More than 30 human rights workers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine have arrived in Kyiv Equitas’ International Human Rights Training Session from March 6 to 18. They have been selected to participate in a 12-day training program. Equitas has been working with 14 local partner organizations. Over the last 42 years, Equitas has trained more than 3,000 activists worldwide to influence their governments and the international community to implement the principles and values of human rights in their social actions in order to build a global culture of human rights.
The regional human rights training session, delivered in Russian, will expand the reach of human rights education, thereby ensuring that local nongovernmental organizations, community-based organizations, women’s organizations and their beneficiaries are better able to promote and protect human rights and contribute to the democratic process. The human rights training session will thus serve the double purpose of further building the skills of Equitas’ partners in the region, while also providing effective human rights education capacity building for local organizations within and across countries. To this end, the 14 designated partner organizations have worked together to develop, implement and evaluate the training session. This in turn will allow for the 31 local organizations to strengthen their capacity to promote and protect human rights and to undertake more effective human rights work, with a view to fostering civic engagement and the participation of communities in decision-making processes, as well as building support networks among civil society and key actors at the local, national and regional levels.
Equitas is implementing the program in Kyiv with the support of the Ukrainian Center for Common Ground.
2011 IHRTS highlights
When: March 6 – 18, 2011
Where: Puscha-Ozerna, 04075, Kiev, Puscha-Vodytsa, Ukraine.
· Opening Ceremony (March 7, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.): Welcome evening that sets the tone for the program.
· Presentations by leading human rights experts (throughout the program).
· Interviews with participants: Interviews can be arranged with human rights defenders from the 4 countries.
About Equitas – the International Centre for Human Rights Education
Equitas – International Centre for Human Rights Education is a Montreal-based organization with over 40 years of experience. Equitas is recognized internationally as a leader in the design and delivery of highly effective human rights education programs. The innovative methodology of Equitas programs is being emulated around the world. Equitas provides education programs in Canada and follow-up programs in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe as well as Central Asia. These programs equip organizations and the communities they serve to build a global culture of human rights.
About Ukrainian Center for Common Ground
UCCG interventions focus in the following areas: Alternative Dispute Resolution (Mediation) in the Judicial System; Juvenile Justice Reform; Problem Solving Initiative in the Educational System; Conflict Resolution Practice web resource; Community Dialogue; Introduction of Human Rights Based Approaches to Swiss Development Cooperation development projects in Ukraine. UCCG’s extensive experience with conflict resolution and restorative justice, as well as their experience working with youth and women at the grass-roots, are key to the success of the project. UCCG was awarded prizes by the Ukrainian government for its work on juvenile crime prevention in 2008 and 2010.
For more information, to attend an event or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Chris Bradley OR Roman Koval,
Program Officer, Equitas President, Ukrainian Center for Common Ground
095-611-4206 050-500-7218
