Three Organisations Benefit from US Windfall

This year the Democracy and Human Rights Fund (DHRF) will award a total of U.S. $40,000.00 to four organizations. The United States embassy in The Gambia uses the programme to provide assistance through grants to indigenous civil society organisations or Community-Based Organisations (CBOs). These organisations will implement small, short-term, highly targeted activities designed to show measurable results with an emphasis on change in support of human rights and democratic institutions.
 
Three grants were recently announced. These have been awarded to the Foundation for Legal Aid, Research and Empowerment (FLARE), African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) and Child Protection Alliance.

FLARE aims to raise the level of awareness of Gambians on the 1997 Constitution and related political, economic and social laws and policies. It also aims to educate people as to their civic rights and duties for the purpose of empowering citizens to determine their destiny and ensure good governance practices in the administration of the country. The project is entitled Civic Education for Empowerment and Good Governance in The Gambia.
 
The aims of the project will be achieved through a range of methods including Radio Talk shows, production of IEC Materials, public lectures and celebration of Human Rights Day.

The second organisation to benefit is the ACDHRS. The project is entitled “Empowering women and men through knowledge and use of human rights instruments”. The objectives include: “To create an informed society that would be in a position to constructively influence positive change in existing government policies and initiate new strategies to address the problem of inequality and discrimination among women in The Gambia”.

A broad range of activities will be employed to achieve the objectives, including sensitization training of 30 National Assembly Members on policy issues affecting women so that NAMs can lobby for strategies that would empower women and help influence government’s decisions on women’s development. Further, it is to provide training for 20 lawyers and legal practitioners on the use of human rights instruments.

The third organisation to benefit from the windfall is the Child Protection alliance.

The successful project is entitled “Towards empowering children for effective participation in child rights and protection in The Gambia”.

The project has a wide range of objectives including sensitising and raising awareness amongst the general public on child sexual abuse and exploitation in The Gambia and to ensure that children are protected by communities and professionals.

These objectives will be realised through a range of activities including conducting two training programmes for the young, namely training on advocacy skills for members of the Voice of the Young and training on public speaking and presentation skills, also targeting Voice of the Young.

The fourth grant is expected to be announced soon.