Ref: 13/2017 

On Wednesday, 30 March 2017, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) concluded a training course in the field of human rights and international humanitarian law in Khan Younis. The 20-hour course was held in PCHR’s branch office in Khan Younis from 27 to 30 March 2017 and attended by 24 members and volunteers, including 21 young women, from 10 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) active in Khan Younis .

The program of the course included a number of international human rights instruments, including the International Bill of Human Rights (the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights); the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; Universal Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women; in addition to the Gender  and Mechanisms of Monitoring and Documenting Human Rights Violations.

A team of PCHR’s trainers supervised the training sessions. The team included Bassam al-Aqra’a, Director of the PCHR’s Training Unit; Mohammed ‘Atallah, a trainer at the Unit; ‘Abdel Halim Abu Samrah, PCHR’s Public Relations officer in Khan Younis; Majedah Shehadah, a Researcher at PCHR’s Women’s Unit; and Sherif Abu Nassar, a lawyer at PCHR’s Legal Unit.

At the end of the course, PCHR organized a closing ceremony.  Mr. Bassam al-Aqraa’, Director of the Training Unit, stressed, “This training is part of PCHR’s long-term efforts to disseminate the culture of human rights in the Palestinian society.”  ‘Abdel Halim Abu Samrah stressed that, “The relationship between PCHR and the participants in the course should not end at the end of the course, but it should start from here and deepen.” He added,” PCHR’s doors will always be open to participants in order to benefit from PCHR’s experience.”

Rim al-Foqa’ie, from Watan Association for Heritage and Family Development, emphasized that it is important to continuously hold joint activities with PCHR that is of great experience and good reputation in the field of human rights.  Meanwhile, Muhanned Abu Yousif, from Never Stop Dreaming Center (NSD), said that, “the course was characterized with its rich topics and contributed to raising participants’ awareness of human rights; trainers’ efficiency and various and interactive training methods used in the course.”

At the end of the course, all participants received certificates.