In December 2016, ProtectDefenders.eu supported a three-days training for 25 human rights defenders from the Midlands Province in Zimbabwe conducted by the OMCT, jointly with the Zimbabwe Organisation for the Youth in Politics (ZOYP). The main objectives were to strengthen the advocacy work of the participants as well as to sensitize them on security issues in their work, especially ahead of the 2018 elections.
The training has enabled the participants to exchange experience and expertise to comprehensively address the repression and criminalisation of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe, as well as to reinforce their digital, physical, and psychological security measures. The training also addressed the local, regional and international legal and policy frameworks that are relevant to the protection of human rights defenders and their work. Finally, participants were also formed on how to conduct trainings and share further to fellow activists the knowledge they acquired during the workshop.
