Challenges in the Region
While the African region has experienced impressive growth in some areas, it still struggles with income inequality, unemployment, and the exploitation of natural resources. These challenges are compounded by human rights concerns in sectors such as mining, agriculture, and energy, where private investment often intersects with issues like labour rights, environmental protection, and the protection of vulnerable groups. As the region seeks to develop and attract investment, the need for responsible business practices in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGP) is a major concern.
Long Lines of Engagement
Supporting researchers from the Global South is central to NCHR's mission, and the NCHR has partnered with scholars and African universities for more than 30 years. The Centre has ongoing cooperation projects through funding schemes such as NORHED II (Women's, Children's and Nature's Rights) and NORHED II (Partnership for Peace) and it is timely that the International Department is also turning its attention more toward partnerships with countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. A newly launched strategy for Norwegian engagement with African countries (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, August 2024) clearly states that knowledge exchange should become more prominent in future cooperation projects.
Project Travel to Kenya and South Africa
During a recent project trip to Kenya and South Africa, the NCHR met with embassies, academic institutions, UN organisations, and civil society representatives. The meetings clearly indicated a strong desire for increased cooperation in the area of human rights research and education, with topics such as the UN human rights system, domestic implementation of international law, inequality and non-discrimination, environmental challenges, and the human rights obligations of non-state actors. The need for support for the university and knowledge sectors was also brought up in many of the meetings.
New Initiative in the Area of Business and Human Rights
In 2025, one of NCHR's new initiatives will focus on "Business and Human Rights," partnering with the University of Pretoria. In this partnership, the Human Rights Centre in Pretoria will serve as a capacity-building hub, providing training to scholars and experts from countries in the region. The tailored training programs will focus on the intersection of human rights and business, combining theory and practice.
“This new collaboration aims to strengthen research and education in this crucial field and is expected to have a positive impact on academia and expert milieus advocating for human rights in Sub-Saharan Africa,”
says Cecilie Figenschou Bakke, Programme Director at the NCHR, who will be in charge of the new partnership. She adds that scholars at the NCHR, who are already collaborating with UoP, will be invited as experts and advisors in developing the new training course.
Further Expansion
In addition to the new collaboration on Business & Human Rights, the NCHR has also been reviewing opportunities for expanding their existing project on UN Human Rights Mechanisms to the African continent. Facilitating academic engagement in the Geneva-based mechanisms has been a successful project for target groups from Asia and the Middle East, and it seems pertinent to consider a similar project for African academics.
“More than a decade of our UN Mechanisms program has shown us how important academic involvement is for keeping member states accountable and for making recommendations from the UPR and the Treaty Bodies known. We’re eager to see whether we can achieve similar results for African academics, and we’re looking forward to exploring this further in 2025,”
says Julie Viker Aanensen, senior adviser at the NCHR and responsible for the UN Human Rights Mechanism Program.