What is Tamkeen?

Tamkeen (empowerment) is a training program designed and implemented by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) to provide participants, including human rights defenders and leaders of rights organizations and groups from Arab region, with the opportunity to critically engage in reflection and analysis of human rights issues in the region. The program presents alternative theoretical and applied counternarratives that challenge political, ideological, cultural, economic, historical and societal legacies, interpretations, and considerations used to justify the abandonment of human rights values and principles.

Challenging traditional legacies and interpretations: By offering alternative theoretical and applied narratives, Tamkeen seeks to confront and analyze human rights issues with a fresh and courageous perspective.
In-depth analysis: Examining political, ideological, cultural, economic, economic, historical and societal conditions used to justify the abandonment of human rights values and principles.
Providing innovative solutions: Developing effective strategies to defend and promote human rights amid current challenges.

Tamkeen Program 2024-2025

Following the success of the Tamkeen program’s previous learning journey, which benefited over twenty participants, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) announces the opening of applications for its next journey: ‘Tamkeen - Towards Critical Perspectives on Human Rights’. This training program is designed for leaders, program managers, and researchers of human rights organizations and groups from countries throughout the Arab region.

During the previous edition, participants embarked on a nine-month learning journey to understand and deconstruct the concepts undergirding authoritarian regimes in the region through three main axes: the international situation, regional power relations in the Arab region, and society in the Arab region. A series of in-depth lectures were delivered by leading and expert academics and jurists, including Ezzedine Choukri Fishere, Hind Ahmed Zaki, Kenneth Roth, Khaled Fahmy, Steven Heydemann, Sultan Alamer, and Zied Krichen.

In addition to the lectures, participants were required to study and discuss several research papers and contributions from academics and lecturers representing different orientations, and participate in other activities aimed at enriching their research and analytical proficiency. The program further included training workshops and working groups, both online and in person, in Marseille. Through direct consultation, specialists followed up with participants throughout their learning journey.

Reflections of participants from the 2023 Tamkeen program

In the Tamkeen program, I enriched my perspective by deconstructing and challenging dominant concepts and inherited narratives through critical thinking.

Mohamed Samouni: Moroccan researcher in political sociology with a PhD in political science from Hassan II University in Casablanca. With a focus on collective action, protest movements and religious extremism, he has authored numerous studies and research papers, including: ‘Masks of Radicalization: The Making of Religious Radicalization’ (2017).

I can say one of the most important things I gained from participating in the Tamkeen program is the different readings of the human rights reality. A large space was provided for exchanging information and experiences, and gaining analytical expertise through exposure to the diverse experiences of the human rights reality specific to each of the participants’ countries.

Winnie Omar: Sudanese feminist writer and activist. She earned a master’s degree in human rights and a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology (after a discouraging experience with engineering). She has been working in Sudanese civil society for ten years, with a focus on women and girls’ protection, social justice, and feminist knowledge production. She has contributed to numerous books on youth activism in Sudan, the state and women’s bodily autonomy, and rethinking heritage from an aesthetic epistemological perspective. She is now working as a researcher on issues of state and structural violence.

Philosophy of Tamkeen

- The philosophy of the training program for the upcoming course is based on two main axes:

Global and regional challenges to democracy: This axis focuses on understanding the multiple dynamics contributing to the decline of democracy globally, including the crisis of the global order facing the nation-state, the rise of the extreme right, the global economic crisis, conflicts and wars, and conflicts of interest in counter-terrorism, security cooperation, and migration policy. It furtherreviews the impact of these challenges on the defense of human rights. At the regional level, power relations in the Arab region are analyzed, including the challenges facing democratization and reasons for the failure of the Arab revolutions. It further examines the human rights impact of regional rivalry; Gulf state policies; conflicts over resources and wealth; ideological, political, and religious conflicts; and civil wars.
Society in the Arab Region: This axis focuses on examining the impact of the prevailing political, religious, and societal culture on human rights and civil society (parties, human rights organizations, feminist organizations, and trade unions). specifically in regards to how cultural factors serve to justify the abandonment of human rights. It further addresses the issue of citizenship in the Arab region and the impact of cultural and religious diversity, the relationship between the individual and the state, and gender on human rights.
This axis further addresses the impact of historical narratives on collective consciousness, and how authoritarian regimes seek to dominate the public’s memory by controlling documents, archives and references, knowledge outlets, and media platforms. In a post-truth era, when subjective feelings and beliefs trump objective facts, we explore how people engage with alternative narratives as acts of resistance.

Target objectives

Strengthening the analytical and critical capacities of participants and encouraging them to deconstruct existing cultural and societal narratives impeding the advancement of human rights as a priority over other considerations.
Developing a semi-academic training experience based on the adoption of advanced approaches in political, social, and economic sciences that support critical thinking and contextual analysis to understand the roots of political, religious and societal cultural issues and the complexities of patriarchal beliefs that hinder human rights progress in the Arab region.
Enabling participants to build a coherent discourse and develop new cultural approaches that challenge current structural issues and providing participants with opportunities to adopt and disseminate unique and innovative proposals and visions that champion human rights and challenge inherited narratives.

Program methodology

In a nine-month participatory learning journey, which begins with the unity of human rights concepts and a detailed reading into the philosophy of international human rights standards, the Tamkeen training program seeks to encourage research and deep reflection on the intersections and dynamics of influence and impact between the program’s axes and their implications for the task of defending human rights as a priority. Through critical thinking and analysis, the program encourages participants to put forward different visions and interpretations of the meaning of dominant culture in Arab societies. Participants will present alternative intellectual theories to confront this inherited culture, with the aim of enhancing the protection of human rights values in the region, amid a deep understanding of regional and international realities.

Twenty human rights leaders from across the Arab region will engage with distinguished academics, researchers, and experts in a series of in-depth lectures and discussions (12 online lectures), starting in November 2024 and extending for nine months. In parallel, participants will study several in-depth research papers and contributions from academics and lecturers representing different orientations, engage in collective discussions about these papers through various online platforms, and put forward alternative and counter visions. The program further includes an invitation to attend a six-day training workshop in Marseille, France.

Conditions for passing the program

In order for participants to successfully complete the training program, they are expected to:

Actively participate in all program activities, including lectures, group meetings, and training sessions.
Fully implement the tasks assigned to them during the program period and adhere to the time frame allocated to the tasks.
Consistently and thoughtfully communicate and interact in group discussions, and with the program coordinators through various platforms.

Participants

In this edition of the Tamkeen program, we are searching for 20 participants, who are:

Members (by appointment or otherwise) of a local, regional or international human rights organization/institution/group/initiative.
Working on human rights issues that directly intersect with analyzing and critically engaging the prevailing political culture in Arab societies, which limits individuals’ enjoyment of their full rights without discrimination and hinders the upholding of human rights values.
Researchers, program and project managers, and leaders primarily concerned with developing strategies, assessing situations, studying context and its challenges, and researching rights issues; they contribute this work to rights organizations, groups or initiatives.
From 25 to 40 years old.
Proficient in research writing in Arabic.
Nationals of: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Yemen (Residency is not required).

CIHRS responsibilities to training program participants

Assumption of financial costs: CIHRS is committed to covering all training, travel, and accommodation costs for participants during the training workshops organized by the program, to ensure that they do not incur any additional financial burdens.

Technical support: CIHRS provides all necessary technical means and technical support to participants to facilitate their interaction with e-learning platforms and effective participation in online lectures and meetings, with the aim of enabling participants to make the most of all aspects of the program.

Protecting privacy and information security: CIHRS is committed to respecting the privacy and protecting the personal information of participants. CIHRS is committed to applying the highest standards of digital security to ensure safe communication between all parties.

Equality and non-discrimination: CIHRS is committed to ensuring the principle of full equality for all participants at all stages of the program, from selection to implementation. Any form of discrimination or lack of appreciation based on gender, colour, belief, country, gender or sexual orientation is unacceptable and will be dealt with firmly.

Application process

To participate in this edition of Tamkeen, please fill out the following form, until 30 September 2024.

Participation form

Please answer all questions as thoroughly as possible and within the space allowed on the form. Incomplete applications or those submitted after the indicated date will not be considered.

CIHRS’ Tamkeen program team will only contact shortlisted applicants to schedule in-person (online) interviews in preparation for the selection of the final list of participants.

During the interview, shortlisted participants may be asked to submit documents, such as letters of recommendation, certificates of experience, previous publications, business models, and other documentation.