Last week the last session of the Advanced Human Rights Course organized by the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) ended. Participants from the 12 countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) came to Warsaw in order to enhance their knowledge and skills about human rights.
Last week the around 50 participants of the Advanced Human Rights Course took their final exam and presented their graduation papers, which dealt with different issues concerning human rights. Among the topics were: the rights of the child, the rights of people who are infected with HIV aids, the rights of prisoners or the rights of the mentally ill. After the presentation of the papers the participants went to Geneva and Strasbourg, where they had the possibility (among other institutions) to visit the UN office and the European Court of Human Rights. One of the highlights was the observation of a hearing held in the European Court of Human Rights.
The course had started a year and a half ago and was divided into four 10 to 12 day sessions. The first and second sessions provided the participants with theoretical knowledge about various issues concerning human rights, such as history or international mechanisms of protection. In the third session there was a focus on acquiring practical knowledge. After the course a few best graduation papers, which are in the form of project proposals, will be selected. Then later the chosen projects will be co-financed and supervised by HFHR.
The aim of the course was to improve the situation of vulnerable and marginalized groups in the CIS, to protect their rights and to act against the discrimination of these. This should be reached through the support and reinforcement of people working in this area. Therefore the course was attended by participants from three different groups: NGO workers dealing with vulnerable and marginalized groups, human rights protectors, as well as representatives of state agencies, whose clients are members of the before mentioned groups. In the course the participants were provided with the skills they need in order to improve their work in the human rights field back in their home country.
