Members of Crime Si Poa (Kenya), Droit et Paix (Cameroon), Culture for Peace and Justice (DRC), the Tunisian Coalition Against the Death Penalty (Tunisia), the Moroccan Observatory of Prisons (Morocco), the Mauritanian Association for Human Rights (Mauritania), the Lebanese Association for Civil Rights (Lebanon), Iran Human Rights (Iran) and KontraS (Indonesia), were welcomed to ECPM’s premises for a week.
ECPM and these 9 organisations have been working together as part of the joint project entitled “Pathways to Abolition : Supporting Developments Towards the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Africa, Asia and the Middle East”, with financial support from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Fondation de France, Norway, and the European Union.
To extend the abolitionist fight as far as possible, alongside its World and Regional Congresses, ECPM implements this international programme in collaboration with its partners. The programme has three key objectives, each adapted to the various countries of action using a context-sensitive approach :
- Promote institutional and legislative advances through national, regional and international advocacy.
- Enable the national debate to evolve by strengthening the role and capacity of civil society and the media, and by developing youth involvement
- Promote transparency, improve advocacy and support legal representation of death row prisoners by strengthening all criminal justice stakeholders and documenting the death penalty situation
Capacity-building and exchange of practices as the main objective
As soon as they arrived, the partners dived into a rich programme of seminars, workshops and associative events. The subjects covered by the thematic workshops were as diverse as they are complementary, such as :
- Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- Institutional and Digital Communication of an Organisation
- Education to the Abolition and Community Mobilisation
- Integrating a Gender Perspective into Death Penalty Work
- Administrative and Financial Management of the Project
- Documentation of the Death Penalty
- Relations with Technical and Financial Partners
- Legal Assistance
Session on the project “Pathways to Abolition”
Session on the project “Pathways to Abolition”
Session on the managing of human ressources
Session on the protection of human rights defenders
Session on gender
Session on the eduction to abolition
Session sur la communication institutionnelle et numérique
Session on administrative and financial management
Session on administrative and financial management
The objective of the workshops was not only to provide knowledge, but also to create a space for discussion and the sharing of practices, with the aim of improving collaboration between ECPM and its partners, as well as encouraging mutual capacity-building.
Furthermore, participants shared the challenges they face in their own national context as obstacles related to current legislation and the lack of resources for action, and issues related to the death penalty in their countries. Both specific and shared experiences from the implementation of the joint project have emerged from these exchanges.
A week of community spirit and joy
The General Annual Meetings of ECPM and of the Plateforme des droits de l’Homme (PDH) took place during Partners Week. On Tuesday 24, June, partners joined the ECPM Board of Directors, members of the abolitionist community and volunteers. The discussion entitled “The Future of our Common Fight”, provided an opportunity for collective reflection on the next steps in the fight for abolition.
The ECPM General Assembly, with the participation of partners
The ECPM General Assembly, with the participation of partners
The ECPM General Assembly, with the participation of partners
The week was punctuated by several informal and friendly events, which gave ECPM staff and partners the opportunity to socialise and get to know each other. These included a shared meal and a tour of the Louvre Museum.
Collective lunch between the partners and the ECPM staff
Collective lunch between the partners and the ECPM staff
Tour of the Louvre Museum
Tour of the Louvre Museum
Tour of the Louvre Museum
Finally, the week ended with the participation of ECPM in the Paris Pride, a great opportunity to experience a militant and festive event.
A week with positive results and great promises for the future
During the final session, positive feedback from partners emerged along with great ideas and prospects for collaboration. This week represented more than a professionnal meeting ; it enabled ECPM and its partners to establish strong and essential connections to continue the fight for human rights and the abolition of the death penalty.
Closing session
Closing session
Closing session
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