Figure 11: Competencies of a HRCLD practitioner An effective HRCLD practitioner will have competencies across three main areas – knowledge, technical and professional, and personal. The figure below gives examples of each. Knows about: Knows how to: Has personal skills: • human rights in general and issues specific to their country and region • analyse political and structural systems • is ethically sensitive and principled • facilitate a communityled human rights-based approach • acknowledges and respects a community’s cultural and faith-based values • the theories and principles of human rights community-led development • how political and structural systems affect communities • the local context of the community • issues of power and power-imbalance • approaches that focus on the strengths and assets of people and communities • leadership as a learning process • link human rights with a community’s culture and faith-based values • build community capacity & develop leadership • facilitate genuine and equitable community participation • plan, facilitate, monitor, evaluate and report on projects • facilitate community decision-making • manage conflict using non-violent tools • is able to work with people from diverse backgrounds and contexts • is self-aware – understands own biases, recognises own limits and knows when to seek support • is courageous, prepared to commit to the community’s process • is creative, flexible and able to think ‘on the spot’ • listens, observes and thinks critically • is able to build trust and encourage inclusion • has effective writing and communication skills Knowledge competencies 1.3 Technical and professional practice competencies Personal competencies Identify your partner community In Section 1.2 we described ‘community’ as wherever people live, work and play. Community can be identified geographically, functionally or because members share an identify or common cause. There is no one way to decide the community or communities you will work with, and of course it is the community’s choice about whether it would be beneficial to work with your NHRI. The decision about the community you will work with, and the associated resource commitment, should align with the strategic priorities of your NHRI. Hopefully these priorities will have already been informed by your communities either by their engagement with your NHRI during the year, or by the consultation processes you used during the development of your strategic plan. APF HRCLD Guide 32