With support from the Norwegian Embassy, the Amman Centre for Human Rights Studies har recently organised the fourth regional training of trainers course on human rights.
There were 18 participants (4 from Syria, 6 from Iraq, 4 from Jordan, 1 from Saudi Arabia, 1 from Bahrain, 1 from Yemen and 1from Lebanon) with a good gender balance.
The aim of the "Training of Trainers" project was to promote human-rights in Arab countries especially in Syria and Iraq. More specifically to develop the capability of specialized personnel from various Human Rights NGOs in teaching and disseminating information about human rights through the use of specialised training tools. The promotion of training skills will be of great benefit to NGOs involved in human rights activities, and will in the longer term help raise general awareness about the subject.
The ambassador of Norway, Sverre Stub, said in his graduation speech that:
"… Promotion of human rights, in all its aspects, is a high priority of the Government of Norway. The strengthening of human rights, democracy and human security is indeed an important challenge not the least in this region. Your role as active, dedicated NGO workers involved in human rights is important. You can contribute, and yes, you can make a real difference. It is true, you can make a difference."
"…On the international scene - human rights have long ago become "high politics". Human rights violations are one of the greatest sources of insecurity in the world. Very few conflicts are not preceded by human rights violations – indeed, such violations are often at the very origin of armed conflict."
"…Minority groups can often be vulnerable, for instance because of their religious belief or their ethnic origin. It is a strong moral, political, and legal obligation to ensure minority rights.
One vulnerable group that is not a minority group, is women. The Nobel Peace Prize winner from 2003, Shirin Ebadi, has said that "women's rights are an excellent indicator of the general human rights situation in a country". She is so right. It is indeed an important responsibility for the whole society, not just governments, to ensure that all people, men and women, are treated with equal rights, and with human dignity. It goes without saying that this should apply also to children of all ages. Respect for women's and children's rights must apply not only in words, but also in deeds. But unfortunately, we too often see that rights that are assured by a country's laws are sidestepped in daily life. The excuses for such sidestepping are never convincing, and they are not justifiable.
We all share the responsibility to do our utmost to make respect for human rights a reality for all."