of the state. Restrictions on civil and political rights have increased in almost every country covered. The regional partnership programme was jointly planned and implemented by KIOS and East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project EHAHRDP to build the capacity of KIOS partners and to facilitate networking. The iniative culminated in the KIOS Parners Regional Conference, which brought together KIOS partners from six focus countries in Eastern Africa: Burundi, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. The two-day conference held on 4th and 5th May 2011 at Fairway Hotel in Kampala provided an opportunity for the partners to increase their knowledge and skills in human rights advocacy and on protection mechanisms for human rights defenders. The conference also involved sharing of experience, best practices and reflection on innovative strategies to advance human rights as a major pillar for development. At the end of the conference, a number of issues and recommendations were raised by participants to include sharing of experience and disclosure of creative coping mechanisms by HRDs when faced with violations and how better HRDs can use the media in their advocacy work. Security training was deemed necessary in human rights work, as well as the monitoring and documentation of human rights violations to track what is happening periodically in each organisation. Read more about EHAHRDP on their website. Read more about the conference here.
Uganda Partnership Programme 2010Uganda is one of the main focus countries of the KIOS strategy implemented since 2004. Currently Uganda has the largest number of KIOS grantees: altogether 12 organizations with 14 projects are supported by KIOS (February 2010). In May 2010 KIOS organized a Partners Conference to bring together all its Ugandan partners to share best practices and learn from each other. The conference of KIOS partners, the first of its kind in Uganda provided opportunities for networking between the partners and served as a platform for sharing experiences and best practices in their struggle for promoting and protecting human rights. The conference was arranged in collaboration with the National Association of Women Organisations in Uganda (NAWOU) who is one of the KIOS partners in Uganda. Read more of the conference (including presentations) here.
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