Support Effort for Human Rights

The law and human rights program is an ideal opportunity for students or professional interested in pursuing a career in law and human rights. This life-changing internship will offer you the opportunity to gain practical career experience in the field while contributing to improve the human rights effort in Ghana. 

Why it is important

As a volunteers, you will be working with a team of human right advocates in an office setting to address the most critical issues facing women’s rights, child abuse, domestic violence while providing services to individuals and the general public.

Your Role as a Volunteer

Our  Human Rights project is based in Accra, and your exact role will be determined by your level of experience and interest in specific areas. You may also be involved in current legal issues, both through dealing directly with clients and researching broader cases. You will learn how to deal with clients and gain more in-depth idea of the everyday life in a legal office. While researching and writing articles you can improve your (legal) language skills or learn about human rights, the history of human rights in Ghana, the current human rights climate, or specific issues like remand prisoners.

Volunteers will be able to learn how to deal with clients and get an insight into everyday life in a legal office. The types of work you could be doing includes:

• Working on research projects or writing articles about current topics and human rights issues
• Writing content for the Centre’s website
• Court trips
• Organising Seminars and Workshops
• Trips outside of Accra for fact-finding, seminars and workshops
• Assisting staff members in their day to day activities
• If you have a case of your own you will be able to interview clients, write letters and notifications concerning the cases or have appointments, for example, at Court.

Accra has developed a fairly western social scene in the recent years, mainly because of the large expatriate community in the city. On Friday night, singing karaoke in the champs sports bar at the Paloma Hotel, you would be forgiven for thinking you’d stepped back into Europe. And this has its place-after a month living in the village, a cocktail and some fluent English conversation can be just what you need. 

There are some great deal of bars in Accra with much more feel, and much more opportunity to interact with Ghanaians, one popular place with volunteers is ’By well’ at the southern end of Osu Oxford street, where the house band plays every Thursday evening, Royal Palm (Nungua-Cold store) where on every Fridays-Sundays, you will experience a great scene of spinning. It is a real mix of music, with everything from Bob Marley to the Beatles, and of course, plenty of our own high-life and hip-life.

Cape coast also has good bars, ‘Oasis’ on the beach near the Castle is popular and sometimes has impressive live drumming and dancing shows. The night club at Cape Coast Hotel has ladies Night on Fridays; with free for lady’s entry (gents pay GHS 40). On almost every street in Ghana, you will find at least one spot bar, which is anything from a few plastic chairs outside a shack selling beer and local gin, to large garden bar serving a wide range of food and drinks. 

Sport bars are usually relatively inexpensive, and the sorts of places local people to for their beer after work. Learning some Twi or Ewe and some Ga from the locals as the sun goes down and sip an ice-cold star or club beer can be a great and very cheap evening out. Labadi beach is also a place where volunteers go swimming and horse riding.