Despite constitutional provisions protecting the rights of minorities in countries of South Asia, these guarantees, as well as international human rights obligations, have often remained unfulfilled. This has resulted in violations of the rights of minorities in a number of countries, including the right of minorities to national and ethnic identity, to profess and practice their own religion, speak their own language, enjoy their own culture and benefit from the respect for diversity in their countries. Lack of respect for minority rights has also fuelled tensions and sown the seeds of conflict involving minorities in the region. In some cases, this situation is compounded by the fact that South Asian human rights organisations are often unable to access the judicial system and other domestic mechanisms and are confronted with institutions that are unable to respond to their needs due to factors such as work overload, excessive delays in processing complaints and the complexity of procedures. In addition, human rights organisations may lack the necessary tools to access and use the mechanisms at national and international levels to effectively protect human rights.

Capacity Building to Promote and Defend Diversity in South Asia is a regional project aimed at strengthening the capacity of human rights organisations to promote minority rights and defend diversity in South Asia, namely in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Ultimately, this project will strengthen the capacity of civil society organisations to translate international human rights standards into practical implementation at the national level through the development of effective monitoring and enforcement strategies. To this end, the project will contribute to developing the knowledge and skills of participating human rights organisations to monitor violations of minority rights and to use the existing national and international mechanisms to seek effective redress.

This project is a joint initiative of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES), Colombo, Sri Lanka and the Canadian Human Rights Foundation (CHRF), Montreal, Canada. A background note on each of these organisations is attached to this application form as Annex A.