Center for the Study of Human Rights
Columbia University in the City of New York

HRAP Objectives & Outcomes

Read the 2007 Program Report (702kb, pdf) on the Human Rights Advocates Program

The design of HRAP is intended to help level the playing field for those lacking the access and relevant skills or knowledge to lobby effectively for their causes. It is also intended to provide a forum through which accomplished practitioners are able to teach one another about successful advocacy and advise international human rights NGOs and activists about the most pressing concerns their communities face. The four-month intensive Program provides advanced training, support, and networking and engagement opportunities to leaders of grassroots organizations. The focus is not simply on strengthening the skills of individual human rights leaders but on providing the tools to build sustainable organizations with the resources to benefit disadvantaged communities.

A slideshow presentation about HRAP is available for download (2mb, requires PowerPoint or PowerPoint Viewer [free download]).

Program Activities

Coursework in Human Rights Advocacy

Participation in academic courses provides an opportunity for Advocates to apply broader theoretical frameworks to their frontline experiences. Advocates engage scholars to push theory while simultaneously gaining an understanding of the international impact of globalization. On a practical level, the academic components of HRAP provide participants with the opportunity to learn about international human rights standards and apply these standards to the issues on which they work. Advocates also study the international mechanisms through which they can respond to these issues.

Seminar on Human Rights and Globalization—Advocates engage in a series of discussions led by renowned Columbia faculty members and experts outside the University who provide a framework for understanding and analyzing human rights and the impact of globalization. The half-semester seminar is an intensive primer with a participatory approach that integrates the Advocates’ knowledge and experiences into each session.

Specialized Graduate Courses—To complement the overview provided by the Advocates Seminar, each Advocate also audits one or two additional Columbia University seminars on human rights, sustainable development, or globalization. Advocates are able to participate in classes across the University, including the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia Law School, Columbia Business School, the Mailman School of Public Health, and Teacher’s College. This enables Program participants to tailor the academic component to their own needs and to explore additional issue areas in depth.

Skills Building

The skills-building component of the Program ensures that Advocates develop a strategic advocacy plan to help sustain their organizations.

Roundtable on Human Rights Advocacy—The workshop format of the roundtable is designed to focus on peer-to-peer exchange as a means of establishing best practices on advocacy and rights work. Advocates explore new tools for strategic planning and use a collaborative process to develop their own advocacy campaigns. They explore tools for problem analysis, strategic campaign design, message delivery, and coalition building, challenging each other to develop concrete strategies to implement during and after the Program.

Fundraising and Sustainable Organizations—Through a course designed specifically to meet Advocate needs, Advocates learn critical skills in maintaining the financial well-being, necessary infrastructure, and staff morale required to ensure the sustainability of their organizations. To strengthen the financial well-being, Advocates identify new funders, write and critique one another’s letters of inquiry and proposals, strengthen their communication skills with prospective donors, and submit proposals to foundations. To establish the necessary infrastructure, Advocates learn about information management, database construction, and strategic planning. To build staff morale, Advocates participate in a two-day workshop that provides concrete skills in recognizing signs of stress, primary and secondary trauma, and post-traumatic stress disorder within themselves, colleagues, and the communities they serve. The workshop also provides Advocates with the opportunity to share their own experiences and learn ways to promote healthy work patterns for themselves and their colleagues.

Media Training—Advocates participate in an intensive workshop on the media through which they learn to develop press releases and cultivate media contacts. A key part of the training focuses on improving Advocates’ television interviewing skills through videotaped practice interviews and feedback sessions.

Other Tailored Skills Workshops—Based on the needs and interests of the Advocates, HRAP offers other skills workshops during the Program. In 2006, for example, Advocates were offered specialized workshops on different means of influencing international financial institutions and the use of video for advocacy.

International Advocacy Networking

The advocacy networking components allow Advocates to develop a range of contacts on diverse issues, as well as foster individual partnerships with relevant U.S.-based organizations, for cross-regional collaboration and joint action. To achieve this, HRAP includes:

Group Meetings—Throughout the Program, Advocates hold regular meetings with New York-based human rights, development, environmental and social justice, and labor rights organizations. These meetings give Advocates an opportunity to understand a range of advocacy campaigns and strategies as well as develop a broad set of contacts.

Individualized Networking—HRAP identifies and reaches out to relevant U.S.-based organizations with which Advocates can collaborate on human rights initiatives during their residency and after they return home. In previous years, Advocates have developed and strengthened partnerships with Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Open Society Institute, ESCR-Net, the Bank Information Center, International Rivers Network, the Worker Rights Consortium, and the Fair Labor Association, among others. Occasionally, Advocates engage in a substantive internship at a relevant U.S.-based NGO, such as Human Rights Watch or the Center for Justice and International Law.

Washington , D.C. Meetings—Advocates spend one week in Washington, D.C. conducting intensive group and individual meetings on targeted issue areas with relevant organizations. Prior to the trip, Advocates work closely with HRAP staff to develop a schedule that takes full advantage of opportunities for lobbying and collaboration relative to the needs of their NGOs and causes.

Cross-regional Collaboration—The ongoing interaction and dialogue between Advocates foster cross-regional collaborations that continue long past the residency. In the past, Advocates have developed productive exchanges on issues of corporate accountability, extractive industries, and export-oriented garment factories by comparing experiences and strategizing across regions.

Linking with Scholars—Through courses and meetings, Advocates develop substantive connections to Columbia faculty. The Advocates develop a better understanding of human rights theory while the faculty is informed by the frontline experiences of activists.

Linking with journalists and the public—HRAP staff actively work to connect Advocates to journalists to raise awareness about their issues. The staff also encourages Advocates to participate in public-speaking opportunities at universities, in community groups, and in other public fora.

Engaging Policymakers—The four-month, New York-based residency plus the week-long trip to Washington, D.C. enable each Advocate to engage in lobbying with U.S.-based policymakers on their issues of concern. Advocates often meet with representatives from the United Nations, U.S. government, World Bank, and national embassies to argue on behalf of their own organizations and communities and press for changes in law and practice.

Continuing Support and Collaboration

After the residency is completed, Advocates continue to receive support from HRAP and CSHR. HRAP, through both formal and informal networks, promotes ongoing exchange of best practices, stimulates dialogue on human rights trends and policies, cultivates links between alumni’s organizations and with other organizations and networks, and encourages mutual support initiatives.

HRAP Alumni Email List-serve—A dedicated list-serve stimulates the exchange of ideas and advice within the alumni network. Relationships established through this list-serve have resulted in direct assistance when Advocates are at risk, collaboration on new initiatives, access to a broad array of international human rights experts, and notification of new resources for human rights advocacy.

CSHR’s Technical Assistance—CSHR staff provides follow-up support, particularly in the areas of fundraising research and networking. In the past, this has generated substantial support for emergency project work as well as assistance for individuals at risk.

Regional Capacity Building Programs—Program alumni have led the establishment of regional training programs in South America and West and Central Africa. Through their engagement in these programs, Advocates serve as catalysts and trainers within their regions.

Benefits

Measured in a variety of ways, the benefits of HRAP are immense. In terms of the basic bottom line, the Program is a remarkable investment. Advocates complete their residency with a funding proposal that they can immediately submit to foundations – and have successfully done so. In recent years, Advocates have, on average, raised more than the full cost of HRAP within one year after completing their residency. More impressive is the fact that the skills taught to Advocates are designed to be built upon over a lifetime, meaning that this return will only continue to grow with time.

There are other equally important but less tangible benefits that cannot be ignored. Advocates leave HRAP networked into a group of over 200 alumni from around the world with expertise on the promotion of social justice, democracy, and equality. They establish alliances during their residency that lead to new campaigns, greater political support for their work, and a network of organizations around the world. The pieces of the Program come together to provide Advocates insight into the workings of globalization that allow them to better understand how to link their local fights for participatory processes into an international struggle for human rights.

HRAP Inquiries
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