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    ABA ROLI Holds Electoral Rights Monitoring and Litigation Training Workshops in Luanda, Angola

    Aug 22, 2022

    1 min read

    Access to Justice Gender & Social Inclusion Human Rights Africa Angola
    ABA ROLI Holds Electoral Rights Monitoring and Litigation Training Workshops in Luanda, Angola

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    On August 24, 2022, Angolans go to the polls. In anticipation of these national elections, ABA ROLI is implementing a program to strengthen the capacity of civil society organizations and the Angola Bar Association to monitor and litigate on electoral rights respectively.

    In partnership with Maos Livres, a local human rights organization, ABA ROLI held a five-day electoral rights monitoring training workshop for civil society organizations from July 22-26, 2022. Attended by 40 Angolans from around the country, training sought to equip civil society actors with the skills to identify electoral rights violations and report such violations to the Angola Bar Association to ensure redress for the affected citizens. The training focused on identifying electoral rights as provided in the country’s constitution, electoral laws and related legislation, and international human rights law and standards, ensuring that trainees could identify violations of these rights whenever they occur throughout the electoral cycle.

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    In partnership with the Angola Bar Association and the Southern African Development Community Lawyers’ Association, ABA ROLI held a five-day electoral rights litigation training workshop from August 1-5, 2022.

    The workshop was attended by 25 lawyers, who were identified by the Angola Bar Association’s affiliate provincial bar associations in each of the country’s 18 provinces. It focused on Angola’s legal and constitutional framework on elections and its relationship with regional and international human rights standards governing democratic elections. Using this framework, the workshop equipped the lawyers with the skills to litigate on electoral rights cases using domestic, regional and international mechanisms.

    This was the first time in the history of the country for lawyers to receive targeted training on electoral rights litigation.   

    Building on the training workshops was the creation of an elections observatory. Together, civil society actors and the Angola Bar Association formed a collaborative mechanism for monitoring the electoral process and initiating cases with the various redress mechanisms should the need arise. As the elections approach, ABA ROLI and its partners will be monitoring the process for compliance with national and international laws and standards on elections. 

    Learn more about ABA ROLI’s work across Africa.