At the opening in 2014, Serhiy Burov, Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv, heralded the House as “a possibility to promote and develop educational programs for human rights defenders: not only education for education, but education for activation.”
Maria Dahle, Director of Human Rights House Foundation, said: “Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv is the place where human rights defenders can find shelter, those who have to leave their homes because of their activities.”
The Human Rights House logo lit the way to the opening in 2014.
EHRHC was founded by the human rights defender community in Ukraine, who truly believed that education is an action for human rights protection. Seven non-governmental organisations from different parts of the country joined the Union in order to develop an accessible – in all the meanings of this word– educational center, well-equipped and able to host different kinds of educational events, provide high-quality conference services, and comfortable living conditions for the participants.
In the program plan, the House, as an independent organization, takes actions to support activists and new non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which were created in the post-revolutionary period. Also, in 2016 in partnership with the Human Rights House in Voronezh (Russia), we started to work on building a dialogue between the youth of the two countries.
A view of one of the rooms for meetings in the House.
During the first two years of existence, the House has strengthened its position as a great place for human rights schools and workshops. Every year, the House hosts more than 1,000 participants and 50 educational events of up to nine days’ duration. The topics and the target audience of the events are varied – from civic activists from the regions to professional jurists, lawyers and even judges.
A meeting taking place in the library of the House.
In the upcoming year, the EHRHC team is planning to attract more civic organisations to use the resources of the educational center. To improve capacity-building of the educational center, landscaping will be done in the nearest future, and one big and two small pavilions for open-air workshops and working in groups will be placed by the House.
In 2017, the House, as a consolidating factor for the human rights community, will continue its work to enhance coherence and synergy for the promotion of values of human rights in Ukraine and the region.
More information about the House and its organisations can be found at humanrightshouse.org/human-rights-houses/chernihiv/
