Deadline: 23 August 2013
Open to: practicing lawyers and legal counselors working with human rights or women’s rights NGOs in the CEE/NIS region (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan)
Venue: four one-week sessions in Bulgaria beginning in November 2013, with all costs covered
Description
Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF), in cooperation with its partners the Center cooperation with representatives of the Euroregional Center for Public Initiatives (ECPI) are pleased to announce the Call for Applications to participate in the training programme of the Fifth Round of the Women’s Human Rights Training Institute (WHRTI), 2013-2015. The Institute is a unique initiative founded by the three partners in 2004 it is the first-of-its-kind programme aimed at building and developing the capacity of young lawyers from Central and Eastern European and the Newly Independent States (CEE/NIS) for litigation on women’s rights issues, including violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and employment discrimination.
The WHRTI improves participants’ practical skills in writing and advocacy for development of strategic litigation in the region both at the national and international levels through the use of regional and universal human rights mechanisms. The WHRTI also gives lawyers an opportunity to get acquainted with the EU standards in the field of equal treatment of women and men, including the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The overarching objectives of the Institute are to:
- develop successful regional and country level litigation strategies on women’s human rights in CEE/NIS.
- build the capacity of lawyers in CEE/NIS to litigate women’s human rights cases at the national, regional and UN levels.
- provide continuous support and expertise for women’s rights litigation efforts of lawyers in CEE/NIS and seed new women’s rights litigation.
- strengthen the network of lawyers for women’s human rights’ strategic litigation in the region.
The WHRTI relies on a three-prong approach focusing on the developing jurisprudence in the three above mentioned fields of women’s rights. The WHRTI takes place in Bulgaria. It consists of four sessions convened every six months for a one-week session. The same group of participants work together for a two-year period. The working language of the Institute is English. The last two sessions are designed as mock-court sessions consisting of team work on hypothetical cases brought before the European Court of Human Rights, the CEDAW Committee and the UN Human Rights Committee.
The First session of the WHRTI 4 is planned for November 2013. All expenses related to the selected participants’ attendance at the four sessions of the Institute are covered by the organizers.
Eligibility
Twenty participants will be selected among practicing lawyers and legal counselors working with human rights or women’s rights NGOs in the CEE/NIS region (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). Successful applicants should:
- have a substantial and sustainable interest and a demonstrated commitment to women’s human rights advocacy and to using the law creatively to secure redress for women’s rights violations.
- have a professional relationship/affiliation for at least one year prior to the application with an institution/organization that has capacity to litigate women’s rights cases or has experience with litigation and preferably focuses in its work on women’s human rights.
- have demonstrated interest and basic knowledge of the international universal and regional human rights law, legal standards and instruments,
- be committed and available to actively participate in all the four sessions of the Institute (approximately one week every six months) and to be involved in the intersessional work.
- have fluency in written and spoken English, and advanced English language comprehension.
Application
The completed WHRTI application form and all supporting documents (see the application form HERE) must be sent to the Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation (BGRF) by 23 August 2013, to the following e-mail address: office@bgrf.org
or, by mail:
Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation
P.O.Box 938
1000 Sofia
Bulgaria
The applicants short-listed for an interview will be contacted by 5 September 2013. The final selection will be done by the middle of September 2013.
For further details please see the official call for applications HERE.
