Ref: 08/2006

Date:  02 April 2006

For the 4^th Consecutive Year, PCHR and UNRWA Implement the joint “Democracy and Human Rights Project”

The Training Unit Opens the Fourth Training Course of the Joint Project for the Year 2006

On Thursday, 30 March 2006, PCHR’s Training Unit completed the fourth training course in the area of human rights and student mediation. The course was held in cooperation with the Education Department at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip.

It is noted that this training course is part of the ongoing cooperation between PCHR and UNRWA for the fourth consecutive year. The annual joint project is coordinated and agreed to at the beginning of each year.

This course was held in the meetings hall in UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City. The course duration was 20 training hours over 4 days during the period 26-30 March. Twenty-one male and female UNRWA school supervisors, principals, and vice-principals attended the course.

The course included training sessions on different human rights topics including the importance of human rights, the history of human rights, international legitimacy of human rights, the 3 main components of human rights (the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Special Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, and the Special Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), and Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, the course included the role of school principals and their staff in increasing children’s awareness of their rights, student mediation, conflict-resolution, school government, forming student parliaments, producing educational tools, organizing children’s contests, and practical applications of children’s rights education in schools. 

A team of specialized trainers, from within and without PCHR, conduct the training, utilizing different training techniques. Sessions were characterized by active participation and rich discussion.

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