What We Do
Initiative for Transitional Justice in Africa (ITJA)
Project Overview
The Initiative for Transitional Justice in Africa project is a three-year initiative of the European Union and the African Union implemented by three consortium partners: the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF), International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR). The project seeks to support member states and civil society organisations in the implementation of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) and its Roadmap.
The project consists of three main components, each led by a consortium member collaborating with other consortium partners. The first component led by the ICTJ focuses on providing specialized expert assistance and capacity building to the African Union Commission (AUC), AU Member States, and other stakeholders involved in designing and implementing transitional justice strategies, policy frameworks, legislation, and operationalizing transitional justice mechanisms. The second component, led by CSVR, focuses on research, knowledge production, and management. The third component, led by ATJLF, focuses on enhancing engagement and promoting awareness of the AUTJP among civil society stakeholders across the African continent.
ATJLF in the ITJA
The ATJLF is specifically responsible for the popularization of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy across the continent. This will involve enhancing the capacity of civil society actors -including victims and survivor networks, women and youth groups, local NGOs to implement transitional justice initiatives that are guided by the AUTJP and its values. In alignment with our core mission, the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund through the ITJA will support transformative and pioneering interventions in transitional justice processes in Africa through grant-making and network and community building.
Key Activities
1) Grantmaking: The project involves providing financial support to Civil Society organizations/community-based organizations operating across Africa with preference for identified countries in each call cycle.
2) Technical Assistance: Funded civil society organisations will also receive technical assistance in order to strengthen their capacity for sustainable and viable transitional justice projects.
3) Community of Practice: The ATJLF will also activate a community of practice on transitional justice through training and coordinating civil society networks and organizations aimed at building their capacity to engage in transitional justice dialogue. This community of practice will serve as a space for dialogue, learning, and sharing of experiences and best practices among transitional justice practitioners and stakeholders on the continent.
Grant Cycle & Timelines
The deadline for submission will be the 18th of February 2024. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and successful applicants will be notified once the review is complete. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early. The total number of Grantee partners we will be working with after the entire selection process will be twelve(12) including victim centers and survivor groups, local NGOs and community-based organizations (CBOs), women’s groups, and youth networks working on Transitional Justice initiatives in areas affected by conflict and violence across Africa.
The ATJLF will organize an online information session on Tuesday, 23 January for Anglophone applicants. For Francophone applicants, the information session will hold on Friday, 26 January 2023. This session will provide potential applicants with a comprehensive understanding of the grant application process and project expectations. This will also be an opportunity for intending applicants to ask questions.
Starting in April 2024, the project implementation period will be between 8-10 months depending on the project scope per year. This same timeline will be implemented for the year 2025 as well.
In April 2026, the project implementation period will come to an end marking the sunset of the 3-year EU/AU ITJA project.
ITJA Grantee Partners
The Tech-village Trust
The Tech-Village Trust, an Innovation Hub, supports entrepreneurs by providing infrastructure and services to build impactful solutions using technology. Positioned at the intersection of social impact, innovation, business, and research, Tech-Village Trust facilitates collaboration among businesses, academia, government, non-profits, startups, and innovators. It is part of the Village Innovation Network, which supports innovation and entrepreneurship across Africa.
The ITJA Project aims to use AI technology to create a comprehensive digital archive of the 1983-1987 Gukurahundi genocide in Zimbabwe. The goals of the project include:
- Creating an organized digital archive documenting the Gukurahundi genocide.
- Increasing accessibility for researchers, educators, and the public to learn about the genocide.
- Enhancing public awareness and engagement with interactive features and educational components.
- Preserving the integrity and authenticity of the documented information.
Africa Reconciled (AR) is a non-governmental organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo, operating since 2011 in reconciliation, non-violence, conflict transformation, and development. They focus on educating and supervising youth from diverse backgrounds to promote peace and development through peace clubs across DR Congo.
On the ITJA Project, AR aims to involve victims from North and South Kivu provinces in transitional justice processes at the community and national levels. The project plans to raise awareness through various activities such as radio broadcasts, debates, panel discussions, billboards, participatory theater, slams, video forums, comics, school competitions, songs, and art exhibitions related to transitional justice.
Beakanyang
Beakanyang Kafo (BKK) is a non-profit, non-partisan NGO in The Gambia, focused on promoting and protecting human rights through education, advocacy, and capacity building. Registered in 2004 and as a local NGO in 2016, BKK aims to empower citizens to understand and defend their human rights, focusing on women and youth. The organization has established 48 human rights clubs in schools, educating over 43,800 Gambians.
Their ITJA Project, named The BADINBUNG Project, aims to promote accountability, reconciliation, and community healing using traditional African justice mechanisms. Project goals include introducing the Badingbung concept to 400 human rights victims, restoring 100 broken relationships, sensitizing 3000 citizens on AUTJP, and producing 20 compelling victim stories videos to reach over 50,000 people.
LCN&SIRD
The Lesotho Council of NGOs (LCN), established in 1990, serves as an umbrella organization for Lesotho NGOs, providing services such as networking, leadership, information dissemination, capacity building, coordination, advocacy, and lobbying. LCN aims to foster stable, democratic, transparent, skilled, empowered, sustainable, and responsive NGOs that address the needs of their beneficiaries and marginalized communities.
The Strategic Institute for Research and Dialogue (SIRD), based in Maseru, Lesotho, is a Pan-African policy think-tank focused on democracy and governance, peace and security, and socio-economic development. SIRD bridges the gap between policy makers, intellectuals, and civil society, emphasizing popular participation in policy processes, especially for marginalized groups such as women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
Together, LCN and SIRD have formed a consortium for the ITJA project, aiming to promote a culture of peace, reconciliation, accountability, and justice in Lesotho, aligning with the African Union’s “Silencing the Guns by 2030” initiative. The project has two main objectives: to popularize the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP) among key stakeholders in Lesotho through consultations and dialogues and to develop a comprehensive database (both manual and digital) of victims of political violence. The project aims to produce and provide accessible, inclusive, and validated data on victims of political violence in Lesotho.
ACDD
The Advocacy Center for Democracy and Development (ACDD) is a non-profit organization in Ethiopia, founded in 2020 and certified by the FDRE Agency for Civil Society Organizations. ACDD’s mission is to advocate for democracy, support sustainable development, and promote peace and security in Ethiopia. Their vision is to establish a true democratic culture and inclusive development in the country.
ACDD’s proposed project focuses on advancing transitional justice efforts in Ethiopia through the African Union Transitional Justice Policy (AUTJP). The project aims to disseminate the AUTJP to relevant stakeholders and enhance understanding of its application in local transitional justice efforts. Key objectives include improving the capacity and outreach of community leaders in conflict-affected regions, raising public awareness about AUTJP, and encouraging engagement in local transitional justice processes.
OCA-JUSTE
The OCA-JUSTE organization in the Central African Republic focuses on researching Transitional Justice mechanisms and aims to enhance the involvement of women and young people in these processes.
Their project aims to address barriers such as lack of information that hinder full participation. The objective is to enable women and young people to actively engage in various Transitional Justice mechanisms in the country. By the project’s end, the goal is for women and young people to participate as active agents in Transitional Justice, understand its concepts as defined by AUTJP and its Roadmap, be aware of established mechanisms, and effectively communicate their needs and expectations to relevant institutions.
A Project of
Consortium Partners
