Middle East - North Africa
Crosscutting initiatives focused on exchanging knowledge and experience will therefore help to create a common understanding of human rights in the region.
With this in mind, the institute seeks to:
- Foster regional co-operation and mutual understanding;
- Develop capacities on human rights issues, which support national human rights reform processes;
- Facilitate participation and engagement in dialogue and research co-operation on human rights issues of common interest;
- Create public debate and inform the public about human rights issues.
The crosscutting activities involve partners representing government, state, academia, and civil society primarily from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen. However, there is also co-operation with representatives from Lebanon, Morocco and the Palestinian Territories.
Our programme
Our aim is to enable a mixed group of Danish and MENA-based human rights actors to develop knowledge and analysis of human rights, and a platform of peers. They exchange experience, best practices, and knowledge of human rights issues of common interest. Hopefully, our human rights based dialogue and exchange will deepen the understanding, and promotion and protection of human rights both across the Middle East and North Africa and in Denmark.
Our work is concentrated within five key fields:
- Regional human rights course
- Research raising and seminar
- Awareness raising in Denmark
- Staff exchange
- Regional MA Programme in Democratic Governance
Brief facts
Geography: The Middle East and North Africa covers an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including all Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries.
Demography: The population of the MENA region at its least extent is about 381 million people, about 6% of the total world population.
Economy: The MENA region has vast reserves of petroleum and natural gas that make it a vital source of global economic stability. According to the Oil and Gas Journal (January 1, 2009), the MENA region has 60% of the world's oil reserves (811 billion barrels) and 45% of the world's natural gas reserves (81,238 billion cubic meter.)
Official language: Arabic is the primary common language across the region, but English and French is also used dependent on the colonial heritage.