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What's Being Done On . . . Human Rights Networking ?
Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) builds a community of human rights educators and advocates through its programming and networking efforts, including:
To learn more, visit http://www.hrea.org/ Interview: We would like to thank Felisa Tibbitts, Executive Director and a founder of the Human Rights Education Associates, for answering the following interview questions. 1. Please explain the background of the HREA? When and how was it established and what are its objectives? Cristina Sganga, who at that time was the first coordinator of human rights education for Amnesty International in their international secretariat in London, and I founded Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) in Amsterdam in 1996. I had been coordinating human rights education programming with the Netherlands Helsinki Committee at a time when many educational systems in Central and Eastern Europe were undergoing a period of curricular reform. Both Cristina and I believed that the human rights movement needed an organization that was focused on education and training as a preventative tool for promoting and protecting human rights. 2.How does HREA promote networking among human rights educators? Please explain the online forums maintained by HREA. HREA promotes networking through several mechanisms, including moderated listservs, as well as - more recently - a human rights educators' database. Our flagship listserv is the Global Human Rights Education listserv, which was started in 1999 and now has over 3,300 members from over 150 countries. This listserv is the premier mechanism for communication among human rights educators around the globe. The Global HRE List was so successful that HREA helped to launch regional HRE listservs with partner organizations. There are now sister listservs operating in the following languages: Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish/Portuguese, and English (for Asia). All of these listservs are connected to one another, with occasional cross-postings. Postings include announcements of new publications, trainings and other resources; calls for joint initiatives; requests for information; discussions about methodology; and sharing of lessons learned. In the summer of 2004, an online Global Consultation on the World Programme for Human Rights was organized simultaneously on all listservs. The recommendations that resulted from the consultation were submitted to the UN General Assembly. In 2004, HREA launched a Global Directory of Human Rights Educators to further facilitate networking. Human rights educators and organizations can input background information. A search feature of the database enables visitors to find human rights educators by region, language, and areas of expertise and interest. We think that this will further facilitate resource sharing among educators. HREA also facilitates in-person networking by regularly organizing international conferences. 3. What are some of the challenges facing human rights educators around the world and how can networking help in overcoming those challenges? One of the biggest challenges facing human rights educators worldwide is isolation. Human rights educators are few and far between. Some are involved in training human rights specialists, such as human rights monitors and field officers. Others are involved in school-based or public education. In nearly every case, the human rights educator is one of the few on staff devoted to education and training. Bringing people together in an online network with a shared moral commitment and vision, as well as similar needs, acts as a powerful support. Human rights educators sometimes work in hostile environments. This could be because they have limited opportunity to promote human rights education or because they operate in a country with repressive governments. Last year, the Global HRE listserv mobilized around a member who was detained by the police when trying to organize a human rights training. We would like to think that the swift action of members in contacting local authorities assisted in the release of this trainer and his colleagues. For educators who have just recently come into human rights education, it can be a challenge to find learning materials. The network facilitates members getting hold of resources that meet their particular needs. 4. Using online technologies helps build and strengthen the community of human rights educators. One of the ways you do this is through your online Learning Center. Could you please tell us more about it? How successful has the Center been in providing training to human rights educators? HREA has both an online Resource Centre and an online Learning Centre. The Resource Centre library is an online repository of over 2,000 full-text curricula, training materials and resources that can be downloaded free of charge. These can be used in trainings for a range of target groups (e.g., human rights monitors, police officers, secondary school teachers) and can be searched by subject area (e.g., rights of refugees, children's rights, freedom of assembly, free and fair elections, etc.). HREA's online Learning Centre includes interactive tutorials, study guides and distance learning courses. Human rights activists and educators can participate in our online courses, which are on topics of high relevance for work in the human rights and humanitarian sectors. Annual courses are offered on human rights advocacy, human rights monitoring, project development and management, rights-based programming, and introductory courses on the European, Inter-American and UN human rights systems. Scholarships are available and set aside for each course for those participants who cannot afford tuition. Course participants come from the NGO sector, inter-governmental agencies and government agencies (such as Human Rights Ombudsmen) dealing with these topics. HREA has trained over 750 human rights advocates through these e-learning courses since 2002. 5. Who develops the numerous tutorials, online courses, guidebooks, and other materials? The materials in the Learning Centre - including the study guides, tutorials and distance learning courses - were developed by HREA staff, human rights lawyers, other experts, and volunteers. Materials posted in the on-line Resource Centre library come from organizations and individuals from all over the world. Many organizations, such as Amnesty International and the United Nations, send their materials automatically to HREA to help ensure dissemination. We register over 1.5 million hits per month on our web site. 6. What is the relationship between HREA and the various partner organizations/ members of the network? HREA has different levels of partnerships. In some cases, HREA has formal partnerships with organizations, such as those with whom we initiated regional HRE listservs. Those partners included the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Asian Regional Resource Center for Human Rights Education, the Inter-American Institute for Human Rights and the Union Interafricaine des Droits de l'Homme (UIDH, Burkina Faso). We also work in partnership with other organizations when carrying out specific projects. For example, we work with Amnesty International -USA in developing a human rights and service learning manual for US teachers. HREA also works on national projects in partnership with local NGOs and governmental agencies in various countries around the world. HREA is not a membership organization. However, we consider members of the Global HRE listserv and the HRE educator's database to be part of a global human rights education network, which we are nurturing and caretaking. 7. What are the benefits of being part of and maintaining a large network of human rights educators? The Global HRE listserv has definitely enhanced the legitimacy of human rights education within the human rights movement. For example, members of the listserv have been mobilized to give input and sign onto resolutions supporting HRE at the UN Commission for Human Rights. On-line forums have been organized specifically to give direct feedback to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the development of global policies for human rights education, and ongoing discussions on the listserv have advanced our understanding of the field as a whole. Practically speaking, the listserv also helps people stay aware of what is happening around the world in human rights education. HRE is happening in many different contexts - with differing challenges and opportunities, depending upon the environment. In some countries, HRE is primarily being carried out in the informal sector. In others, there may be opportunities to introduce it into the schooling sector. Promising developments in any part of the world in HRE encourages and helps us all. 8. How can someone join your network? Individuals and organizations are welcome to subscribe to one of our various listservs [www.hrea.org/hre-network/] and we encourage them to initiate or contribute to discussions of interest to them. People are also encouraged to join the Global Directory of Human Rights Educators, which can be found at www.hrea.org/erc/Databases/edu/. There are also various events and trainings organized by HREA. Once you attend one of these, there will be multiple opportunities for staying connected both to HREA and each other. These events are announced on HREA's multilingual web site as well as on the Global HRE listserv. About "What's Being Done On . . . " For three months at a time, we highlight the activities of various organizations in different global regions, and links to important resources, that are focused on a particular theme or area of democracy work. Each new theme is announced via DemocracyNews, and the information from the previous installment is placed in the archives below. We hope to receive and post information about the work you or others may be doing that is focused on these issues. Send information via e-mail to the or by fax to (202) 378-9889. |
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