Ref: 24/2014

On Thursday, 05 June 2014, the Training Unit
of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), in cooperation with the
Development of Palestinian Women Society in Central Gaza Strip, concluded a
training course in human rights.  The
20-hour training course was held in the society’s head office in al-Bureij
refugee camp in the period from 01 – 05 June 2014.  22 participants attended the course.  

The course focused on a number of
international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; The
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; and
The Universal Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. The
course also covered in the topics of the political participation, rule of law,
independence of judiciary, and gender issues.

A team of specialized trainers supervised the
training sessions.  The team included:
Mr. Bassam al-Aqra’, Director of PCHR’s Training Unit; Mr. Khalil Shaheen,
Director of PCHR’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Unit; Mona al-Shawwa,
Director of PCHR’s Women’s Rights Unit; Majeda Shahada, a researcher at PCHR’s
Women’s Rights Unit; and Shareef Abu Nassar, a lawyer in PCHR’s Legal Aid Unit.

On completing the course, Bassam al-Aqra’
Director of the Training Unit, explained that this course was part of a
long-term effort by PCHR to promote human rights in Palestinian society in
cooperation with community-based organizations. He also added that PCHR’s
relationship with the Development of The Palestinian Women  Society is relatively new and corresponds
with PCHR’s efforts to create relationships with more community-based
organizations. This allows PCHR to serve more people in marginalized areas as
well as increasing their awareness in human rights through organizing similar
training courses and involving them in PCHR’s various activities.  Al-Aqra’ called upon trainees to benefit from
the PCHR’s services and emphasized that PCHR’s doors are open to everyone.

The participants highly appreciated PCHR’s
efforts to disseminate human rights culture within Palestinian society. One of
the participants, Hassan Jaber, commented that the course contributed to
raising the participants’ awareness of the concepts of human rights, especially
women.  He also called upon the
participants to transfer what they learnt to their departments adding that the
activities will continue with PCHR upon their request with regards to various
topics, which women are interested in. 
Kaothar al-Hattab, the administrative assistant of aforementioned, said
that the course contributed to raising the participants’ awareness of human
right concepts, especially since it is the first of its kind, so it helped them
to understand the concepts better as a prelude to claim their rights. Another
participant, Islam Meit ‘Ali, added that the course was characterized by the
variation of its topics in spite of the intensity of the training material. She
appreciated the course and praised the dedication of the trainers and the use
of diverse interactive training methods. 
He added that active participation and discussion during the training
sessions had enriched the course, but he requested that more topics should be
included in the course.  

At the end of the day, participants received
their certificate.