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Ghana: Volunteer Human Rights Internships and Work Experience
Ghana is one of the most stable and well-governed African nations. However, life in its capital city, Accra, remains far removed from any North-American or European city. Our Law & Human Rights project is based in Accra and offers volunteers the unique opportunity to get involved at a grass roots level, raising awareness of human rights in a variety of marginalised communities or at risk groups.
Volunteers work at the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office in Accra and your precise role will be determined by your level of experience and interest in specific areas. However, all volunteers will get the opportunity to work alongside qualified local lawyers on worthwhile projects, within a structured programme gaining first-hand experience of human rights law in practice.
Placements are ideal if you are a law student or a graduate seeking practical experience in human rights law. However, the work is also suitable if you're volunteering pre-university, or you have a general interest in law and human rights. The experiences that you will have while volunteering in Ghana look good on any CV.
Volunteering on a Law & Human Rights Programme in Ghana
With the Law & Human Rights programme you can expect to be busy in a full-time placement requiring volunteers with a keen interest in affecting change for the better whilst keeping in mind the long-term aim of the projects. Placements are certainly demanding and must be taken seriously; in working for the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office, you are representing a professional organisation.
You can expect to operate in city and rural locations, meet people at all levels of society, rub shoulders with international and domestic authorities and organisations. It is important to demonstrate careful cultural understanding and flexibility; our mandate is to empower individuals and communities as well as nurture a supportive framework for human rights rather than impose western ideals on Ghanaian society.
Law & Human Rights - our Mission in Ghana
The mission of the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office is threefold; to raise awareness of human rights, to monitor vulnerable areas and to resolve human rights abuses.
The Projects Abroad Human Rights Office attempts to address the entire framework surrounding human rights law in Ghana, our work circles around social justice, legal services and research projects. Many of these projects inter-relate and encompass all of the three main aims detailed below. The Projects Abroad Human Rights Office is always open to new ideas and the possibility of working in new areas.
Education and Awareness
Human Rights awareness is conducted for two main reasons. Firstly, to educate, many victims of abuses are not aware of their fundamental human rights or the protection afforded to them by law. Equally perpetrators are often ignorant to the responsibilities they have to others. Secondly, to empower, an increased understanding and awareness encourages legal conformity and access to justice in the future.
The Projects Abroad Human Rights Office regularly performs educational and awareness raising outreach work to tackle a variety of human rights issues. Volunteers can expect to travel to rural communities, schools and other local institutions to make presentations and provide training. The Projects Abroad Human Rights Office often partners with relevant authorities to address issues of domestic violence, interstate succession, offender's rights, child labour, child trafficking and the right to education, to name but a few.
Human Rights Monitoring
In order to identify communities and individuals in need of assistance we perform human rights monitoring. We enter areas and facilities to identify abuses, determine their gravity, assess the needs of people affected, prioritise victims and determine a strategy to bring about change.
We also monitor facilities and activities of associate organisations to offer our most effective and efficient assistance. Such assistance may be in terms of personnel secondment, sourcing funding for financial assistance or offering direct financial assistance or simply making recommendations.
This monitoring occurs in rural farming areas, fishing and mining communities, in communities of foreign nationals or seasonal migrants, in city slums, in courts, in areas of landfill, in daily media and in facilities under the direction of state institutions or NGOs.
Monitoring also allows us to consider our own level of success so that we may perform better in the future.
Abuse Resolution
Where we have identified a victim or group of victims of human rights abuse we will proceed to assist those victims as directly as possible rather than offering assistance in a community setting. Such people come to our attention through our open door legal service and consultations, our monitoring and awareness projects and through referrals from associate organisations and individuals.
Lack of accessibility to Ghanaian courts, however, often means we explore alternative methods of resolution. These include utilising the traditional methods of village chiefs and elders, publicity through lobbying campaigns and conventional media, alternative dispute resolution and mediation or the use of family structures or religious institutions which both carry high influence in Ghanaian society.
Under the experienced guidance of our in house lawyer, through our partnerships with local advocacy firms and work with governmental legal aid schemes, volunteers have the opportunity to resolve complaints and specific issues of people revealed as victims. Cases for resolution can cover a wide range of topics including family, environment, property, health insurance, business practices and criminality.
The Law & Human Rights project is available for two weeks if you don't have time to join us for a month or more. This project has been selected by our local colleagues as being suitable for short term volunteering. Although you will gain a valuable cultural insight and work intensely on the project, please be aware that you may not be able to make the same impact as someone volunteering for a longer period.
