About the Advancing Rights in Southern Africa (ARISA) program

The Advancing Rights in Southern Africa program at Freedom House (ARISA) is a 5-year program that seeks to improve the recognition, awareness and enforcement of human rights in the region, including the protection of the region’s most vulnerable and marginalized groups. The program, led by Freedom House, in collaboration with partners—the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA/ROLI), Internews, and Pact—works at a regional level in select countries to:

• Improve the enabling environment for the promotion and protection of human rights;
• Strengthen the capacity of regional and local civil society actors to seek redress of rights violations;
• Increase public demand for improved rule of law and human rights protection; and
• Foster South-South communities of practice for knowledge and resource sharing to advance efforts to address human rights violations.