AAHR is a youth-led, non-governmental and not-for-profit organization whose objective is to improve participation of constituents in setting and leveraging the development agenda through advocacy and democratic principles. Mission
Association for Advancement of Human Rights is a youth-led, non-governmental and not-for-profit organization whose objective is to improve participation of constituents
in setting and leveraging the development agenda through advocacy and democratic principles. Objective
To create a knowledge focused on citizenry who actively participate in governance issues through their engagement in advocacy, thereby creating societies, communities and countries that well governed and guarantee the rights of all their people. Human rights are norms that aspire to protect all people everywhere from severe political, legal and social abuses. The erosions of human rights in Zambia have worsened over the last ten years. Alarmed by the weakening in the observance of human rights, the influential Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) declared in April 2017 that "our country is now all except in designation of dictatorship and if not yet, then we are not far from it...".Significant human rights issues include: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings: torture and cases of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, harsh and life threatening prison conditions, serious restrictions in free expression the press and the internet, including violence and threats of violence against journalists, censorship and the application of criminal libel and slander laws: substantial interference with the right to freedom of assembly and official corruption wide spread child labor among others. As AAHR we have implored a human rights-based approach which includes a focus in programming on the promotion of equality and non-discrimination, ensuring the participation and inclusion of disadvantaged groups, and strengthening of accountability concerning human rights. We do this by creating awareness on human rights on the citizens more particularly the marginalized groups. This is so because some people are not fully aware of their rights and as such, if a violation happens, they don’t exactly know what to do. We work with other Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and provide checks and balances for the state on their role in the protection and promotion of human rights.
2. GOOD GOVERNANCE AND DEMOCRACY
To enhance citizens participation in the governance system and strengthen the alliance between the government and the citizens. Lesson of history is that transparency, responsiveness, accountability and participatory governance is a requisite to enduring respect for human dignity and the defense of human rights. In Zambia where democracy and the rule of law have not been fully nurtured, the move towards implementing human rights and good governance principles into the daily functioning of state institutions can be a huge challenge. Improving relationships between citizens and their government means working simultaneously on state responsiveness and effectiveness, citizen empowerment and the accountability of elected officials and civic duty bearers. AAHR works on;
• Building capacity for community groups to participate in the affairs of the government.
• Mobilizing citizens to take part in the democratic activities that promote their freedoms.
3. PUBLIC RESOURCE ACCOUNTABILITY
Improvement of responsiveness of frontline providers to enhance equitable distribution of wealth
Dysfunctional governance persists as one of the ways in which weak governance manifests itself, creating environments where civil servants and political elites act with impunity, embezzling scarce public resources that could be used for education, health care, infrastructural water development. AAHR aims at;
• Conducting trainings on social accountability.
• Advocating for increase in transparency on allocation and spending of resources.
• Undertaking needs assessment and gap analysis of accountability to combat corruption.
• Building alliances and collaborative endeavors by educating broad range of groups and sectors on demanding transparency and accountability from elected officials.
4. CONSUMER PROTECTION
Protection and promotion of Consumer Rights. Consumers in their daily activities are faced with a number of challenges, what they should know before buying goods and services, if they can return the good(s) bought when they are not satisfied or any grievances they may have against the seller. Traders may also be doing business but may not fully know the law regarding consumers. It is important that consumers know what constitutes a violation of the Act and how they can seek redress as they interact with traders and enterprises. Consumer protection legislation creates rights for consumers and imposes corresponding obligations on traders. It must be acknowledged as being of the most standing that everyone involved starting from the consumers, traders as well as public service providers take time and understand the upright policy and regulatory context governing competition and consumer protection and avoid being victims of breaking the law. AAHR recognizes the need to:
• Increase awareness and understanding among various stakeholders especially the consumers.
• Teach business owners on the consumer rights and the consequences of doing misleading transactions with consumers.
• Empower consumers with information about their rights and how they can engage others to make advocacy responses that would provide assistance with addressing their challenges and needs
• Engage with relevant stakeholders in the protection and promotion of consumer rights.
• Conduct public awareness on the interest of consumers against deficiencies and defects in goods or services.
5. CROSS CUTTING ISSUES (WOMEN’S RIGHTS, CHILD RIGHTS, YOUTH MINORITY GROUPS, DISABILITY RIGHTS)
Promoting human rights for the marginalized at both community and national level. Marginalized groups have rights to education and health, to an adequate livelihood including food, water and housing, to just and favorable conditions of work, security and freedom from violence among others. However, they cannot access these rights when their voices are not heard, when they are discriminated against, or when the state is not accountable for its human rights. Human rights and equity require that organizations that work in the access to human rights not only deal with creating platforms for the realization of human rights but also by helping to alter the conditions that make worse, and perpetuate poverty and marginalization. AAHR recognizes the need for the inclusion of the marginalized and historically discriminated against groups and is working towards combatting marginalization. Our intervention strategy seeks to address necessities that the groups are frequently excluded from such as decision-making, public institutions, basic services, and issues of violence and exploitation among others. This includes;
• Supporting anti-discrimination legislation programs.
• Promoting human rights advocacy.
