The 28th African Human Rights Moot Court Competition was officially opened by,Honorable Dr Unity Dow the Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation on the 1 July 2019.

This year, the competition has brought together 40 participating universities from all around Africa, to discuss pertinent human rights issues ranging from the rights of refugees, statelessness, children’s rights, sexual minority rights and freedom of expression.

The teams converged at the University of Botswana on the 1st of July for registration before attending the welcoming ceremony hosted at the Indoor Sports Campus. The welcoming ceremony was graced by dignitaries and guests like the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Pretoria, Professor Tawana Kupe; Honorable Dr. Unity Dow the Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation, who was also the special guest of honour; Dr Matteo Cassini, the Community Development Manager from the African Prisons Projects and Professor Frans Viljoen who is the Director of the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa. The event was also attended by distinguished members from University of Botswana’s academic and legal communities as well as a number of justices from the Botswana High Court.

Anecdotes were shared by the various speakers on the need for greater African integration especially on matters of human rights, culture and socio-economic development, with the announcement as well that for the first time in the history of the competition, a team from Uganda would be taking part remotely from prison as part of a broader project by the African Prisons Project. This is aimed at raising awareness on prisoners’ rights and better integrate them back into society where they too can engage with their rights and responsibilities. A flag ceremony recognising the 20 African countries represented at the competition this year followed. The opening day of the competition ended on a good note, with guests, faculty representatives and students networking over dinner. 

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