Promoting Human Rights through Competence Building and Training

A seminar arranged by the China Programme and the Indonesia Programme at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights

An increasing amount of Western aid is devoted to human rights related projects. Much support is given to competence building and training of professional groups, who are believed to have the capacity to promote both respect for human rights, as well as their practical implementation.

At this seminar, competence building as a means to promote human rights will be discussed from both the donor and the beneficiary perspective. Some of the questions that will be tackled include: how can it be ensured that these training projects are legitimate, effective and sustainable? Which groups shall be targeted and what approaches and methods should be adopted? How important is it to consider local context when conducting training in a foreign culture? In dealing with these themes, international and Norwegian experts will give presentations focusing on human rights training of academics, military/police and NGOs. Cases from China, Indonesia, the Balkans and Belarus will be presented to illustrate some of the challenges involved in designing these projects.

Ample time has been set aside for discussion and the participants are encouraged to take active part and share their experiences and views on the topic.


Venue: Håndverkeren Course and Conference Centre, Rosenkrantzgate 7
Time: 16 November, 2006, 9:00-16:45
Seminar Language: English
Please register your participation to Maria Henoch (maria.henoch at nchr.uio.no, replacing “at” with @). Participants will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis (maximum 30). There is no attendance fee and lunch is included.