UEW CHRAPS Pursues Collaborative Relations with CHRAJ

A five-member delegation from the Centre for Conflict, Human Rights and Peace Studies (CHRAPS), University of Education, Winneba (UEW), has called on the Commissioner for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to press for collaborative links between the two parties.

The delegation is looking to complement each other’s efforts to advance and preserve human rights in Ghana. The areas of collaboration discussed at the meeting included the development of a human rights curriculum for pre-tertiary education, training of CHRAJ staff, student internships, joint research among others.

The Dean, Faculty of Social Science Education, UEW, Prof. Lucy Effeh Attom, speaking on behalf of UEW Management, said that a Master of Philosophy in Human Rights programme, which was introduced in 2005, had trained so many people in the security services and the legal profession to appreciate the essence of the rights and responsibilities as citizens. She acknowledged that UEW, as an institution, owes it a duty to link up with these various institutions relevant to its programmes, hence the approach to partner with CHRAJ.

Prof. Lucy Attom (top right), Mr. Joseph Whittal (top left), Dr. George Benson (bottom left) and Dr. Harrison Golo

"It’s high time we became visible to the practitioners, conducted research, and worked with you so that our academic practice can be informed and reinforced.  We came to learn how we might strengthen our ties, build, and interact with your organisation so that we can participate in your activities as you do ours," she revealed.

The Director of CHRAPS, Dr. George Hikah Benson, stated that the Centre operates three component programmes: Peace, Conflict, and Human Rights. He emphasised that the Human Rights programme offers courses such as human rights theories and conceptions, human rights and security, disabilities, gender human rights, and international human rights legislation.  

He indicated, therefore, that the Centre deemed it very fit to forge a relationship with CHRAJ as the mainstream established constitutional institution charged with the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.

The Commissioner for CHRAJ in a pose with his Deputy, Ms. Mercy Larbi (2nd from right) and the UEW Delegation

The Vice-Dean, Centre for International Programmes and Senior Lecturer at CHRAPS, Dr. Harrison Golo, on his part, emphasised CHRAPS’ determination to create awareness that human rights always come with responsibilities and not in isolation.

The Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr. Joseph Whittal, expressed his institution’s preparedness to work with UEW in developing manuals on human rights education that would inform teaching at the basic level.

“There are human rights issues that can impact on development, on the budget and policy which we can together see how to contribute to their improvements. We must make a conscious effort in ensuring that we put UNESCO human rights into policy development and policy implementation at the educational level,” he stated.