Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-violence Studies (AITAS)

About us

Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-violence Studies (AITAS) is an independent research institution established in 2004. AITAS works in Egypt and the MENA region to strengthen the values of tolerance and eliminate all forms of discrimination. AITAS is inspired by the "Declaration of Principles on Tolerance".

Vision Statement
We want to fight cultural, racial, sexual, political and religious intolerance and violence caused by ignorance and oppression of the basic human rights in Egyptian society. We want to create a new Egyptian culture in which any form of racism, discrimination and violence cannot be socially accepted or stay unpunished by the law. We believe Egypt has the ground to grow a better society and to become a model of tolerance in the world.

Mission Statement
Its mission is to spread the culture of tolerance through educating the younger generation; employing the media to promote respect for human rights and the value of tolerance; and strengthening the rule of law by ensuring that national legislation and governmental behavior is non-discriminative or violent.

Programs:
• Advocacy and Legal Aid: AITAS strengthen the rule of law by bringing more cases to court and by setting precedents, AITAS is a member of the Front of Defense for Egyptian Protesters. AITAS advocates for the abolition of death penalty, free community radios and minority rights.
• Election and Democracy: AITAS and its partners trained and sent field monitors to the majority of governorates to document violations and educate voters about their rights. In addition to monitoring elections, AITAS has conducted numerous trainings on political participation laws. AITAS developed a new platform (http://Vawet.net), a parallel election website, to monitor elections at all levels of government. The new platform allows citizens to register with their national identification numbers to vote, document violations, and have an access to election-related information.
• Human Rights Education: AITAS has organized numerous workshops, seminars, and trainings to spread the culture of tolerance in Egypt. AITAS organizes a People´s Assembly simulation for students to experience the entire process of creating legislation.
• Media Monitoring: AITAS constantly follows TV stations, newspapers, websites and radio stations to assess media ethics in reports concerning tolerance, minorities and media non-bias. It will then use this information in trainings of the next generation of media professionals. Similarly, AITAS is using its expertise in media monitoring to document incidents of violence and produce a Violence Meter that gives organizations, academics, and civil society actors an accurate assessment of the level of violence in Egypt
• Alternative Media Development: AITAS created and subsequently developed Horytna Radio to offer an alternative source of news, opinion, and commentary. With a focus on human rights issues, Horytna has became a leading experience in the community radio field in Egypt. AITAS established online radios in five Egyptian governorates. AITAS leads a network of community radios, journalists, activists and media professionals to advocate for legislating community FM radios.
• "“Raise your Voice": This is a workshop-project training young Egyptian women to become documentary filmmakers and video journalists, and equipping them with the skills they need to artistically express their views on the society they live in.

Ahmed Samih is the General Manager of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-violence Studies (AITAS).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.