In line with its efforts towards a democratic society – where all have access to justice and dignity regardless of gender, creed or status – and its firm belief that the path to a true Nahda (Renaissance) is through collective effort and cooperation, the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Human Rights Clinic (IHCR) at the Boston University School of Law (BUSL). This took place on 18 November 2019, in Amman, initiating a partnership between the two institutions.
The partnership aims to facilitate a large, multi-year project to address the situation of persons in the MENA region who face challenges relating to citizenship, nationality, and status. This is part of a comprehensive IHRC project in countries across the Middle East that aims to produce country-specific reports that detail the relevant international, regional, and domestic laws and policies, the legal and political gaps, and develop context-based recommendations
This partnership also comes as part of ARDD’s Al Nahda Thought Center’s programmatic approach which recognizes the importance of collaboration and consultative knowledge production in supporting evidence-based advocacy and empowering organic, bottom-up efforts to inform key debates on democracy, civil society, and human rights in Jordan and the region.
As highlighted by ARDD’S CEO Samar Muhareb, partnerships such as this will further enable the capacity development of local researchers and strengthen the quality of localized knowledge production. IHCR’s Professor and Supervisor Susan Akram emphasized in this context the need to increase awareness on challenges in clarifying citizenship, nationality and status in the region by making use of existing regional and international legal frameworks.
Ultimately, through this partnership and effectively engaging academia on various levels, ARDD reaffirms its commitment to the concept of producing ‘knowledge from within’ – and in turn furthering social, economic and political justice and human rights for all.
