2 May 2011 - 15 June 2011

This short certificate course offered by HREA and the Human Rights Center of the University for Peace is designed for working professionals in NGOs, government, international organisations, businesses, or community leaders interested in addressing human rights violations through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) tools. We will discuss the challenges and opportunities in using ADR tools to address various types of human rights violations from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Practitioners and scholars alike have started to develop an increased interest in the linkages between human rights and alternative dispute resolution. NGOs and international organizations are currently advocating integrated third party interventions in violent conflicts that have both human rights and conflict resolution units closely working together. Throughout this course we will explore the role played by human rights violations at different conflict stages. We will also go beyond political rights, and also analyse the effectiveness of ADR tools in addressing violations of indigenous rights, civil rights in regard to racial, gender, and religious discrimination, business-related human rights, sexual harassment, and child labor. The basics of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) will be introduced and we will discuss about its potential role in addressing human rights violations.

This course is designed to provide the participants with a comprehensive picture of the links that exist between alternative dispute resolution tools, and human rights violations. The course is divided into four components. The first component (session 1) is to provide some background on the separate but inter-linked fields of human rights, conflict resolution, and ADR. The second component (sessions 2 and 3) analyses the challenges and opportunities of using ADR in human rights violations from a theoretical perspective but also with example from countries in which ADR mechanisms are used to address human rights violations. The third component (sessions 4 and 5) will present some case studies of facilitation, mediation, and conciliation used for specific indigenous, civil, and business-related rights violations. The fourth component (session 6) introduces online dispute resolution (ODR) mechanisms and looks at the future of ADR/ODR in addressing human rights violations.

Course outline

Week 1: Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Week 2: Challenges of Using ADR Tools in Addressing Human Rights Violations
Week 3: Advantages of Using ADR Tools in Addressing Human Rights Violations
Week 4: Lessons Learned from ADR in Violations of Indigenous Rights and Civil Rights
Week 5: ADR in Business-Related Human Rights Violations
Week 6: Online Dispute Resolution – A Potential New Way for Addressing Human
Rights Violations?

Level: professional , post-graduate graduate

Location: Internet (e-learning course)

Participants: professionals in NGOs, government, international organisations, businesses, or community leaders interested in addressing human rights violations through alternative dispute resolution (ADR) tools. Candidates should have a good written command of English and have high competence and comfort with computer and Internet use.

Tuition, fee, lodging: The course tuition fee is US$ 435 (tuition for auditors is US$ 165). There are no discounted tuition rates or scholarships available for this course. Further information and application form can be found at: www.hrea.org/alternative-dispute-resolution. Participants will be accepted on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Contact Information:
Sandra Quintin
Distance Learning Programme
HREA
689 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139-3302
USA
Tel: +1 617 301-4379
Fax: +1 617 249-0278
E-mail: applications@hrea.org
Web: http://www.hrea.org