Ghana: Human Rights Voluntary Work Experience

The Projects Abroad Human Rights Office in Ghana is based in the administrative capital and coastal city of Accra. The city is the financial hub of the country and easily identifiable as being disparate in economic distribution to its inhabitants.

These include expatriate workers from developed nations, participating in the economic development of a country rich in natural resources and mineral wealth, Ghanaians returning from work or education abroad, seasonal migrants from other regions and foreign nationals fleeing less stable neighbouring countries, among others. Needless to say they experience different lifestyles in Accra and Ghana; some of them left vulnerable and on the margins of a society promised constitutional protections that are not always available or apparent.

Volunteers with an interest in human rights, law, social justice, community outreach, legal and social education, poverty, Government accountability, campaigning or politics can be used to great effect in educating and monitoring communities and individuals identified as vulnerable or in need of assistance. Alternatively you can resolve the complaints and specific issues of people uncovered as victims afforded rights by various international legal standards, by the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992, or by other Acts of the Parliament of Ghana.

With our human rights programme you can enhance your CV or resume, broaden your understanding of a common law system, assess service provision or lack thereof to the public, see the gap between legal principle and day-to-day life of the populace or simply offer assistance to those who do not know the law, the system or forms of redress. You will impact upon the lives of those faced with daily hardship and perhaps you will be impacted upon also.

Volunteering on the Human Rights Programme in Ghana

Ghana’s presidential election of 2008 and its subsequent run-off election in 2008/2009 were notable for their closeness and peaceful passing. Ultimately they marked the second democratic transition of power to an opposition party in Ghana and promoted the nation as a bastion of democratic governance in politically volatile West Africa.

Consistently free elections conducted since 1992, and accompanying political stability within the fourth Republic, are in contrast to Ghana’s own history. Previous Republics were interrupted by periods of military rule. Now with such stability there comes economic growth, foreign economic influence and a swelling middle class.

There is increased emphasis on education. In the past decade Ghana’s spending on education has been between 28% and 40% of its annual budget. Unfortunately such education policies are not universally applied within the country.

Economic growth is not evenly distributed either and many areas and communities, especially in the North of the country, remain in harsh poverty. Poverty desensitises many people with regard to their human rights and responsibilities to the point where they remove their children from school to work on family land or fishing boats. They may traffic their children for minimal remuneration from ‘masters’. The work can be physically demanding, dangerous or sexually exploitative.

From impoverished communities come migrants and seasonal migrants to Accra and other urban centres with ideas of working and earning significant income. This can stir up tribal and cultural tensions among each other and with more permanent residents. People in such situations often work for little money, sleep outdoors and eat poorly. Women are particularly vulnerable to theft and sexual abuse in this scenario.

State institutions and charitable groups charged with the care and education of children are hampered by resource limitations and there is inadequate shelter for victims of domestic violence, people with psychiatric conditions or those rescued from trafficking, prostitution or child labour. Children in the care of the same state institutions do not have free health care.

Many communities within Ghana do not have regular access to clean drinking water while many companies and businesses operate without corporate social responsibility and arguably operate with impunity from law or regulation with regard to their workers, the surrounding community or the environment.

A multitude of issues exist within Ghanaian law, society, culture and national and regional policies that are sure to be of interest to you.

The Projects Abroad Human Rights Office

Our mission is to raise awareness of human rights, to monitor vulnerable areas and to resolve abuses.

Human rights education and awareness

This is conducted for two reasons. Many victims of human rights abuse 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 can generally be said to be especially true of children.

We regularly perform educational and awareness raising outreaches to communities where we believe there are issues to address. These issues include domestic violence, intestate 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 the assistance of the complainant especially. 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.

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 having regard to the long-term aim of projects. 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.