Training course on Monitoring Economic, Social
and Cultural
Rights
UPDATE: Applications for the 2010 session of the Training Course are
now closed! We thank the over 300 applicants for their interest in our
Course!
Geneva,
10-14
May 2010 (conducted in English)
In
recent
years, monitoring economic, social and cultural
rights has become the modality to mainstream the realization of these
rights as
equally important to that of civil and political rights and thus
rightly
acknowledge their status as integral part of human rights law. This
five-day
training course answers to the increasing need of organizations to
acquire
know-how and enhance their capacity and knowledge in order to
effectively
pursue the monitoring of economic, social and cultural rights.
Course Aim and Objectives
The
course
will provide staff from small and medium
organisations with the know-how to get started in monitoring economic,
social
and cultural rights (ESC rights), and the in-depth knowledge to enhance
their
ESC rights monitoring work. At the end of the training, the
participants will
be:
Familiar with the content of
economic, social and cultural
rights;
Able to devise realistic strategies
for monitoring ESC
rights and documenting the violation/realisation of an ESC right of
particular
concern to them or their organization;
Able to present findings
effectively, and devise an advocacy
strategy which makes use of the international human rights mechanisms.
Program
The course program will cover the following topics:
History of ESC rights; Content and
scope; Justiciability;
Progressive realisation.
Human rights monitoring; Using
indicators and benchmarks to
monitor progressive realization; monitoring government policy-making;
documenting violations; budget monitoring.
Making data talk: presenting
findings in an engaging and
appealing way; sourcing data.
Defining an advocacy strategy;
Overview of the UN human
rights mechanisms relevant to ESC rights and how to interact with them,
including the Treaty Bodies, Special Procedures and the Human Rights
Council.
Substantive case studies on: the
right to food, the right to
housing, the right to education; the right to health; the right to
water, and
other ESC rights.
Discussions with experts, including
UN Treaty Body members;
visit to a session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights.
Training
methods
A
dynamic combination of lectures with hands-on practical
work on real country situations, facilitated by experts experienced in
ESC
rights work at both UN and grassroots level.
Who
should apply?
This
course
aims to suit the needs of staff of human rights
organisations, including NGOs, who want to start monitoring economic,
social
and cultural rights or enhance the work they are currently doing on
monitoring
and advocating for ESC rights. The professional groups targeted are:
advocacy/human rights/legal officers, managers, researchers,
documentalists.
Practical
information
The
third
annual session of this five-day intensive training
course will be held at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian
Law and
Human Rights, from 10 to 14 May 2010.
There will be a maximum of 25
participants accepted.
The course will be held in parallel with the May
session of the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights,
which will
also be held in Geneva. This will allow course participants to observe
the
Committee in session, to the extent time permits.
Participants
who
successfully complete the course will
receive a certificate of participation from the Geneva Academy of
International
Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.
Applications
Applicants
should
complete the application form, and include
a CV. All non-EU, non-Swiss applicants requiring a visa to enter
Switzerland,
or those seeking a scholarship, should send their application to escrtraining@adh-geneva.ch
no later than 24 February 2010. For self-funded, EU/Swiss applicants,
please
submit your application before 15 March 2010 (applications submitted
earlier
will be preferred). UPDATE:
Applications are now closed for the 2010 session of the course!
Fees
The
course
fee for this 5-day intensive program is 1500 Swiss Francs.
The course fee of 1500 Swiss Francs includes: tuition costs, course
materials, 5 lunches, and coffee breaks. The fee is payable once
confirmation
of participation has been issued.
Participants
have
to pay for their own travel to Geneva and
accommodation in Geneva, as well as other expenses related to their
stay
(including a visa to enter Switzerland if needed). Practical
advice will
be given to assist this process, however the costs must be borne by
each
participant. If required, the organizers can provide a letter of
invitation for your visa application and help with providing
information about
accommodation.
No
fee
waivers are possible, however a very limited number
of scholarships may be made available by external funders. These are
intended
for participants from developing countries who are unable to exhaust
their own
organisation's funding opportunities. In this sense we encourage the
applicants
to firstly look for sources of funding with their own organization,
other
foundations or embassies. For those who wish to apply for a
scholarship,
please complete the application form above and note your need for
financial
assistance on this form.
What previous
participants have said about the course
“The
Graduate
Institute of International and Development
Studies / HURIDOCS course provided an opportunity to explore new
developments
in ESC rights, identify new resources, and reflect on how NGOs in the
area can
shape their work to best capture these developments. Above all it
provided a
space to share learning with others in development and human rights
fields, and
discover the wealth of work that has already been done and that can be
easily
accessed.”
Rosalind
McKenna
Coordinator,
Human
Rights Based Approaches (HRBA) Project
Amnesty
International
(Irish section)
“The
course
generally was a very strong learning experience
… Course contents were relevant and well illustrated by practical
examples. I can absolutely justify the expense and time out from
the
office to follow this course – well done all involved!”
Anonymous
feedback
from a course participant, 2008 program
Thank
you
very much – It was a very exciting and motivating
week and very good in terms of networking and discovering new sources
of info
and deepening my knowledge on ESC rights.”
Anonymous
feedback
from a course participant, 2008 program
“As
a
campaigner, I don’t often need to get into monitoring
but it was great to get a better and deeper understanding of ESCR and
it
definitely satisfied my intellectual curiosity at many levels!”
Anonymous
feedback
from a course participant, 2008 program
This
is
a useful course on the overview of the theoretical
and practical aspects of economic, social and cultural rights, and [the
Geneva
Academy] is the pioneer in offering such a course among all tertiary
institutes. The teachers have extensive experience in actual work and
consultation in ESCR and therefore are able to share valuable
experience with
course participants. Thank you for offering the course.
Karen
Kong,
Research Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law
University
of
Hong Kong, participant in 2009 program
The
course
improved my appreciation and understanding of ESC
rights, and the UN mechanisms on human rights. It will help me in
better doing
my tasks in the field of ESCR promotion, advocacy and seeking redress
for
violations.
Minerva
G.
Gonzales, Member, Board of Trustees
Economic,
Social
and Cultural Rights Asia, participant in
2009 program
This
training
has been one of the most relevant training
opportunities in my life and career as a human rights practitioner.
This is
because it has exposed me to several approaches to monitoring economic
social
and cultural rights and particularly special procedures on specific
economic,
social and cultural rights and the use of benchmarks and indicators in
monitoring ESC rights.
Patricia
Achan-Okiria
Uganda
Human
Rights Commission, participant in 2009 program
