Final report for July 1, 1999 to October 15, 2000 : Angola civil society strengthening project cooperative agreement no. 654-A-00-99-00056-00

A number of HR training sessions were held on issues of specific interest to target CSOs, including lessons in how HR education helps to create a culture of HR, justice, and democracy. The training is having a positive net effect on the work of CSOs and has continued to be the mainstay for successful implementation of HR activities. During the past year, the training program was initiated in Cabinda province. WL remains the only international organization in Angola providing HR training with an institution-building objective. The training of trainers (TOT) program with local trainers continued. At present, these are the only trainers in Angola actually trained in HR education, and in most cases WL relied on them to facilitate the training of the target CSOs. The grants program provided financial assistance to 16 CSOs for HR educational projects; these CSOs are among the few organizations in Angola that actually implement HR programs. The grantees included organizations devoted to women"s and children"s rights. WL helped a local group, Associacao Justica, Paz e Democracia, become the first HR organization in Angola to work exclusively on HR issues. The group also coordinates the efforts of all CSOs doing HR work in Angola and is bringing together concerned organizations and individuals for a national lobby against HR violations. WL helped a local CSO establish the first children"s education rights network in Benguela province. There is also evidence that the target CSOs are developing more collaborative relationships. As a result of networking workshops, CSOs have begun a process of exchange visits to share HR experiences. The CSOs had never done this in the past. WL"s TA strategies were targeted to the specific needs of individual institutions, e.g., HR curriculum development. The development of training materials, which are scarce, was another area of assistance. A very important training manual completed under this project is the "Street Children"s Human Rights Training Manual," a first of its kind in Angola. These materials are supplying local CSOs with much needed assistance in their HR work. International agencies like the United Nations Division of Human Rights in Angola are also trying them out. WL received many requests from government ministries and international organizations to train their respective personnel in HR. As part of its material development activity, WL nurtured a very important relationship with the Ministry of Education. WL"s efforts in HR materials development has led to interest and linkages among CSOs and between CSOs and government. The opportunity to include children"s rights as part of the national curriculum at all levels as part of the Ministry of Education"s reform program is critical to the ongoing process of building grassroots awareness of HR, democracy, and governance. Finally, a small pool of grants was established to support independent media to report on HR issues. The work on the media concentrated on developing a weekly HR column in the independent weekly newspaper Agora. The HR column is the first weekly news report on HR issues in the country. In collaboration with HR Watch, WL supported the launching of its HR book on Angola, the first of its kind.