Human Rights Education Associates

Arab Institute and HREA launch 20th edition of Anabtawi summer school online

The 20th edition of “Anabtawi”, the annual summer school for Arab human rights defenders starts on 12 July. Anabtawi traditionally consists of a two-week intensive training workshop that takes place in Tunis annually and is organised by the Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR). After a successful pilot project last year, for the second time an on-line component was added to the training, with the assistance of HREA.

Fifty participants from 14 countries in the Middle East and North Africa participated in nine weeks of an intensive on-line courses that began on 3 May and conclude on 11 July. The courses introduced participants to the main UN human rights mechanisms, children’s rights and women’s rights, and the basics of international humanitarian law, and familiarised them with other Anabtawi participants and the trainers.

HREA and the AIHR added the pre-course on-line phase to Anabtawi in order to save time during the summer school by introducing participants to basic human rights knowledge on-line so that during the summer course more emphasis could be placed on skills development and strategising. The on-line phase also allowed for more reflection and in-depth engagement with the theory and background of human rights mechanisms and human rights law.