Sexual and reproductive health is a fundamental human right as well as human development issue that states must strive to fulfil. It is guaranteed in various international and regional human rights instruments as well as national laws and policies. This was true at the recent Regional Colloquium on The Role of National Human Rights Institutions in Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in East and Southern Africa Regions.
On 24 October 2017, the SARChI Chair in Multilevel Government Law and Policy, Prof Nico Steytler hosted a dialogue session with Dr Conrad Bosire and Dr Zemelak Ayele. The topic of the dialogue was: The politics of electioneering in Africa: The case of Kenya and Ethiopia.
The Dullah Omar Institute hosted Zemelak Ayele, an Associate Professor at the Centre for Federal Studies, Addis Ababa University as a visiting scholar, from 18 September until 25 October.
The Dullah Omar Institute is gravely concerned about the arbitrary arrest of thirteen persons, recently carried out by the Tanzanian Police.
The Dullah Omar Institute is inviting further applications to study towards a Masters Degree in Multilevel Government with a specific focus on Food Security.
The head of the Children’s Rights Project, Prof Benyam Dawit Mezmur was invited to be judge in the final round of the 2017 National Schools Moot Court Competition on the 8th October in the Constitutional Court in Pretoria, together with Justices Madlanga, Mhlantla, Mojapelo, Kollapen, and a number of other experts.
The Socio-economic Rights Project hosted a roundtable on the access to food for students in tertiary institutions in South Africa on the 5th of October 2017. It looked at issues to be addressed from a first-hand perspective, as well as possible solutions going forward relating to access to food for tertiary students.
I stand here today, along with the memory of Advocate Dullah Omar and the principles of justice and equality he stood for, urging us not to spare the strength or courage required to collectively soul search and move us closer to the South Africa enshrined in the dreams of our Freedom Charter and Constitution. This were the words by renowed humanitarian and international advocate for the rule of law, governance and human rights, Graça Machel during the 11th Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture which took place on 3 October 2017 at the University of the Western Cape, organised by the the Dullah Omar Institute.
The Ugandan Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters is tasked by President Museveni to propose reforms to the land sector. Land administration in Uganda is plagued by corruption, land use is often uncontrolled and tenure systems are collapsing.
On 13 September 2017, the Socio-Economic Rights project at the Dullah Omar Institute based at the University of the Western Cape organised a Roundtable Discussion on Just Cities.
On Friday 8 September, Dr Louis Scheepers, the Executive Director for Area-Based Planning in the City of Cape Town and former Municipal Manager of Saldanha Bay, delivered a guest lecture to the LLM/Mphil class in Multilevel Government. He introduced the students to "Integrated Development Planning" the principal strategic planning instrument in local government.
The Dullah Omar Institute is delighted to announce that the founder of the Graça Machel Foundation,Graça Machel is set to deliver the 11th Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture on 03 October 2017. The Dullah Omar Memorial Lecture Series celebrates the memory of the former Minister of Justice and the first director of the Community Law Centre (now the Dullah Omar Institute), Adv Dullah Omar, who worked tirelessly towards, and achieved so much, in realising the goals of human rights and democracy.
On 31 August, Prof Jaap de Visser led a workshop on land use planning to inform the PHA Food & Farming Campaign
On 16 & 17 August, Prof Jaap de Visser took part in the Council of Speakers, a gathering of all municipal speakers. In municipalities, the speaker chairs all council meetings and enforces the Code of Conduct for Councillors.
Mr Mario Baatjies, Deputy Director of the Western Cape Department of Local Government delivered a guest lecture to the LLM/Mphil students in Multilevel Government.
On Monday 21 August, Mr Chris Nissen, Commissioner of the South African Human Rights Commission visited the Dullah Omar Institute. Commissioner Nissen and the Institute share a connection with the late Adv Dullah Omar as the two worked together intensively as activists. The meeting, attended by senior staff of the Institute, focused on how the two organisations can intensify their collaborative efforts towards achieving social justice.
Dr Tinashe Chigwata, a researcher with Applied Constitutional Studies Laboratory presented at the Local Government Investment Conference which was held at the Harare International Conference Centre from the 7th to 9th of August 2017. Dr Chigwata presented a paper titled: “Local government financing in Zimbabwe: (re)positioning local authorities as investment drivers”. He also chaired a session on promoting sustainable local economic development.
Yesterday, in commemoration of women’s month, the Socio-Economic Rights Project (SERP) convened a one-day Stakeholders Engagement Workshop on Involuntary Sterilisation of Women in South Africa as Gender-Based Violence.
As the Institute, we are gravely concerned about the state of democracy in South Africa. Our constitutional democracy, for which people like Dullah Omar fought so hard and made so many sacrifices, is under threat. At a time when South Africa needs a stable, functional and prosperous state, state institutions are being used to pursue interests that do not advance the cause of realising the rights in the Bill of Rights. On 7 August, the People's March, organised under #UniteBehind will demand that Parliament does what it is elected to do, namely hold the President to account. We call on all sectors of society to support this initiative and defend our constitutional democracy.
The Dullah Omar Institute hosted a session at the Public Interest Law Gathering 2017 engaging with questions regarding the interplay between the legislatures and the courts in SA. This panel was facilitated by the Dullah Omar Institute’s Samantha Waterhouse and the panelists were Nonhlanhla Chanza from Law Society of South Africa, Tshepo Motsepe from Equal Education and Prof Steven Friedman from University of Johannesburg.
This issue includes two feature articles that discuss various areas of socio-economic rights. It also contains updates on General Comments 3 and 4 of the Committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities relating to women and girls with disabilities and inclusive education.
The Dullah Omar Institute was involved in a landmark decision by UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on right to adequate housing in Spain.
Online tool to write to your MP to hold the President accountable.
On 28 and 29 June, the Dullah Omar Institute’s Socio-Economic Rights Project hosted a training workshop for community leaders on access to justice. This a continuation of the series Community Engagement Workshops hosted by the institute in 2016.The workshop also offers a platform for various community leaders and community activists with different backgrounds to discuss, network and share their knowledge on human rights and social justice in South Africa.
The Dullah Omar Institute and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), on 8 June 2017 convened a seminar on SAHRC Research Policy Brief: Challenges in the Realisation of the Right to Adequate Housing for Person with Special Needs in South Africa. This was following a similar seminar hosted on 31 May 2017 by the South Africa Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in Johannesburg. The presenters included Ms. Yuri Ramkissoon, a senior researcher at SAHRC and Ms. Liesel Du Plessis, senior project manager with Project Preparation Trust (PPT).
On 19 June 2017, Prof Ebenezer Durojaye, Head of the Socio-economic Rights Project at the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape, delivered a guest lecture at the College of Law, Osun State University, Nigeria. The lecture was titled: Promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights as Human Rights in Africa.
On 31 May, the Dullah Omar Institute conducted a research and induction Workshop where the Institute’s LLM/MPhil students in Law, State and Multilevel Government were taken through the requirements and expectations surrounding constitutional practice, which comes in the form of an internship.
On Tuesday, the Socio-Economic Rights Project at the Dullah Omar Institute, University of the Western Cape hosted a roundtable discussion on meaningful engagement. The roundtable looked challenges in the realisation of the right to adequate housing in South Africa.
ICESCR Coalition statement on the government's First Country Report to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
This week, South African Research Chair in Multilevel Government, Law and Policy hosted two policy dialogues with Professor Xavier Philippe, the director of the Louis Favoreu Institute of Public Law and Comparative International and European Law at the University of Aix-Marseille, France.
