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Human Rights Internships and International Work Experience in South Africa
Our Human Rights internships in South Africa are based in the bustling city of Cape Town, giving volunteers the opportunity to work on a really worthwhile project alongside respected humanitarian organizations while gaining first hand experience of human rights law in practice.
Volunteers with an interest in human rights, government & politics, campaigning, and even writers interested in social justice issues will be put to great use in marginalized communities in and around Cape Town. Our international interns will either be working alongside one of a wide variety of our partner organizations or at our own Projects Abroad Human Rights initiative.
Whichever internship you’re placed at, you’ll be working alongside qualified and passionate individuals who will vastly increase your knowledge of Human Rights, campaigning, community involvement, the legal system and the politics of governance. You’ll be given the opportunity to expand your horizons while making a real impact on people’s quality of life.
Volunteering Abroad on a Human Rights Internship in South Africa
With its brutal history of apartheid and colonialism, there can be few places better than South Africa to get involved in campaigning for human rights. Our Human Rights projects in Cape Town offer volunteers the unique opportunity to get involved at grass roots level, raising awareness of human rights in a variety of marginalized communities or at risk groups such as prisoners, children, women, or those in rural communities throughout the Western Cape.
An international internship with Projects Abroad in Cape Town would be a valuable addition to your CV in the notoriously competitive world of Law, Human Rights or International Development and might just secure you that lucrative first job once you graduate.
Your precise role will be determined by your background and level of interest in specific areas. Our internships are ideal if you are a law student, journalist or graduate seeking practical experience in human rights. However, the work is also suitable if you're volunteering pre-university, or you only have a general interest in human rights. Some internships will accept volunteers for one month while others require you to commit to at least three months on the placement and have some law experience. Please contact our staff if you would like further information on which internship in South Africa you qualify for.
However long you join a project for, you will need to be flexible, communicate well and work hard. International law internships are certainly demanding and must be taken seriously; you will be representing a professional organization. You may sometimes have deadlines and you may be asked to represent these organizations at rallies, private interviews, government meetings and other events.
Human Rights Work Experience opportunities with Projects Abroad
The collective mission of our Human Rights internships is to provide good quality, independent legal advice to the poor and vulnerable, to highlight inequalities and demand redress for unfair laws, and to ensure effective access to justice for all South Africans - especially the communities so appallingly mistreated during apartheid.
Internships in Cape Town could see you working either with our own Human Rights Initiative, which covers a broad spectrum of topics or with an organization that specializes in one of the following areas;
- 1. Children's rights and prevention of child abuse
- 2. Prison conditions and prisoners Rights
- 3. Election monitoring and Participatory Governance
- 4. Development and human rights in rural communities
- 5. Women’s rights
The schemes are there to help ordinary South Africans understand their rights, to empower people to speak out when their rights are infringed, and to give them the skills and knowledge necessary to do so. Your role in this might involve various activities such as:
- 1. Researching and generating media features
- 2. Conducting interviews and receiving complaints of human rights violations
- 3. Raising awareness in rural and urban communities
- 4. Preparing training materials and conducting workshops
- 5. Providing free legal advice
- 6. Preparing parliamentary submissions
Typically your internship abroad will involve several elements. You might be producing information resources, such as research reports or questionnaires. You'll also be encouraged to make good use of the local media by writing articles on social themes, or even appearing in radio debates! At other times you might visit community groups to give advice on specific civil-rights aspects. There is plenty for you to become involved with and you will definitely be kept busy!
The Projects Abroad Human Rights Office
In response to the huge need for human rights volunteers in South Africa, Projects Abroad also funds our own Human Rights office in Cape Town. Allied with a number of different organizations, including the South African Human Rights Commission, our project is led by Theodore Kamwimbi, a dedicated lawyer with vast international experience across Africa and a seemingly never-ending knowledge of the field of Human Rights Law.
Volunteers working for the Projects Abroad Human Rights Office will be given the opportunity to gain experience across a variety of disciplines -- from researching human rights cases, conducting legal consultations, monitoring prisons, parliament and refugee camps, preparing parliamentary submissions and much more!
Volunteers are given the freedom to direct their activity towards any given sector of human rights with the full support of our staff. In addition to these optional special interest projects, all volunteers will help support our key areas of work, these include;
- 1. Immigrants and refugees rights.
Following tumultuous recent events in neighbouring countries such as Zimbabwe, Kenya and Mozambique, South Africa has increasingly become a central assembling point for refugees. Projects Abroad volunteers are able to undertake training and become accredited by the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) as independent monitors of conditions in refugee camps throughout Cape Town. Reports generated by these site visits feed directly back to UNHCR and the South African Human Rights commission, so our volunteers are a vital tool in ensuring that refugee’s basic rights are upheld. - 2. Free and Independent legal advice.
Projects Abroad acts as overspill for the South African Human Rights commission, often taking on up to 50% of their walk-in caseload, and helping to ensure that everyone with a human rights complaint is able to state their case and know their rights within a reasonable time frame. - 3. Parliamentary Monitoring.
Even in an established democracy such as South Africa, independent monitoring of the discussions and decisions of parliament is vital to maintain transparency and public trust in government. Projects Abroad supports the work of the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, an independent regulatory body, visiting parliament and reporting on the effectiveness and democracy of the decisions made.
This project offers an unprecedented opportunity to gain first hand experience of human rights law, while also making a valuable contribution to the welfare of marginalized groups in African society.
Whether you are working at the Projects Abroad Human Rights office or one of our partners, volunteers on a Human Rights Internship should expect to work from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday, with the option of working longer hours if you choose. All volunteers need to show a good level of initiative; all our Human Rights internships in South Africa are fast-paced, and volunteers who seek their own work, ask questions and make an impact on their supervisors will have a fantastic learning experience.
All Human Rights volunteers live with host families around Cape Town. You will normally be living in a host with one other volunteer, travelling to work on public transportation.