The Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (CHR/Centre)  on 9 December 2021 will host a virtual CHR@35 Forum to take stock of successes and failures and to reflect on the future.  The Centre invites its staff, Faculty colleagues, students, graduates, partners, friends, donors and other stakeholders in the work of the Centre to be part of this virtual event.  The event will inform the Centre’s Strategic Plan for the next 5 years.

Having been established in 1986, the Centre in 2021 marks 35 years of its existence.  To commemorate this milestone, the Centre hosts this Forum to reflect on its main achievements/contributions; and shortcomings/missed opportunities; and to consider how the Centre needs to (re)position itself to best fit into a dramatically changing landscape relevant to human rights. 

The Centre as an academic department:
Six break-away sessions for academic programmes (09:00 - 10:15 SAST)

In the first morning session (09:00 - 10:15 SAST), students, teachers and graduates of the Centre’s academic programmes (five Master’s programmes and a doctoral programme) will meet separately, to reflect on aspects related to these programmes (such as the curriculum, the pedagogical approach, the alumni networks).  

Panel 1: The Centre as “NGO” (10:30 - 11:45 SAST)

Moderator:

• Lloyd Kuveya
  Assistant Director (Operations)

Panellists include:  

• Adv Bahame Tom Nyanduga
  AU Watch
• Dr Abdou Khadre
  Universite Virtuelle du Senegal
• Ms Roselyn Hanzi
  Executive Director, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights

Panel 2: The Centre’s institutional partners (12:00 -13:15 SAST)

Moderator:

• Nkatha Murungi
  Assistant Director (Programmes)

Panellists include: 

• Lindiwe Khumalo
  Acting Secretary, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
• William Carew
  Head, ECOSOCC Secretariat
• Clement Mavungu
  Legal Counsel, PAP
• Dr Horace Adjolohoun
  Principal Legal Officer, African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights

Panel 3: The Centre’s donors (14:00 - 15:15 SAST)

Moderator:

• Frans Viljoen
  Director

Panellists include:

• Ambassador Astrid Helle
  Royal Norway Embassy in Pretoria

• Ambassador Han Peters
  Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pretoria
• Raman Zwi
  Delegation of Flanders
• Godfrey Odongo
  Wellspring Philanthropic Fund

Please join us for this day of remembrance, celebration, critique and reflection, to help shape the future of the Centre for Human Rights.