This third and last edition of the ESR Review this year (Volume 15, No 3 2014) includes two feature articles on the enjoyment of socioeconomic rights.
News
An exciting opportunity has opened up at the Community Law Centre, the Law Faculty’s research and advocacy unit. We are offering a bursary to study towards an LLM or an MPhil in Law, State and Multilevel Government.
Last week, the Community Law Centre hosted this Colloquium on Poverty and Human Rights in Africa to share evidence-based knowledge and experience on how human rights violations drive and deepen poverty in Africa.
Community Law Centre’s Civil Society Prison Reform Initiative in partnership with the Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) which promotes civil society participation at the UN Human Rights Committee hosted a one day workshop to prepare a consolidated report prior to the adoption of the List of Issues.
Last week, the Community Law Centre hosted a lunch-time seminar where the role of electoral commissions in developing countries was unpacked. The key speakers at this event where Rev Courtney Sampson Provincial Electoral Officer of the Electoral Commission in the Western Cape and Prof Henk Kummeling the Chair of the Dutch Electoral Commission and a visiting professor at the Community Law Centre.
Maternal death remains a great challenge in many developing countries including South Africa. Despite the fact that South Africa is one of the most industrialised and prosperous countries in Africa, the government has been unable to address the high maternal and infant mortality rates in the country. In line with this, Community Law Centre, Department of public health of the University of the Western Cape and Amnesty International held a two day workshop on maternal health.
A Children’s rights researcher at the Community Law Centre has published a book titled: Understanding Kinship Care of Children in Africa. The book was published by Eleven International Publishing in Hague as the first instalment of the Comparative African Legal Studies Series and it focuses on contemporary issues in African development, with human rights as a backdrop.
The Eastern Cape advocacy workshop was held from 11 to 12 November 2014 in East London and was hosted by the Shukumisa Campaign and the Community Law Centre. The main purpose of the 2 day workshop was to develop collaborative advocacy strategies to respond to sexual violence on provincial level in the Eastern Cape. Participants consisted of individuals and representatives from various organisations and structures working with survivors of sexual violence from across the province.
Children’s Rights researcher at the Community Law Centre, Dr Aquinaldo Mandlate attended a workshop on the possibility of establishment of a child rights unit in Mozambique, as part of experts who trained Mozambican National Human Rights Commission.
Lukas Muntingh's discussion of South Africa's failures in the in the internation human rights system was published on Thought Leader, a leading online opinion forum, in October 2014.
"Reflecting on 20 years of Local Government" was the title of a presentation by Jaap de Visser to a conference on Local Government, organised by the Democracy Development Programme (DDP) in Durban on 20 October 2014.
The judiciary in Kenya is increasingly called upon to resolve disputes about devolution. Last week, the Kenyan Judiciary Training Institute (JTI) organised a four day training programme on devolution for members of the judiciary. The training was organised in collaboration with the Katiba Institute.