[hr-education-na] Centre for Human Rights at University of Pretoria winner of the 2006 UNESCO Prize for HRE

2006-12-11 11:00 am

UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura has nominated the Centre for
Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa, as the winner of the
fifteenth edition of the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education (2006).

The Centre for Human Rights receives this Prize in recognition of its
outstanding contribution to the cause of human rights in South Africa and
to the advancement of a human rights culture by means of education and
training of professionals in South Africa, other countries of the
continent and beyond. In 2006, the Centre celebrates its 20th anniversary.
When the Centre was created, its first aim in the period of Apartheid was
to contribute to the adaptation of the Bill of Rights for South Africa.
Later on the Centre participated in the Constitution-building process in
South Africa. Subsequently, the focus of the Centre has broadened to
activities in human rights education and training in South Africa and
other countries of the continent.

The two flagships programmes of the Centre are the Master's Degree in
Human Rights and Democratization in Africa, established in 2000, and the
African Human Rights Moot Court Competition, launched in 1992.

The Master's Programme is a joint project of the Centre with seven other
African universities. It is an intensive one-year course which offers
knowledge and invaluable practical experience to 30 highly qualified
individuals from African countries every year. It is the only course of
this kind in Africa.

The Centre's African Human Rights Moot Court Competition is a unique
project which gives African lawyers the opportunity to deepen their
knowledge and understanding of the African Charter on Human and Peoples'
Rights and its implementation. The Moot Court Competition has so far
brought together 708 teams from 111 universities representing 43 African
countries.

The Centre also runs a number of other academic programmes and projects
dealing with human rights and democracy, and has issued numerous
publications in these fields, including African Human Rights Law Journal,
African Human Rights Law Reports, etc. The Centre has established close
partnerships with other academic institutions, NGOs, governments and
international organizations such as the African Union and the United
Nations.

Two Honourable Mentions were also awarded. One is given to the European
Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (E.MA) of the
European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation
(EIUC). E.MA, established in 1997 in Venice, Italy, is being operated now
by EIUC, which brings together 39 universities from the 25 European Union
countries. It is an inter-European one-year intensive postgraduate
programme in human rights and democracy which has provided high-level
education for 750 graduates so far. Its key objective is to satisfy the
need for competent human rights practitioners through application of a
multidisciplinary educational concept. The graduates of the programme are
working in governmental structures, intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations, as well as in the field. Among the graduates are not only
the citizens of the countries of the European Union, but specialists from
various continents and regions as well. The success of E.MA served as an
example for the creation of similar programmes in other regions.

Another Honourable Mention goes to the One World International Human
Rights Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic. The Festival is
organized annually since 1999 by the NGO “People in Need”. In
2006, the Festival attracted more than 40,000 people in 13 cities of the
Czech Republic. The Film Festival is an international competition of
documentary films, including educational films for primary and high
schools. Workshops, debates, concerts and photo exhibitions are organized
around the Festival. Cinema serves thus as a powerful means to promote
human rights and to inculcate respect for human dignity for all without
discrimination.

The UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education, awarded every two years, was
established in 1978 to mark the 30th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and to honour efforts of institutions,
organizations or individuals that have made a particularly significant
contribution to human rights education and the promotion of human rights.
The laureate is named on December 10, Human Rights Day.

Among prizewinners are: Vaclav Havel (Czech Republic) in 1990; the Arab
Institute of Human Rights (Tunisia) in 1992; justice Michael Kirby of the
High Court of Australia in 1998; the city of Nuremberg (Germany) in 2000;
the Academia Mexicana de Derechos Humanos (Mexico) in 2002, Professor
Vitit Muntarbhorn (Thailand) in 2004.

The decision on the prizewinner was taken by the Director-General upon the
recommendation of the International Jury which met at UNESCO Headquarters
on 9 and 10 October 2006. The Jury considered 49 candidates from 37
countries. It was composed of Professor Abdelfattah Amor (Tunisia), Member
and Deputy Chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Committee;
Professor Kinhide Mushakoji (Japan), Director of the Chubu Institute of
Advanced Studies, Department of International Relations, Chubu University;
Professor Nasila S. Rembe (South Africa), holder of the UNESCO Oliver
Tambo Human Rights Chair at Fort Hare University (Alice); Ms Dina
Rodriguez Montero (Peru), Director of the Gender and Peace Studies
Department at the United Nations University for Peace (Costa Rica);
Professor Rumen Valchev (Bulgaria), holder of the UNESCO Chair for Human
Rights and the Culture of Peace at Bourgas Free University, in Sofia; and
Mr Antoine Valery (France), President of the Committee on Human Rights and
Ethical Issues of the French National Commission for UNESCO.

The award ceremony will be held in South Africa in 2007. 




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