In addition to our vast expertise in protecting human rights in situations of ongoing conflict and displacement, and in mass atrocity and conflict prevention, as well as peace-building and reconciliation work, IRRI’s WEZESHA Programme builds capacities of our constituents to exercise agency and be change agents themselves. Our WEZESHA initiative (Swahili for ‘enable’), is our way of being more deliberate and intentional about our capacity support, and about growing the people with whom we work to occupy policy spaces and amplify their voice at national, regional and international levels. This also includes establishing and/or working through community formations, which facilitates skills transfer, peer to peer education and support, ownership and sustainability of our interventions.
For us, doing rights in displacement work, includes ensuring that our constituencies are resourced and have the capability to organise even in extremely difficult situations. IRRI therefore also provides non-profit management and fiscal sponsorship to incubate new ideas, initiatives and organisations. Depending on the need, we provide back office infrastructure, financial management, non- profit management, compliance and governance backstopping, all supported by an experienced staff and board. We support nearly 10 projects with fiscal sponsorship, many of whom would not exist without this service. We provide them with a 501© (3) status which enables them to access US based tax-deductible donations.