Call for Applications - Peer Support Programme for Women Lawyers in sub-Saharan Africa

Call for Applications - Peer Support Programme for Women Lawyers in sub-Saharan Africa


Media Defence is calling for applications from women lawyers based in sub-Saharan Africa to participate in a peer support programme, which is aimed at women lawyers with demonstrated interest in digital rights, as well as in independent peer learning and peer support with fellow women lawyers.

The peer support programme will be the first such initiative within our new project Empowering Women in Digital Rights Advocacy. Media Defence aims to provide a platform for newly trained women lawyers to build their expertise and confidence, and to receive support on various issues relevant to women lawyers.

At the same time, the peer support programme shall allow more experienced women lawyers to contribute to developing a strong professional network and to increase their competence and confidence by offering guidance to their peers.

The peer support programme will be designed as a one-to-one programme – one experienced lawyer will be matched with a newly trained lawyer taking into account their interests and backgrounds.

Successful applicants will be matched and commit to meeting with their partner once a month online over a course of 12 months from October 2022 to October 2023.

Participants will become active members of our Media Defence network, which will provide further opportunities for engagement regionally and internationally to develop a sustainable network of women lawyers.

Disclaimer

Participants will meet independently and the peer support sessions will not be monitored or supervised by Media Defence. Therefore, Media Defence will not carry any responsibility for the content and quality of the programme.

However, all participants will be invited to quarterly know-how events offered by Media Defence’s in-house legal team to get additional information and to make the programme more interactive.

Peer Support Objectives

Media Defence provides legal support to journalists, bloggers and independent media and aims to contribute to building and promoting a strong network of lawyers. In this context, the peer support programme shall offer a platform to women lawyers in sub-Saharan Africa to discuss relevant topics independently and to build connections.

The objectives of this peer support programme are: