2017 Justicemakers Competition for Prevention of Torture in Francophonie Africa
International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) welcomes 10 new JusticeMakers Fellows to the JusticeMakers Community, concluding its four-month 2017 JusticeMakers Competition for Prevention of Torture in Francophonie Africa. The competition invited applicants with innovative strategies to prevent torture and protect legal rights to apply for funding and support from IBJ. This is the first time that the competition has focused on the Francophonie Africa region specifically.
With the generous support of Global Affairs Canada, each JusticeMakers Fellow will receive 5,000 USD towards implementing his/her winning proposal; will become a member of the JusticeMakers Community and join IBJ’s network of 59 previous JusticeMakers Fellows; and will benefit from IBJ’s resources, including an online legal training course to equip winners as they commence their fellowship.
The 10 winning applications for the 2017 JusticeMakers Competition come from 7 countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Mauritania and Togo. 5 of the projects are led by women.
The JusticeMakers Competition is a unique opportunity for human rights defenders to pursue the cause of ending torture as an investigative tool. The rigorous and selective judging process makes this an especially prestigious competition. The winners of this award are internationally recognized and will have the distinction of being affiliates of IBJ.
IBJ extends its sincere thanks to all the applicants and to the esteemed judges: Philippe Currat, former General Secretary of the International Criminal Bar, Elie Elkaim, President of the Commission for Human Rights of the Bar Association of the Canton of Vaud, Nathalie Nansha, President of the Equitas Network in DR Congo, Ahmed Bouhoubeyni, Honorary President of the Conférence Internationale des Barreaux, Isidore Rufyikiri, former President of the Burundi Bar Association, and Karen Tse, Founder and CEO of International Bridges to Justice.
Check out the full profiles of the 2017 JusticeMakers Fellows here.