Ref: 65/2015
On Thursday, 26 November 2015, in presence of lawyer Raji Sourani, Director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), and Mr. Issa Saba and Mr. Hashim Thalathini, Members of PCHR’s Board of Directors, PCHR’s Training Unit organized a closing ceremony at the end of the fourth training of trainer course in the field of human rights, which is part of a two-year project funded by the EU and entitled “Promoting Human Rights and Freedom of Access to Information in the Gaza Strip”. The Training Unit held a concluding ceremony, where certificates were distributed to the participants. The 5-day course (35 training hours) was held in the Light House Restaurant in Gaza City from 22-26 November 2015. Twenty-six participants representing 10 active community-based organizations in the Gaza Strip attended the course.
In his concluding speech, lawyer Raji Sourani asserted that this course was the fourth one implemented by PCHR within the project aimed to creating a generation of young trainers in the field of human rights. Besides, the group receiving the training had diverse experiences and specializations that would be a qualitative addition for persons working on disseminating the human rights culture and on outreach issues”. Sourani encouraged the trainees to gain knowledge in the field of human rights, especially as it is an under-development science and the Palestinian people are in a bad need for. He added that human rights are not intellectual luxury, whereas, the trainers should move to practice each in his organization.” Sourani pointed out that the relationship between PCHR on the one hand and the trainers and their home organizations on the other hand is continued, and added, “This relationship does not finish by the end of a training course; however, it should be strengthened even after a course finishes. In addition, PCHR’s doors are always open to them to benefit from PCHR’s experience in this field”.
Mr. Bassam al-Aqra’, Director of PCHR’s Training Unit, said that the training content of the course was divided into five training days. The first training day addressed an introduction to training (concept and characteristics, components, philosophy of adult education and the difference between teaching and training). The second day focused on the psychology of perception, communication skills and the characteristics of efficient trainers. The third day covered the cycle of training (identifying the training needs and goals, preparing the training content and evaluation). The fourth day addressed training techniques and method (the concept, classification and selection criteria), the means of training (selection criteria, benefits, types and use). Finally, the fifth day focused on practice.
A team of specialized trainers supervised the training sessions. The team included Dr. Mahmoud al-Natour, Lecturer at al-Aqsa University, Dr. Bassam Abu Hashish, Professor of Educational Administration at al-Aqsa University, Mr. Ya’qoub Hijo, Training Adviser at the Ministry of Education and Mr. Bassam al-Aqra’, Director of PCHR’s Training Unit.
It should be noted that it was surprising that the participants presented appreciation emblems for PCHR and the trainers for their efforts to create new generation of young trainers in the field of human rights. On behalf of the participants, the Journalist Hamadah Hamadah said, “The course gave them new knowledge and skills in training as its program was comprehensive”. He also praised the efficient trainers and their various and interactive training methods. Hamadah added that the effective participation and the discussion that prevailed in the training sessions enriched the course. However, he requested that similar courses should be organized in the future to help organizations to implement their awareness programs in their fields of work”.
At the end of the day, Sourani, Issa Saba, Hashem al-Thalathini, Ya’qoub Hijo, Bassam Abu Hashish and Bassam al-Aqra’ distributed certificates to the participants.
