Institute Of Diplomacy And International Studies The Role Of Human Rights Organizations In Promoting Democratic Governance In Africa

Abstract

The notion of democratic governance is increasingly being promoted in Africa. In the post colonial era, the global mushrooming of non-state actors has overwhelmed most African governments, especially in the Human Rights sector. The human rights organizations have effectively asserted their power to hold governments accountable. Moreover, technology has further helped human rights organizations in their bid to hold political leaders and the society accountable. These trends have immensely enforced democratic governance in the African continent. Africa Countries are increasingly encouraged to employ democratic governance practices in key decision making organs. The UNDP identifies accountability, public participation, transparency, efficiency, rule of law, equity, consensus oriented, effectiveness and responsiveness to the needs of the people as elements of democratic governance. These elements have become universally accepted. This project looks at the role of human rights organizations in promoting democratic governance in Africa. The study’s objectives included examining the activities carried out by human rights organizations in promoting democratic governance, as well as the challenges and prospects that the organizations encounter in their promotion of democratic governance in Africa. The findings of the study were that human rights organizations play significant roles in advocating for democratic governance and holding governments accountable. However, human rights organizations face challenges such as lack of funds, administrative inefficiency, political interference, donor conditionality’s and competition among organizations for donor funding influence project activity success. The study therefore recommended that human rights organizations need to overcome these challenges in order to champion for democratic governance effectively. This can be done by improving HROs funding, educating the public through capacity building programs, by networking with stakeholders with whom the HROs share same interests, as well as holding joint activities for projects sharing the same outcome.