PROJECT INFORMATION

Click to read Human Rights workplan and HURIST workplan

Location

  • UNDP

Duration

2005 - 2008

Focus Area

  • HURIST Project focuses on Integrating Human Rights with Sustainable Human Development.

Donors

  • Swedish International Development Agency funds

Budget

  • 140,000 USD

Partners

  • Office of the High Commission on Human Rights, Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists, ICJ Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Legal Resources Foundation, Release Political Prisoners, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights-KNCHR and SIDA.

Delivery for 2007

  • 107,430.13 USD

Contact Person

  • Maina David at maina.david@undp.org

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"UNDP Human Rights and Justice project in Kenya."

Human rights related activities within UNDP

UNDP works with many donor institutions in various activities related to development. More specifically under human rights, the following outlines some of those human rights related activities.

Sida Funded HR activities
The Swedish Government has for a while been funding among other initiatives, key human rights projects with civil society organization such as Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists, ICJ Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Legal Resources Foundation, Release Political Prisoners and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights-KNCHR.

Such activities have enabled citizens to qualitatively participate in governance issues and a case in point is the civic awareness prevailing in country. The defeat of the Constitution draft bill in the just concluded referendum can in one way or other attributed to awareness levels by citizen as they are keen to ensure that their interests are well taken care for.

Increased access to justice in Kenya today unlike previously can be attributed to improved engagement at the CSO level. Through civil society awareness campaigns, citizens are aware of avenues of seeking justices while aggrieved. This is well elaborate by the high level of reporting of crimes to police and eventually most of the cases go to court level.

There has been an increase of the democratic space emanating from current government goodwill as well as discourse with capacitated citizens. At local level, citizens are aware of their rights to participate in development agenda, citizens are now more involved in management of decentralized funds at the local level such as the LATF, the CDF, and bursary funds.

There has been a rise in women’s participation in developmental issues unlike before. This can be attributed to incorporation of gender approaches by organizations in their work ensuring women’s contribution to development as a result of an enlightened women folk.

 

HURIST
HURIST, a joint programme of UNDP and OHCHR, is supporting the implementation of UNDP's policy on human rights as presented in the policy document Integrating Human Rights with Sustainable Human Development. Its primary purposes are to test guidelines and methodologies and to identify best practices and learning opportunities in the development of national capacity for the promotion and protection of human rights and in the application of a human rights approach to development programming. HURIST aims at integrating human rights in development by building the capacity of UN country offices, preparing methodologies and toolkits on human rights and documenting and disseminating good practices in the application of these rights in development. A human rights-based approach constitutes for UNDP a holistic framework methodology with the potential to enrich operational strategies. It adds a missing element to present activities by enhancing the enabling environment for human development, and by empowering people to claim their rights and influencing decision about their lives. A human rights-based approach draws from the values, standards and principles captured in the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent human rights conventions/treaties and regional instruments, often embodied in national constitutions and other legislation.

Support for the development of a Human Rights policy and national plan of action
Formulation of institutions and policies such as the national policy and action plan on human rights for Kenya are underway. The project aims at the development of the human rights policy document, which would be the country’s guiding document and focal point for human rights. The human rights policy and action plan is being developed not only as a result of a recommendation of the 1993 Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, but also in line with the government’s vision to establish the country as a human rights state. The formulation of the stated documents is being coordinated jointly by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights in collaboration with various other players in the human rights field including CSOs, private sector and academia.

Click here to access the High Commission for Human Rights Website.

Did you Know?

  • Kenya held its general election on 27 December 2007

UNDP Kenya

Governance Publications

Magistrates' Bench book

Popular version of the proposed Constitution


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