hre e-bulletin may-june 2012

7/31/2019 HRE E-Bulletin May-June 2012

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Human Rights Education

E-BulletinMay June 2012

Dear friends,

There is a great deal of activity takingplace to develop, refine and strive everforward on our Human Rights Educationwork both on the ground and at theglobal level.

We would like to thank everyone whoparticipated in the consultations on therecommendations of the Review ofAmnesty International's Human Rights

Education Systems and Structures

completed in December 2012. A lot ofexcellent ideas and reflections will beintegrated into the decision-makingprocess around global management anddelivery of our HRE work.

Shortly you will receive an invitation tocomplete a Costing Survey of 16questions to map the size and locationof Amnesty International's human rightseducation work and identify how much

is being spent. This follows therecommendation of the HRE ReviewReport. Knowing how busy you are wehave created an online version in orderto facilitate the process, but an offlineoption is also available. The deadline tocomplete the survey is 16 July 2012.

With good wishes,

Sneh

Sneh Aurora

International Human Rights Project Manager,

IS HRE Team

[email protected]

In this issue: AI Malaysia Youth Camp 2012: Using filmmaking as

a tool for HRE

Promoting change in times of transition and crisis:Third International Conference on HRE

A 60 second interview with FrancoisePalau-Wolffe, AI Bermuda

AI Kenya: How HRE positively impacts work on theright to adequate housing

Praxis workshop on participatory methodologies Online forum on the implementation of the UN

Declaration on HRE and Training

IS Beirut office increases access to human rightseducation resources online

Middle East and North Africa: Exploring the linkbetween policing and human rights

Global trends in HRE

Beatrice Karore from Mathare informal settlement, Nairobi, Kenya. Beatrice is a member of

the Gender Defenders, a community-based network supported by AI Kenya, who promotes

security and rights for women living in informal settlements Amnesty International


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AI Malaysia continues to organize its annual youth camps in 2012, thistime in the northern state of Penang to further engage youths in theregion. There will be 3 camps focused on using 3 different tools forHRE: filmmaking, photography and creative writing, and by combininghuman rights issues and creative activism it will not only expose youthto human rights issues, but also innovative ways to create awareness.

The first youth camp took place from 6 8 April 2012, and successfullytrained 35 youths aged 18 30 years old in AI Malaysias keycampaigns areas: death penalty, refugee and migrant rights, and

freedom of expression. The participants watched a series of AI films andtook part in in-depth discussions on these issues. The facilitatorsshared ways filmmaking can be used to create awareness of humanrights and create lasting impact.

At the end of the youth camp, participants were given an assignment toproduce a short clip on any one of AI Malaysias campaigns. This visualevaluation method enabled facilitators to measure the depth of

knowledge that participants gained from the 2 day workshop.

Interested in the next two youth camps? Contact: Davina Isaac, ProjectCoordinator, AI Malaysia: [email protected]

AI Malaysia Youth Camp 2012: Using filmmaking as a tool for HRE

Haris, AI Malaysia Youth Network Convener,

demonstrates restriction of movement to participants in

AI Malaysias Youth Camp Amnesty International

Kamarul, a leading Malaysian film director, shares ideas for

using film to raise awareness of human rights campaigns

during AI Malaysias Youth Camp Amnesty International

Promoting Change in Times of Transition and Crisis:

Third International Conference on Human Rights Education

The Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland is hosting the Third International Conference on Human Rights Education from6-10 December 2012. This year, the theme of the conference is Promoting Change in Times of Transition and Crisis.

The conference will focus on both theoretical and practical issues faced by human rights educators in various parts of the world,particularly in terms of cultural, social and political change. This will be explored through various examples, such as the transition

from communism to democracy in Eastern and South-eastern Europe over the last twenty years, and current developments in theMiddle East, North Africa and Burma. The conference will facilitate discussion on the present economic difficulties in the West, aswell as contemporary issues including multiculturalism, racism and other forms of discrimination, and challenges to theuniversality of human rights.

For more information, visit the conference website: www.hre2012.uj.edu.pl


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Whos Who in the AI HRE Network?

A Sixty Second Interview with. Francoise Palau-Wolffe, HRE Coordinator, AI Bermuda

This month we talk to Francoise Palau-Wolffe in Bermuda to find out more about her work

I have been involved with AI Bermuda for 17 years,standing for the last three years as Chair of the Board.I became aware of the Human Rights Friendly Schoolsproject when chatting with a gentleman from theMoroccan section at the last ICM. This started theprocess leading to my deciding to step down as Chair

to dedicate my time and focus to Human RightsEducation.

Three years ago, I set up a group of 12 year olds atWarwick Academy, where I work as a librarian. Itstarted with delivering human rights educationcontent and fundraising activities and soon attractedattention from the older students preparing for theInternational Baccalaureate who took on the

coordination of the group. This year the group worked on freedom of expression and participated in theglobal Shine a Light project. They were particularly affected by the case of Jabbar Savalan as they hadwritten letters to him and felt their actions had made a difference when he was pardoned in December2011.

AI Bermuda is now working on implementing the Human Rights Friendly Schools project, piloting inWarwick Academy in order to extend to other schools on the island. We will use our learnings to develop amodel to transfer the approach to the public school system , working with the Ministry of Education.

We are working with AI UKto develop teacher trainings as we use the British curriculum in Bermuda. Weare also looking for materials that give guidance on teaching human rights in schools and ease theintegration of human rights into the curriculum.

From the HRE network, I am looking for access to relevant resources for implementing HRE and I wouldlike to communicate with other coordinators to share experiences. I am interested in training opportunitiesfocused on the methodology of HRE, for example, how to deliver content to different age groups and withindifferent contexts.

For more information: Francoise Palau-Wolffe, HRE Coordinator, AI Bermuda: [email protected]

Francoise Palau-Wolffe, HRE Coordinator, AI Bermuda Francoise

Palau-Wolffe


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AI Kenya: How HRE engagement positively impacts work on the

right to adequate housing

In 2009, AI Kenya began aligning its priorities with the Demand Dignity Campaign, particularly focusing on the link betweenpoverty and human rights with regard to the right to adequate housing and people living in slums and informal settlements.AI Kenya has facilitated human rights education in various communities on basic human rights, the right to adequatehousing, human rights monitoring, lobbying and advocacy skills, media handling skills, crime reporting procedure, and sexualoffences and the law. In doing so, they have not only built the capacity of participants to take action, but have also reachedout to strategic partners, creating the foundation for future engagement in order to achieve sustainable growth and humanrights impact. AI Kenya has found 3 ways that this HRE engagement has positively impacted their work:

More information: Moses Opiyo, HRE and YouthCoordinator, AI Kenya:[email protected]

1. The Rapid Response Team (RRT), a network of community (slum) basedhousing rights activists and volunteers, developed in 2009 out of the need for

people to take immediate action on inadequate housing issues in theircommunities. Following HRE training on topics listed above, the RRT now hasnearly 300 members who routinely respond to housing rights issues,particularly forced evictions. They do this by informing each other on evictionthreats, mobilizing to respond to the threat, and engaging in awarenessraising, lobbying and advocacy efforts through media and meetings with dutybearers. Some actions they have recently undertaken include: petitioningKenya's Chief Justice and engaging the director of city planning to haveslums recognised within the city plan, and making a formal presentation to aParliamentary Committee inquiring about forced evictions. They also reached

out to a prospective private developer who wanted to forcibly evict residentsof Masai Village (a slum in Nairobi), after which they went to court to stop theeviction through an injunction to stay.

2. The Gender Defenders Network, a network that AI Kenya helpedcreate and expand through HRE workshops, is made of community-based activists focused on gender-based human rights violations inNairobi slums. They operate from four slums in Nairobi where AI Kenya

focuses its work; Mathare, Kibera, Mukuru and Korokocho. The GenderDefenders Network initiates action in response to human rightsviolations in slums, especially those of women and children. They haveengaged duty bearers for additional and proper maintenance andrepair of high mast security lights that the government of Kenya haserected in several slums in Nairobi. They have also been lobbying theWater Services Board for the creation of public ablution blocks andwater points in Mukuru and Korokocho slums. Presently, the GenderDefenders in Korokocho have been asked to lobby the community todonate a piece of land so that the water board can proceed with

building this ablution block. The Gender Defenders in Kibera are alsoengaging with police to ensure that gender sensitive policing is inpractice, and that a police station is established in Kibera.

3. The AI Kenya youth project has also helpedcreate the Nairobi Youth Human Rights

Network following capacity building forumson HRE. The Network brings together youthgroups from all regions of Nairobi. It ispresently self-regulating and undertakeslocal advocacy actions, including lobbyingofficials on locally relevant human rightsissues and undertaking their own awarenessactions targeted at fellow youth. The localgovernment officials also seek their opinionand advice whenever necessary.

Minicah Hamisi Otieno of the Rapid Response Team speaks to

the NGO Forum ahead of the African Commission on Human

and Peoples' Rights about their work preventing forced

evictions in Nairobi Madi Keita/Amnest International


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Praxis Workshop on Participatory Methodologies

Praxis has announced a capacity building opportunity which will be of interest to those seeking to learn more aboutparticipatory methodologies. The 16th Praxis Annual Commune on Participatory Development: Make Participation Count istaking place 5-12 September 2012 in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.

Organized by Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices (http://www.praxisindia.org/), this annual workshop is a space wheredevelopment practitioners, policy makers, students and proactive individuals from across the globe come together to reflect,learn and share.

The workshop will include: Sessions on Attitudes, Behaviours and Change (ABC) of participatory development, participatory tools and

approaches Field visits to apply learning to situations on the field Thematic application module, focusing on how to apply participatory methods in various contexts - how to implement

participatory approaches in your chosen sphere, from participatory planning to monitoring and evaluation. Evening talks, film sessions, group discussions and cultural corners where participants can learn, share, forge ties

and grow in a participatory manner.

The deadlinefor international applications has been extended to 15 July 2012.

For more information about the workshop and prices, visit website: http://www.theworkshop.in/index.html (Please note Praxishas indicated they cannot sponsor participation).

Sneh Aurora, International HRE Manager, IS: [email protected] Michel Banz, HRE Manager, AI Denmark:

[email protected] are happy to provide comments on the experience from their participation in previous Praxis workshops.

nline forum on the implementation of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education

nd Training

uman Rights Education Associates (http://www.hrea.org/) has initiated a three-week online discussion on the implementation of the UNeclarationon Human Rights Education and Training. Using the HREA Global Human Rights Education listserv, which you can sign up to

their subscribe page under hr-education (http://bit.ly/KO7axb),the aim of the discussion is to reflect on the next steps of theeclaration and identify ways it can be used to advance Human Rights Education. The IS HRE team will be contributing to thescussion on behalf of Amnesty International. Feel free to contribute to the debate directly, or if you wish to coordinate on an

mnesty International response please give your input to Sneh Aurora, International HRE Manager, IS: [email protected]

e discussion takes place from 20 June to 10 July with the following agenda: 20-26 June: Taking stock. What is the UNDHRET and what is currently taking place in relation to this document in our institutions

and countries 27 June-3 July: Strategies for using the UNDHRET as a tool for HRE advocacy and implementation 4-10 July: Monitoring the application of the UNDHRET nationally and internationally, and next steps

ow does it work?

ch Wednesday a "facilitation" message prompts discussion on the week's topic. HREA summarises each week's discussion, and poststo the email List in a "summary" message. These summaries will be the basis for a report that HREA intends to submit to thevernments that are members of the Platform for Human Rights Education and to OHCHR, on behalf of the Global HRE List membership.

an I provide input in my language?

REA states that contributions are welcome in any language, although the main working language of the list is English. For the occasionthis forum, HREA will translate messages from Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish (all official UN languages) into English.


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IS Beirut office increases access to human rights education resources onlineThe IS Beirut office has just provided greater access to HRE and capacity building materials on their website atwww.amnestymena.org. The site now contains three sets of searchable databases in Arabic and English:

http://www.amnestymena.org/en/Resources.aspx

1. Beirut library titlesThe first allows users to browse through the titles of the Beirut Offices specializedhuman rights library containing more than 1800 titles.

2. Selected Amnesty International materials

The second database provides access to selected Amnesty International materials.

3. Collated content from the internet

The third, newly added section, Electronic Resources on the Internet

(http://bit.ly/MCWKpk), provides searchable access to information and links to arange of electronic resources on the internet, as well as to websites that host a richvariety of resources related to human rights education and capacity building.

Middle East and North Africa: Exploring the link between policing and human rights

The latest issue of Mawared, AIs MENA magazine, focuses on policing and human rights; below are extracts from the article:

This issue of Mawaredaims to contribute to such a process bydiscussing how security forces can carry out their responsibilitiesin a human rights frameworkAfter highlighting AmnestyInternationals work to document and campaign against policing-related human rights violations in the Middle East and NorthAfrica over the last year, the issue presents the organizations 10basic human rights standards for law enforcement officials anda training manual it has developed on policing, recentlytranslated into Arabic.

It also includes a number ofcontributions which discuss how

international human rights lawand international standards for

law enforcement officials can be

applied on a practical level to

policing. We hope in this way thatthe issue will prove to be useful tolegislators, other political actorsand NGOs advocating policereform, as well as journalistsinterested in the topic.

Read the full article in English here:http://amnestymena.org/en/Magazine/issue18/editorial.aspx?articleID=1059 and thecomplete magazine in Arabic here: http://www.amnestymena.org/Magazine/IssueView.aspx?Id=20

e IS Beirut offices new online resource centre for

RE and capacity building materials

For more than a year, the Middle East and North Africa

region has witnessed a series of uprisings against some of

its long-standing regimes. Millions of people have taken to

the streets to demand an end to oppression, respect for

human rights and fundamental changes to the way they

are governed. The military and security forces have

generally responded with extreme violence in an

attempt to quell the protest movements that have sprung

up across the region

Fundamental reforms need to be made to the largely

unaccountable security forcesacross the region, a need

demonstrated in the starkest fashion by the continuingviolence meted out to protesters in Egypt after the fall of

Hosni Mubarak. To achieve this, governments must invest

in professional policing, engage with communities to

improve policing by consentand promote, publicize and

incorporate in law and practice UN standards for law

enforcement officials. Only then will they be able to begin

to restore legitimacy to security forces that have been

defined more by the repression they have engaged in than

the protection they have provided to the communities they

are meant to serve. MENA Mawared magazine, Issue 18,Spring 2012 on Police and Human Rights


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Global trends in HRE

e Human Rights Education E-Bulletin is regularly produced to inform the AI Human Rights Education Network about internationalman rights education activities and to share news within the HRE Network and the global HRE movement.is available in English, French and Spanish.

you have news or resources for the Amnesty International HRE Network, please contact Karen Javorski, HRE Team Assistant in theHRE Team by the 15th of August:[email protected]

U funds project on human rights classes in

urkey

he Turkish Education Ministry has launched aroject to raise awareness among students aboutemocratic citizenship and human rights inooperation with the European Union, whichllocated 9.1 million euros to the effort. Under theroject, the authorities will review the schoolurriculum to put a stronger emphasis on human

ghts, organize meetings with parents and startnitiatives to boost democratic culture in schools.he project will be implemented in 20 pilot schoolsn 10 provinces, including Istanbul, Mardin andatay.

peaking at a gathering on the occasion yesterday,ducation Minister mer Diner said the overhaulf the curriculum would be an important stepoward strengthening human rights, democracy

nd equal opportunity for men and women.EUmbassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said the budgetllocated for the project was one of the largest inurope in this realm. Teaching democracy anduman rights in school is an important part of

reating a democratic society,he said.

ource (via HREA):ttp://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/PrintNews.aspx?PageID=83&NID=18321

Brazil: Ministry of Education approves guidelines for

national human rights education

In a ceremony held on 29 May, the Brazilian Minister ofEducation, Mercadante, approved the Guidelines forNational Human Rights Education, the result of a broadand participatory process led by the National EducationCouncil (CNE) that involved educators, experts in thefield, civil society and international organizationsinvolved in the issue.

The approval of curriculum guidelines offers educatorsfrom elementary and high schools - but also highereducation institutions - important references topromote a culture of respect and human rights.

According to Minister Maria do Rosario, the guidelineswill bring values and principles of diversity, but also acontent that enables the rejection of racism, violence,

homophobia and other forms of discrimination.

"The guidelines are a starting point to propose

practices that transform the school into an

environment focused on human rights,"the ministerreiterated to remember that the guidelines do notpropose a curriculum, but an approach to the subject ina transversal and interdisciplinary classroom.

Source (via HREA):http://www.unesco.org/new/en/brasilia/about-this-office/single-view/news/ministry_of_education_approves_guidelines_for_national_human_rights_education/

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