ABOUT HRDI
2003
The idea was born out of the experience of Asha Ramgobin, who after graduating from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute at Lund University in Sweden, with a Masters Degree in International Human Rights, and her experience of law clinics and clinical legal education, looked for an opportunity to turn academic discourse into Human Rights reality, in a way which would add value to the growing number of law clinics in Africa. Working together with a Swedish lawyer, Dan Bengtsson, who had previously studied law clinics in South Africa, the idea grew into a more tangible plan.
2004
Asha Ramgobin and Dan Bengtsson continued working to further develop the concept, consult with relevant role players and prepare funding proposals. They then went on to formalise the ideas and prepare an organisational structure before seeking funders on the international stage. This was a challenge as the organisation was embryonic and did not have any track record to indicate how effective it would be. Initial start-up funding was received from SIDA in 2004. The Initial Board of Directors was set up and, while also being Directors of the Board, Asha Ramgobin was appointed as Executive Director, and Dan Bengtsson as Deputy Executive Director.
2005
The concept of capacity building and development within the fast growing legal education movement and law clinics across the African continent was supported by SIDA and DANIDA (The Swedish and Danish development agencies) who expressed confidence in the team, the idea and the plans to realise this idea, and offered funding for the initial three year period, 2006 to 2008.
2006 - 2008
A suitable building (909 Church Street, Arcadia) was identified and leased and it needed substantial renovations which took place during early 2006.
The building has offices which are suitable for the staff of seven people, as well as having two large rooms to be used for teaching and meetings. Gideon Mpako was looking after the building for the landlords, and he stayed on in the capacity as Maintenance Assistant with responsibility for the maintenance of the building and gardens, as well as supervising the student manual labour programme of HRDI’s community work.
The first phase of training lawyers from participating countries took place resulting in a cadre of 18 lawyers being trained in the first three years, through partnerships with law clinics and other organisations in 10 countries. During this period Christian Tshimbalanga Mwata was (while being a lawyer) appointed as Paralegal, mainly working with Community Outreach, and Tebello Thabane was appointed as specialist HIV/AIDS lawyer, to work with legal services. Hester Rossouw was appointed as Administrator.
2009
In early 2009, Dan Bengtsson returned to Sweden. The role played by Dan cannot be underestimated, and he has been one of the driving forces in the establishment of sound business and teaching practices in HRDI. He has left a legacy of which he and HRDI can be proud.
After having completed the first three years of cooperation with partner organisations, and training of lawyers, this year marks the starting point in a period of consolidation. This is to ensure integration of the various clinics and regional institutions, ensuring that students from the various clinics share experiences and the training and learnings are consolidated. This is also the beginning of an increase in legal services activities, such as taking cases together with our partner organisations. 2009 is also the year when planning for the next five years will take place, taking into account the results and recommendations from an external evaluation.
In mid 2009 a social scientist, Carita Teien, has been employed to research and work on cases, thus ensuring a multi-disciplinary approach.
2010
March 2010 saw the ending of the first Phase of HRDI's project "Regional Human Rights Law Clinics to Increase Access to Justice for Vulnerable Groups in Africa". We concluded the first Phase with partnerships in nine countries, and with 23 students having completed the training. Of the 23, 15 continue to "put their training to use" as stated by the external evaluator. In April we entered into the second, and hopefully last Phase of the project, "Grassroots Based Interventions to Increase Access to Domestic, Regional and International Human Rights Mechanisms for Ordinary People in Africa".
As we entered into our second Phase four of our partnerships, for various reasons, came to an end. As we reflected on the lessons learned in the past we decided that 2010 would be the year to strengthen our existing partnerships, and also ensure the identification and initiation of partners with whom we can share synergy and positive experiences in our combined work towards ensuring greater access to justice for vulnerable groups and ordinary people.
August saw the departure of our colleague and friend Tebello Thabane. He decided to return to the academic field in order to pursue his PhD. We wish him all the best.
Building on the lessons learned in 2010, efforts made during the first half of 2011 led to five new fruitful partnerships, built on strong levels of synergy, shared commitment and values. In addition to the new partnerships, discussions continued with the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria about the possibility of HRDI's five month training programme being accredited as an LLM. On the 12th of May the final decision was made, and HRDI's training is now offered as an LLM in International Human Rights Law and HIV in Africa. In June 18 students from ten countries arrived to commence their LLM studies.
At the end of June Dan Bengtsson returned to HRDI to take up his previous position as Deputy Executive Director. His return is warmly welcomed, finally completing the HRDI team.
Having decided to explore other avenues in her life, end of November saw the departure of our colleague and friend Carita Teien. We wish her all the best.
In December the 18 students had finished the first part of their LLM and returned to their home countries to focus on making use of their newly acquired skills and their dissertations.
The idea was born out of the experience of Asha Ramgobin, who after graduating from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute at Lund University in Sweden, with a Masters Degree in International Human Rights, and her experience of law clinics and clinical legal education, looked for an opportunity to turn academic discourse into Human Rights reality, in a way which would add value to the growing number of law clinics in Africa. Working together with a Swedish lawyer, Dan Bengtsson, who had previously studied law clinics in South Africa, the idea grew into a more tangible plan.
2004
Asha Ramgobin and Dan Bengtsson continued working to further develop the concept, consult with relevant role players and prepare funding proposals. They then went on to formalise the ideas and prepare an organisational structure before seeking funders on the international stage. This was a challenge as the organisation was embryonic and did not have any track record to indicate how effective it would be. Initial start-up funding was received from SIDA in 2004. The Initial Board of Directors was set up and, while also being Directors of the Board, Asha Ramgobin was appointed as Executive Director, and Dan Bengtsson as Deputy Executive Director.
2005
The concept of capacity building and development within the fast growing legal education movement and law clinics across the African continent was supported by SIDA and DANIDA (The Swedish and Danish development agencies) who expressed confidence in the team, the idea and the plans to realise this idea, and offered funding for the initial three year period, 2006 to 2008.
2006 - 2008
A suitable building (909 Church Street, Arcadia) was identified and leased and it needed substantial renovations which took place during early 2006.
The building has offices which are suitable for the staff of seven people, as well as having two large rooms to be used for teaching and meetings. Gideon Mpako was looking after the building for the landlords, and he stayed on in the capacity as Maintenance Assistant with responsibility for the maintenance of the building and gardens, as well as supervising the student manual labour programme of HRDI’s community work.
The first phase of training lawyers from participating countries took place resulting in a cadre of 18 lawyers being trained in the first three years, through partnerships with law clinics and other organisations in 10 countries. During this period Christian Tshimbalanga Mwata was (while being a lawyer) appointed as Paralegal, mainly working with Community Outreach, and Tebello Thabane was appointed as specialist HIV/AIDS lawyer, to work with legal services. Hester Rossouw was appointed as Administrator.
2009
In early 2009, Dan Bengtsson returned to Sweden. The role played by Dan cannot be underestimated, and he has been one of the driving forces in the establishment of sound business and teaching practices in HRDI. He has left a legacy of which he and HRDI can be proud.
After having completed the first three years of cooperation with partner organisations, and training of lawyers, this year marks the starting point in a period of consolidation. This is to ensure integration of the various clinics and regional institutions, ensuring that students from the various clinics share experiences and the training and learnings are consolidated. This is also the beginning of an increase in legal services activities, such as taking cases together with our partner organisations. 2009 is also the year when planning for the next five years will take place, taking into account the results and recommendations from an external evaluation.
In mid 2009 a social scientist, Carita Teien, has been employed to research and work on cases, thus ensuring a multi-disciplinary approach.
2010
March 2010 saw the ending of the first Phase of HRDI's project "Regional Human Rights Law Clinics to Increase Access to Justice for Vulnerable Groups in Africa". We concluded the first Phase with partnerships in nine countries, and with 23 students having completed the training. Of the 23, 15 continue to "put their training to use" as stated by the external evaluator. In April we entered into the second, and hopefully last Phase of the project, "Grassroots Based Interventions to Increase Access to Domestic, Regional and International Human Rights Mechanisms for Ordinary People in Africa".
As we entered into our second Phase four of our partnerships, for various reasons, came to an end. As we reflected on the lessons learned in the past we decided that 2010 would be the year to strengthen our existing partnerships, and also ensure the identification and initiation of partners with whom we can share synergy and positive experiences in our combined work towards ensuring greater access to justice for vulnerable groups and ordinary people.
August saw the departure of our colleague and friend Tebello Thabane. He decided to return to the academic field in order to pursue his PhD. We wish him all the best.
Building on the lessons learned in 2010, efforts made during the first half of 2011 led to five new fruitful partnerships, built on strong levels of synergy, shared commitment and values. In addition to the new partnerships, discussions continued with the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria about the possibility of HRDI's five month training programme being accredited as an LLM. On the 12th of May the final decision was made, and HRDI's training is now offered as an LLM in International Human Rights Law and HIV in Africa. In June 18 students from ten countries arrived to commence their LLM studies.
At the end of June Dan Bengtsson returned to HRDI to take up his previous position as Deputy Executive Director. His return is warmly welcomed, finally completing the HRDI team.
Having decided to explore other avenues in her life, end of November saw the departure of our colleague and friend Carita Teien. We wish her all the best.
In December the 18 students had finished the first part of their LLM and returned to their home countries to focus on making use of their newly acquired skills and their dissertations.
The 2007 team 
The 2008 team 
The 2009 team 
Building a cadre of lawyers for social justice in Africa
