In 2007 the Consolidating the Profession project continued to develop research to address issues of foundational significance to HRFOs.  Two training and capacity-building programmes were held.  The first in West Africa.  This programme will focus on building constructive partnerships between intergovernmental HRFOs and their national-level counterparts to enhance promotion and protection of human rights in the region.  The second programme was convened in Kabul, for national-level HRFOs from UNAMA. Following review and editing, training materials used in these programmes will be posted on this website.  Train the trainer methodologies were incorporated and all participants are provided with follow up assistance in developing training programmes for civil society human rights actors in their own countries.

The project's research topics for 2007 addressed issues of field methodology in support of sustainable human rights protection for affected populations.  In the case of each topic the focus is on identifying and developing good practices in intergovernmental and civil society partnerships - how the HRFO should operate within a framework of close and genuine cooperation with relevant civil society actors.

The development of project research outputs followed the same process as in 2006.  Internationally-recognised experts with significant professional field experience drafted research which identifies core issues, addresses legal and operational aspects, assesses actual practice and proposes specific professional guidance for improved training and practice.  Experts currently deployed in conflict-affected countries provided commentary on the principal research outputs.  Desktop research to identify all existing resources relevant to the topics was carried out to assist the experts and expand the project's website library.  Research topics for 2007 were: