Youth for Human Rights training programme

The application process is underway for the the Youth for Human Rights training programme. This long-term training programme will provide intensive training and support for young human rights defenders in the Arab World in order to increase advocacy and monitoring capacity and foster a regional network of human rights advocates.

The programme is intended for young human rights defenders that are seeking to:

(a) expand their network of people working in the human rights field in North Africa and the Middle East;
(b) develop their human rights advocacy and monitoring skills;
(c) receive support in their work from experienced human rights defenders;
(d) increase their knowledge of the international and regional human rights standards and mechanisms;
(e) advance an advocacy project that is important to the community that they serve.

Seventy five trainees and 30 auditors are accepted to the programme which will begin in December 2006 and end in January 2008. Selected trainees will participate in:

(1) a 3-month distance learning course on human rights advocacy (online)
(2) a 5-day regional workshop on human rights advocacy in Tunis (Tunisia)
(3) a 3-month distance learning course on human rights monitoring (online)
(4) a 5-day in-person workshop on human rights monitoring in Cairo (Egypt)
(5) on-going support in your human rights work from a mentor
(6) self-study of international and regional human rights standards and mechanisms

All instruction will be in Arabic. The Programme is one-year long and participants are required to participate in all components.

Youth for Human Rights is jointly organised by the Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR), the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and Human Rights Education Associates (HREA).

Selection of Participants

The Programme is designed for human rights defenders (NGO staff, lawyers, journalists, teachers, community workers) between the ages of 18-35 that work in countries that are members of the Arab League (Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, United Arab Emirates). Preference will be give to applicants who have demonstrated a commitment to defending human rights in their community and have support from their organization. Deadline of application: 25 October 2006.

For application forms and further information (in Arabic) please visit: http://www.hrea.ma/dlp-mena

Background

The Youth for Human Rights training programme is based on a distributed learning approach. This learning model is based on the premise that the ideal learning model involves hands-on training, time for reading and reflection, group work, an extended engagement in the learning process, mentoring and the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills in a real-life situation and receive support and feedback. Distributed learning is an instructional model that allows instructor(s), students, and content to be located in different, non-centralised locations so that instruction and learning can take place independent of time and place.

The Youth for Human Rights long-term traning programme for young human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa is generously funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ford Foundation.