IN THIS ISSUE

MESSAGE FROM HREA STAFF


Welcome to the first issue of "HREA Online"! Through this quarterly e-newsletter we hope to keep you up-to-date about HREA developments.

We have several new activities to report. In addition to our Electronic Resource Centre with its 1,000 training documents, we now have an on-line Learning Centre on our web site. The Learning Centre houses our distance learning courses and on-line resources educating directly about human rights. Over the next year, we will be adding interactive modules and thematic study guides on numerous human rights issues. We are excited about this opportunity to organise learning experiences for a much broader group of human rights workers, professionals, students and interested laypersons in addition to our traditional constituency of educators.

HREA continues to collaborate with other organisations in enhancing their capacity to deliver human rights education. We are working with the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights in Costa Rica, assisting them in using the Internet for human rights learning and networking. HREA was recently in China to work with a local team in revising their children’s rights training manual.

And if you haven’t recently visited the HREA website, please do so. Our home page has a new "look and feel", providing human rights news from around the world. Of course, our HRE Library and Calendar are still available to assist you with your training needs.

I hope that you will be able to make use of both the "new" and "old" services offered by HREA. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me.

Felisa Tibbitts
Executive Director

HREA WORKS ON CHILDREN'S RIGHTS IN CHINA


HREA’s Director Felisa Tibbitts traveled to Beijing in June 2002 to assist the National Children’s Center in the development of a training manual on children’s rights. UNICEF is supporting this effort.

The National Children’s Center has already been active in training UNICEF-affiliated project staff in the content of the  Convention on the Rights of the Child. The training involves a multi-step process and a fieldwork-based documentation and analyses of children’s rights in community settings throughout China. The existing manual will be revised with the assistance of HREA and will lead to additional support for preparing regionally based staff in the use of the manual.

"The Chinese team is very dedicated and we work very well together. I am very excited to see how the new manual will work in regional settings next year," said Ms. Tibbitts. Look for an update on the China project in the next issue of HREA Online.

HREA LOBBIES FOR NGO RESOLUTION DURING 58^TH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS


A dedicated group of NGOs cooperated with the mission of the government of Costa Rica in organising an intervention urging the Commission on Human Rights to support concrete human rights education activities. The Commission held its 58^th session in Geneva from 18 March–26 April 2002. The NGO resolution was intended to inform the Commission of the human rights education interests of a large, worldwide group of NGOs and individuals. HREA’s Global HRE listserv was utilized to facilitate NGO input and support for the intervention.

HREA worked closely with IMADR, Soka Gakkai International, the Summer University on Human Rights, Pax Romana and the International Organisation for the Development of Freedom of Education -- and the Costa Rican mission -- in formulating a resolution that would "put teeth" into the UN Decade for Human Rights Education. Although the Decade for HRE was passed unanimously by the U.N. General Assembly, only a few states have made serious efforts to initiate national programs. The steps contained in the recommendations were designed to encourage concrete movement in this area.

The resolution proposed the appointment of a Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Education; the creation of a voluntary fund to support this person and related activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights; and workshops aimed at defining priorities and setting agendas for the remaining years of the Decade. A high degree of pragmatism was used in developing these particular ideas, which are considered to be timely and realistic. If even some of these are achieved, it will mean progress in terms of concrete U.N. support for human rights education.

The resolution was distributed via the Global Human Rights Education listserv -- a network administered by HREA that currently has 3,000 members from approximately 150 countries. The recommendations were signed by 90 NGOs from 47 countries, as well as numerous individuals.

HREA has since been working with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to ensure follow-up to the resolution. From 18 November-10 December 2003, HREA will organise a global on-line consultation on the follow-up to the UN Decade for Human Rights Education. Stay tuned!

Human Rights Monitoring distance learning course

From September-December 2003, HREA is offering a distance learning course on human rights monitoring. Instructors are Ben Majekodunmi (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) and Prof. David Weissbrodt (University of Minnesota Law School). Find our more about this and other upcoming distance learning courses.

HREA and COLPI publish manual on street law-type teaching clinics

Manual on Street Law-Type Teaching Clinics at Law Faculties, written by Felisa Tibbitts of HREA and distributed by the Constitutional and Legal Policy Institute (COLPI) in Budapest, is now available in English and Russian. The manual was developed by HREA in cooperation with Street Law, Inc., an international NGO dedicated to educating young people about law, human rights and democracy.

The 92-page manual draws heavily from experiences in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union in providing practical suggestions for setting up a teaching clinic at law schools, where law students teach everyday law to the public. These clinics typically have a human rights component.

The manual was written for law faculty and others interested to initiate a programme. Copies of the manual are available on-line in English and Russian. If you are interested in setting up a street law programme, or want to find out more, click here.

Redesigned web site and "house style"

HREA’s web site has a new structure and outlook. The home page contains more timely information on human rights issues and events around the world. The site now has two main sections. In the Resource Centre you can still find hundreds of human rights curricula, textbook, training manuals, texts of international treaties, and links to human rights organisations. The Learning Centre is a new section of the site. It includes information on upcoming HREA distance learning courses, Discussion Boards, Tutorials and Study Guides. The Learning Centre is still under development yet you will find already quite a number of tools to learn more about human rights. Visit our redesigned site.

Upcoming courses on human rights, humanitarian law and related disciplines

Looking for a course to refresh or expand your knowledge and skills? HREA’s Human Rights Education Calendar lists human rights trainings, workshops, courses and degree programmes worldwide offered by non-governmental organisations, academic institutions and various international organisations. You can also add your own event.

How You Can Help

HREA supports human rights and educational institutions in transitional democracies in developing human rights curricula and training materials. With your donations we can continue to assist our colleagues in their important work. Find out how you can contribute.

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