The Center for Human Rights has been leading efforts to empower local communities in claiming their rights. The Centerfacilitates conditions that enable members of local communities to protect their rights and thereby reducing impunity of rights violations through its various community centered engagements in collaboration with partners. This is in line with the beliefthat promoting and protecting human rights is most effectively achieved through grassroots engagement and community involvement.

Since its establishment,the Center has been dedicated to providing free legal services, conducting capacity building trainings for government stakeholders and members of various associations, and creating platforms that foster shared understanding and facilitate common and orchestrated actions. Furthermore, the Center engages in creating human rights awareness activities through its creatively developed effective structures – Community Rights Promoters and Art Groups.

The free legal aid services aim to support the Center’s target beneficiaries that includingwomen, children, persons with disabilities, workers, refugees, Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) and the elderly. These services are provided by senior student paralegals from the Colleges/School of Law of the Universities in the regions where project offices are located. The paralegals’ work is supported by legal officers and Area Managers at each project offices. The specific services for the local communities include providingsimple advice, writing applications and representingbeneficiaries in court. In addition tolegal aid services at project offices, the Center utilizes Community Rights Promoters to raise human rights awareness of communities, provide simple advice, resolve simple cases and disputes and refer more complex cases. The Center also conducts broader human rights awareness raising activities through informal art-groups that use drama, theater, poems, and other art forms to reach a wider audience in various social contexts and avenues.

To ensure the sustainable  respect and the protection of human rights of target beneficiaries,the Center enhances the capacity of local government officials, members of various associations and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) through providing human rights training and creating collaborative platforms. The Center refines future engagements and strengthenscollaborative actions in human rights promotion and protection through its Local Advisory Committee (LAC) meetings that it holds three times a year.