CGHR Expert Practitioner Series: Working in Human Rights, Peacebuilding, Humanitarian Aid and Development

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• Joanna Oyediran, Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa
• Wednesday 23 January 2013, 17:00-19:00
• Room S2, Alison Richard Building, Sidgwick Site, 7 West Rd, CB3 9DT.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Annette LaRocco.

Talk will be followed by drinks reception in the Alison Richard Building.

The Centre of Governance and Human Rights (CGHR) has launched a practitioner seminar series, partnering with expert speakers from key organisations to delve into the gritty realities of what working in field like human rights and international development really involves.

To help us with organisation, please register your interest by emailing: aal33@cam.ac.uk.

Joanna Oyediran is a program manager for South Sudan and Sudan at the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa (OSIEA). OSIEA promotes citizens’ participation in governance in Eastern Africa, focusing its support on local groups. Joanna previously worked as a Senior Human Rights Officer with the United Nations (UN)/African Union (AU) Hybrid Operation in Darfur, Sudan and with the UN Mission in Sudan. She has also worked as a researcher for Amnesty International, where she researched and wrote reports on human rights Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Iraq. She has also served as a Human Rights Officer for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Gaza and as a consultant on Darfur for the Ford Foundation. She is a member of the Bar of England and Wales and holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex.

The sphere of work known variously as the ‘Third Sector’, ‘Development and Humanitarian Aid’ or simply – doing good in tough places – is notoriously impenetrable, and frustratingly difficult to navigate for the uninitiated. For somebody hoping to pursue a career within this field, the range of agencies and institutions, initiatives and centres is at the very least bewildering. Most areas intersect, and organisations work with an array of crosscutting issues and contexts. Yet what at first glance can appear to be a morass of very similar organisations doing generally related things, is in fact often sharply delineated, with different sectors requiring surprisingly different competencies and operating under quite specific mandates. Working as an international human rights advocate would demand a different skill set and working environment from a project officer of a first phase emergency response – and both would have relatively different routes to entry. And a Master’s degree isn’t always the best option. Cambridge University educates and trains many of the best young minds in the country and provides a critical insight into the issues surrounding international politics, security, development and humanitarianism. But with little clarity around what is involved in working in this sector, attempting to translate this theoretical knowledge into a meaningful start to a career can be a minefield. With this in mind, the CGHR series will allow students to listen and speak to a selection of high-level experts working in these fields, and address key issues and questions. There will be four one-and-a-half hour seminars throughout Lent 2013, designed to equip students with an in-depth and critical look at what each area involves; the type of work carried out, contingent challenges and essential competencies. The first hour will introduce the speaker, chaired by a discussant from CGHR , and will open up to the audience in the second hour to provide the opportunity for students to engage with the topics discussed.

This talk is part of the Centre of Governance and Human Rights Events series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Africa Research Forum
• All POLIS Department Seminars and Events
• Cambridge talks
• Centre of African Studies Lent Seminar Series
• Centre of African Studies Michaelmas Seminars
• Centre of African Studies Occasional Talks
• Centre of Governance and Human Rights Events
• Economics and Philosophy
• Gem's List
• Room S2, Alison Richard Building, Sidgwick Site, 7 West Rd, CB3 9DT
• The Audrey Richards Annual Lecture in African Studies
• The Smuts Memorial Fund Lecture
• Trust & Technology Initiative - interesting events
• hc446
• jer64's list
• mas270

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