The Sub-Saharan Africa Litigation Surgery is an intensive three-day workshop run by Media Defence together with The Kennedy Human Rights Center and Vuka. It brings a small cohort of lawyers from across Sub-Saharan Africa to Nairobi to sharpen their strategic-litigation skills on freedom of expression, digital rights and human rights defence.
Sessions cover defamation, surveillance, SLAPPs, digital rights and violence against journalists, and close with a moot court exercise. The 2026 edition runs 2–4 October in Nairobi, Kenya; the prior edition was held in Windhoek, Namibia.
Benefits & funding
- Fully funded: Media Defence covers the core costs of attending.
- Return international travel from your home country to Nairobi.
- Accommodation from the day before the surgery through the event.
- Airport transfers in both your home country and Nairobi.
- Reimbursement of visa costs (participants arrange and initially pay for their own visa).
- A per diem covering travel days and the duration of the surgery.
Eligibility
- Qualified lawyers who currently work and reside in a Sub-Saharan African country.
- Working proficiency in English.
- In private practice or affiliated with an NGO that promotes human rights through litigation in the region.
- Experience, interest or knowledge of freedom of expression, freedom of association and assembly, digital rights, internet freedom or related areas.
- Knowledge of or experience with international and regional human rights law.
- A case study to submit involving violations of freedom of expression, assembly and association, or human rights defender rights (a current case, an intended one, or a law or policy you would challenge).
- Lawyers newer to human rights work who show strong commitment are also considered; geographic diversity and inclusion are weighed alongside merit.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
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Residence required
Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cameroon · Cabo Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Republic of the Congo · DR Congo
+ 37 more
Côte d'Ivoire · Djibouti · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Eswatini · Ethiopia · Gabon · Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · South Sudan · Sudan · Tanzania · Togo · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe
Education required
Bachelor
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Application process
- 1Prepare your case study and confirm you meet the eligibility criteria.
- 2Complete the online application form, or email a completed application form to training@mediadefence.org.
- 3Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so apply early — intake may close before the deadline if volume is high.
- 4Selected applicants (maximum 15) are notified and given travel and logistics details.
Program timeline
31 July 2026
Application deadline (rolling review; may close earlier).
Litigation surgery held in Nairobi, Kenya.
2–4 October 2026