Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to inform you that SAFHR is organizing South Asian Workshop on Combating Racism, Xenophobia and Discrimination against Ethnic Minorities and Indigenous People in partnership with EURAC, HRCP, INSEC and Other Media on 15-25 May 2004. For more information please see the information below and the attached pre-registration form and we request you to kindly circulate among your networks also. Your sincerely, Som Niroula SAFHR --------------- EUROPE-ASIA EXCHANGE PROJECT ON MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES Programme supported by European Commission The European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights INTRODUCTION In all parts of the world, minority and indigenous peoples are struggling with serious problems such as discrimination, cultural assimilation, political oppression, population transfer, restriction on the use of their language and lack of democratic participation in the affairs of the state. The people belonging to minorities are demanding more say in running their own affairs but governments are often reluctant to accept that. This situation, in many places, has led to sharp division and polarisation in the polities and societies. The denial of the just demand of minorities and suppression of their political struggles often turn these struggles into a fight for independence. All of this leads to deprivation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the minority communities and indigenous population. Most of the states are reluctant to consider decentralisation and grant of substantive autonomy to these communities. Faced with strong majority centric policies and with no prospect for substantive democracy, insurgent minority groups become unwilling to give up their demands for independence, convinced that nothing short of independence and international recognition can adequately protect their rights and freedoms? These conflicts invariably begin from demands for autonomy. As disputes between states and minority communities escalate, respective positions polarise, and it becomes difficult for either side in the dispute to explore the merits of possible forms of autonomy and self-government. Yet experience shows that in many cases, aspirations of minority and indigenous population groups can in large part be met by appropriate arrangements and institutional innovations for self-government and autonomy. These grow out of a realisation that there can be deficits in democracy, that new forms of dialogues are required for appropriate institutional innovations for self-government and autonomy, and that the constitutional spirit will wither away if it cannot transcend a majority centric polity. Similarly the interests of the states can be protected through such arrangements that make states multi-community and therefore stronger. The project aims at raising awareness among minority and indigenous people's communities and leaders on the use of autonomous arrangements as a means of reaching peaceful coexistence among groups within the framework of the existing state. The structured activities in the project comprise two regional workshops (Nepal and Pakistan); two follow up workshops in Europe and one final workshop in India. Other key elements of the project are: a strong South Asian regional dimension in all phases of the project; cultural exchange for familiarisation with European practice in the field of minority protection; the link between those persons directly involved in the activities and their communities in order to adapt general approaches and international best practices to the needs of the minority and indigenous groups in the South Asian region. OBJECTIVES A recurrent obstacle to resolving or preventing violent conflicts between population groups belonging to minority communities and central governments is the lack of awareness of the wide range of possibilities and creative solutions that can be conceived in terms of self-government and autonomy that can respond to the interests of all groups and sections who have interest in peace and plural framework of policy - i.e. the stakeholders of such an arrangement. In general, there is a pressing need for a more in-depth understanding through sharing of knowledge and information by stakeholders of: * How important needs of a large number of minorities and indigenous peoples could be addressed by means of autonomy and self government arrangements (including needs such as the use of the minority language, protection and development of cultural identity and religion, democratic governance, and access to and management of own resources); * How to design self government and autonomy arrangements that satisfy the interests of all stakeholders; * How to disseminate and effectively use the research and work done by individuals and institutions, such as the Council of Europe and the UN working group on Minorities and Indigenous Peoples and to make appropriate use of experts and good offices in this field. Specific objective * To empower minority and indigenous peoples organisations from south Asia to protect and realise their individual and collective human rights and fundamental freedoms more effectively; * To facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experience among political leaders, scholars, NGOs activists, women and youth organisations committed to the promotion of minority rights and peace; * To stimulate the exchange of experiences between European countries and south Asian countries on the issues of self-government and autonomy arrangements; * To build on the work being done by several organisations in the region and to establish an inclusive network of South Asian organisations and individuals committed to the promotion of minority rights and peace. REGISTRATION If you are interested in applying for the workshop please send us the complete the attached pre-registration form and request a formal application form. Contact: Minority Rights Desk South Asia Forum for Human Rights 3/23 Shree Durbar Tole Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur G. P. O. Box 12855 Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: 977-1-5541026 Fax: 5527852 E-mail: south@safhr.org website: www.safhr.org ------ PROGRAMME 1st programme FIRST SOUTH ASIAN WORKSHOP ON MINORITIES 15-25 May 2004 Venue: Kathmandu, Nepal Objectives * Orient and familiarise the participants with experiences and forms of self-government and autonomy * Exchange of experience and training a set of young experts and activists in self-government policies and forms * Evolving innovative policies towards self-government and autonomy * Instituting a dialogic procedure towards improving democracy in majoritarian polities * Build manual/ kits and prepare the ground for follow-up workshop in Europe Who can participate? The workshop will focus on representatives of minorities and indigenous people, self-determination movements, people from autonomous regions, relevant scholars, jurists and NGOs from the south Asian region including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Burma. 2nd Programme FOLLOW UP WORKSHOP IN EUROPE/ 2004 Venue: Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy Objective * The overall objective of this field mission will be to address issues relating to the protection of minorities through self-government and autonomy arrangements in Europe and to use this exchange as an opportunity to find new and creative solutions. Who can participate? A group of five participants selected from the first South Asian workshop will participate in the follow up workshop. 3rd programme SECOND SOUTH ASIAN WORKSHOP ON MINORITIES/ 2005 Venue: Lahore, Pakistan Objectives * Orient and familiarise the participants with experiences and forms of self-government and autonomy * Exchange of experience and training a set of young experts and activists in self-government policies and forms * Evolving innovative policies towards self-government and autonomy * Instituting a dialogic procedure towards improving democracy in majoritarian polities * Build manual/ kits and prepare the ground for follow-up workshop in Europe Who can participate? The workshop will focus on representatives of minorities and indigenous people, self-determination movements, people from autonomous regions, relevant scholars, jurists and NGOs from the south Asian region including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Burma. 4th programme SECOND FOLLOW UP WORKSHOP IN EUROPE/ 2005 Venue: Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy Objective * The overall objective of this field mission will be to address issues relating to the protection of minorities through self-government and autonomy arrangements in Europe and to use this exchange as an opportunity to find new and creative solutions for the problems of the beneficiaries from the South Asian region. Who can participate? A group of five participants selected from the second south Asian workshops will participate in the second follow up workshop. 5th programme FINAL PROJECT WORKSHOP/ 2006 Venue: New Delhi, India Objectives The overall objective of the final workshop will be to assess the achievements of the previous workshops and the exchange programmes and to adopt a plan for future activities driven by participants and; * reinforce the network of project participants and partner organisations in order to create an operation platform for future actions; * preparation of a manual on Training on Minority Protection in south Asia with a selection of the material used during the workshops; * sharing of experiences gained during the project activities and to ensure a wide dissemination of results and best practices; * identify specific thematic areas and minority issues which need to be addressed with urgency; * mapping of resource available with the network and prepare for follow up. Who can participate? All beneficiaries of the previous workshops, representative from international organisations, bilateral donors, NGOs and media activists THE PARTNERS IN THE PROJECT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF PAKISTAN, Lahore, Pakistan is an independent non-governmental organization registered under the law with its main office in Lahore. It is non political and non profit making. Besides monitoring human rights violations and seeking redress through public campaigns, lobbying and intervention in courts, HRCP organises seminars, workshops and fact finding missions. It also issues a quarterly Newsletter in English language, a monthly newsletter in Urdu and all major regional languages. An annual report on the state of human rights in Pakistan is also published both in English and Urdu. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Aiwain-Jamhoor 107 Tipu Block, New Garden Town Lahore 54600, Pakistan Tel: 92-42-5838341/5864994 Fax: 92-42-5883582 E-mail: hrcp@hrcp-web.org website: www.hrcp-web.org INFORMAL SECTOR SERVICE CENTRE, Katmandu, Nepal was founded in 1988, as an independent, non-profit making, and non partisan human rights organisation. INSEC aims to spread human rights education and awareness at the grassroot level. Headquartered in Kathmandu, it has five regional offices, fifty local networks and reporters in all districts of the country. Protection and promotion of human rights through advocacy, lobby, training, education, information campaigns and projects at national, regional and grassroots level are the objectives of INSEC. It also publishes a yearly report on the state of human rights in Nepal. Informal Sector Service Centre G. P. O. Box 2726 Syunchatar, Kalanki Kathamandu, Nepal Tel: 977-1-4270770 Fax: 977-1-4270551 E-mail: insec@insec.org.np website: www.insec.org.np SOUTH ASIA FORUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (SAFHR) is a regional forum with its secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal. It was founded in 1990. Human rights, peace and democracy are the main areas of concern of the South Asia Forum for Human Rights. SAFHR's programmes promote respect for the universal values of human rights, interdependence of rights and the indivisibility of rights. SAHFR is committed to promote these values through a new culture of dialogue - a dialogue which is not concerned with the culture of 'national security' but with the culture of peace, tolerance and coexistence. SAFHR's regional dialogues, peace studies course, research and publications address some of the core concerns of the human rights agenda - women, refugees, migrants, impunity, minorities, intolerance, inter-state and intra state conflicts, militarisation and lack of regional cooperation. The objective is link these issues in a framework of human rights, peace, tolerance, governance and democracy. South Asia Forum for Human Rights 3/23, Shree Durbar Tole, Patan Dhoka Lalitpur, Nepal G. P. O Box 12855 Kathmandu, Nepal Tel: +977-1-5541026 Fax: +977-1-5527852 Email: south@safhr.org Website: www.safhr.org THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF BOLZANO, (EURAC) Italy is an institute for applied research based in a region which itself is a case study for the protection of minorities (South-Tyrol has a special autonomous status which guaranties the protection of the different linguistic groups on its territory). It was founded in 1992. The department "Minorities and autonomies" of the European Academy is the active partner in the project on Combating Racism, xenophobia, and discrimination against ethnic minorities and indigenous people. The department has an extensive experience in the field of minority rights and regionalism in Europe and has a long history of co-operation with the Tibetan Government in Exile on the issue of minority protection by means of autonomy arrangements. Courses on minority rights and regionalism are regularly organised by EURAC. European Academy Bozen/Bolzano Minorities and Autonomies Drususallee/Viale Druso 1 I-39100 Bozen/Bolzano Tel.+39-0471-055210 Fax.+39-0471-055099 Email: g.rautz@eurac.edu Website: www.eurac.edu THE OTHER MEDIA, New Delhi, India is an organisation based in New Delhi and active in the field of communication. It is committed to the utilization of media as an effective instrument of education, development training and social change. The Other Media is engaged in promoting collective action, harmony, and peace in the country with specialisation in effective communication and information dissemination. It houses various civil society initiatives in India. The Other Media B-14, (Second Floor) Gulmohar Park, New Delhi - 110 049 Tel: 91-11-26514847/26561743 Fax: 91-11-26511504 Email: admin@del3.vsnl.net.in
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pre-registration.doc
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