Julia Harrington

1998

Julia Harrington

Institute for Human Rights & Development in Africa (IHRDA)

http://www.africaninstitute.org/

Sere Kunda, Gambia

Civil and Human Rights

The Bold Idea:

While it posses the potential to effect social change, international human rights law is often difficult to enforce. Presently, human rights advocates do not employ litigation very frequently. While there are many reasons for this, there are two reasons that wield the greatest significance: the lack of understanding of the procedures and the inaccessibility of international tribunals.

The Institute for Human Rights & Development (IHRDA) in Africa is a pan-African human rights organization with its headquarters in Banjul, the Gambia. IHRDA specializes in the African regional human rights system, including impact litigation in national and international fora based on African human rights treaties, training and research and publication in the procedures of African treaty mechanisms. While IHRDA offers three unique program areas (capacity building, litigation and research and publication), all of the program areas work towards a single goal: the advancement of human rights in Africa through the implementation of African human rights treaties.

Biography:

Ms. Harrington is the Senior Programme Officer for Equality and non-discrimination for the Open Society Justice Initiative, in New York. She is a co-founder of IHRDA and was the Executive Director from 1997 to 2003. She holds degrees in social science and law from Harvard University. She worked for the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for four years before co-founding the Institute.