Ghana: Volunteer Human Rights Internships and Work Experience

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 Human Rights project is based in Accra and offers volunteers the unique opportunity to get involved at 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 on really 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. However, the work is also suitable if you're volunteering pre-university, or you have a general interest in human rights. The experiences that you will have while volunteering in Ghana look good on any CV.

Volunteering on a Human Rights Programme in Ghana

The mission of the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office is to raise awareness of human rights, to monitor vulnerable areas and to resolve human rights abuses. The work involves a wide variety of areas and encompasses many social issues.

Volunteers work in areas including social justice, community outreach, legal and social education, poverty and Government accountability. Campaigns can be used to great effect in educating and monitoring communities and individuals identified as vulnerable or in need of assistance. Alternatively volunteers resolve complaints and specific issues of people revealed as victims. This involves reference to international legal standards, various Ghanaian acts of Parliament and the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992.

Many of these areas inter-relate and the Project Abroad Human Rights Office is always open to new ideas and the possibility of working in new areas.

With the 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, work occasional weekends, meet people at all levels of society, show careful cultural understanding and be wary of being seen as imposing a foreign ideal upon Ghanaian society and culture.

Human Rights Education and Awareness

This is conducted for two reasons. Many victims of human rights abuses are not aware of the law and the legal protections afforded to them while many perpetrators are not aware of the legal responsibilities they have to others. Secondly the empowerment and education of people who are not the apparent victims or perpetrators of human rights abuses encourages their legal conformity in the future. This is especially true of children.

We regularly perform educational and awareness raising outreach work in communities where we believe there are issues to address. These issues include domestic violence, interstate succession, access to land, child labour, child trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation of children and right to education, among others.

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.

This monitoring occurs in rural farming, 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 policy and consultation with all visitors to our office, our monitoring and awareness/education projects and through referral from associate organisations and individuals.

Depending on the facts of the case, the wishes of the parties involved, the socio-political climate of Ghana, resource considerations and likelihood of satisfaction, among other things, we seek to ensure the advancement of human rights generally and specifically assist the complainant. If litigation is considered the best option we shall arrange pro-bono representation through our associations.

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. Cases for resolution can cover a wide range of topics including family, environment, property, health insurance, business practices and criminality.