Newsletter 12_You’re either in it for the long haul or you’re not
Hellooooo there, winter has arrived in the Western Cape
Our swallows have left on their long journey north. They migrate by day at low altitudes and find food along the way. They accumulate some fat reserves before crossing large areas such as the Sahara, then head on up through across Morocco, into eastern Spain and across the Pyrenees into France and the rest of Europe. Migrating swallows cover 300 kms a day, at speeds of up to 45 kms an hour. They arrive in Europe in April and May, and return to our sunny African shores in September and October.
The journeys of migrating birds take months, a prime example of a long-term project. They know that some endeavours do not produce overnight success – and those are the ones where the final victory is the most worthwhile.
Another long-term undertaking worthy of our admiration
Our long-term client, < APCOF > – the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum – are no strangers to the long haul. They are involved in a number of projects promoting police accountability, safety promotion and crime and violence prevention. One campaign that we have been proud to assist APCOF with is the campaign to decriminalise petty offences in Africa.
With support from the Open Society Foundation’s Human Rights Initiative (OSF-HRI), APCOF provided technical assistance to the ACHPR for the development of the Principles on the Decriminalisation of Petty Offences in Africa, which were formally launched by the African Commission on Human and Poeples’ Rights (ACHPR) in October 2018 on World Homeless Day. In partnership with a continent-wide campaign on the decriminalisation of petty offences, APCOF is now working to support implementation of the Principles across Africa as a technical partner to the ACHPR. This support includes the development of tools for national human rights institutions, including a simplified version of the Principles. APCOF has also conducted research on by-laws that should be targeted for declassification and decriminalisation in South Africa.
The campaign works at the national and regional level to challenge petty offences that impact the most marginalised people in our society and raise prison overcrowding levels unnecessarily. It advocates for the use of social-justice and harm-reduction responses to dealing with vagrancy and related issues, as opposed to the current punitive and reactionary criminal-justice responses. With the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic further devastating our societies’ most vulnerable, it is imperative that we push for reform on this issue.
Last month we assisted APCOF in disseminating over 1 200 posters, newsletters, conference reports and copies of the Simplified Principles to 22 destinations in 13 countries – materials which will help in the campaign to review and, where necessary, demand the repeal of discriminatory municipal by-laws.
How can we help you?
Please do < contact us > for a free quotation for assistance with translation, copy-editing, graphic design, layout or proofreading of any of your corporate publications. Have a look below to see how we can help you with your next project. We can work with any sensible budget or timeline, and are keen to reach out especially to those who need our help during these exceptional times.
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