Announcement:Handbook for HR Groups

[The Fund for Peace]

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Available February, 1994 in English
Available Spring 1994 in French, Spanish, Arabic, and Amharic


HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTION-BUILDING:
A HANDBOOK ON ESTABLISHING AND SUSTAINING
HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZTIONS

The Fund for Peace


Human rights activists world-wide share the goal of making their work
more effective. But in order to carry out the important objectives of
protecting and promoting rights, more than knowledgeable and committed 
people are needed. Infrastructures which support these objectives and 
allow them to be  expanded are also critical.  In fact, effective 
institutions significantly re-inforce a group's substantive agenda of 
advancing respect for human rights. Despite the universal relevance 
and application of organization-building and maintenance, however, 
these institutional implications of rights activism are often given 
scant attention by over-whelmed activists.
  
At the same time, it is obvious to most human rights workers that
they increase their power and effectiveness through solidarity,
mutual support, training, and information sharing. Particularly
with regard to information sharing, the successes and failures of
others in the same field are always instructive. Unfortunately, 
few groups have the  resources necessary to  regularly exchange
experiences and  strategies with their colleagues  in other parts 
of the world. Recognizing this difficulty, `Human Rights Institution-
Building: A Handbook on Establishing and Sustaining Human Rights
Organizations' was conceived as a vehicle for allowing activists
to, in effect, teach each other about organizational issues. 

The Handbook is a compilation and analysis of the experiences of
rights activists and others throughout the world on a variety of
human rights institution-building issues. Specifically, it is
intended to help activists seriously thinking about starting a new
human rights group,  as well as new organizations  already in
existence and older organizations which are finding that they now
need to address organizational concerns. Although it is impossible
to anticipate every institutional pitfall that may beset a human
rights group, careful planning can play a key role in preventing
organizational paralysis. The purpose of the Handbook, then, is to
help groups anticipate institutional problems and develop
structures and procedures that will help prevent them.

During the course of over a year, the Human Rights Program of The
Fund for Peace personally interviewed a broad range of human rights
organizations from throughout the world to survey their start-up
process, organizational structures, and advice for overcoming
various obstacles encountered in the initial phases of their
operations.  In addition, the Program mailed  a detailed 
questionnaire in four languages to some 600 human rights groups
around the globe. The responses, along with relevant practical
information derived from a number of existing written sources on
institution-building, were synthesized to form the Handbook. We
hope that the finished product reflects in some fashion the
collective wisdom that we were privileged to assemble.    


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement
Introduction
Getting Started
	Developing a Core Group
	Determining Mandate
	Writing Organizational Bylaws
		When are Bylaws Written?
		What Kind of Information is Usually Included in Bylaws?
Creating Organizational Structure
	Opening an Office
	Defining Internal Roles and Relationships
		Volunteers and Staff
		The Board of Directors
		Members
		Relations Between a Group's Constituent Bodies
	Recruiting
		Who does the Recruiting and Where do they Look for
			Candidates?
	Establishing Methodical Procedures
		Why are Methodical Procedures Important?
		What Kind of Procedures should be Considered?
Consolidating and Sustaining Human Rights Organizations
	Organizational Health
		Internal Democracy and Accountability
		Leadership
		Teamwork
	Credibility
	Public Relations and the Media
		Developing a Public Relations Plan
		Developing an Effective Message
		Cultivating Media Contacts
		Tips for Conducting Press Interviews
		Preparing Press Releases and Other Media Materials
		Organizing Press Events
	Generating Resources
		Where can a New Organization Turn for Funds?
		Developing Local Sources of Funding
		The Pros and Cons of Foreign Funding
		Identifying External Sources of Funding
		What International Funders Look for in a Proposal
		Is It Advisable to Accept Government Funding?
		A Final Note of Caution
	Evaluation
		What is an Evaluation?
		What is the Purpose of an Evaluation?
		Are Evaluations Important for Human Rights NGOs?
		How can You Prepare for an Evaluation?
		Mechanisms for Evaluating NGOs
		Evaluating the Internal Functioning of an NGO
		Evaluating an NGO's External Impact
		Who is Evaluated?
		Who does the Evaluation?
		What can an Evaluation Reveal?
	Networking and Coalition Building
		What are "Networks" and "Coalitions"?
		Why Establish a Coalition?
		Are there Reasons to Avoid Forming a Coalition?
		How can Effective Coalitions be Built?
	Relating to International Human Rights NGOs
		What are International Human Rights NGOs?
		Relations Between INGOs and Local Groups
		Finding out about INGOs
	Organizational Expansion
		When should an Organization Expand?
		Developing Branch Offices
Looking Forward
Appendices
	Handbook Questionaire
	Basic Bibliography on Fact-Finding
	Human Rights Training and Education Programs
	Sample Bylaws
	Sample Press Release
	Sources of Funding Information
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The Fund for Peace Human Rights Program provides technical and
financial assistance to groups working to protect and promote human
rights, to date limited to the countries in the Horn of Africa
(Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, Somaliland, and Somalia). The
program organizes skill-building workshops, and collects and
produces written materials on organizational issues of importance
to human rights groups, particularly in the early stages of their
development. The program's training efforts have focused on human
rights education and advocacy, and the elements of human rights
institution-building.
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Inquiries about publications should be directed to:

Horn of Africa Program
The Fund for Peace
823 United Nations Plaza, Suite 717
New York, New York   10017
Telephone:	212 661-5900
Fax:		212 661-5904
Email:		ffpeace at igc.apc.org 
                dbricker at panix.com