This summer school is led by a team of academics and practitioners and offers a perfect introduction for people who want to know more about Human Rights. The course will provide you with a good basic understanding of human rights through short and dynamic presentations, concrete case studies and lively discussions. It will examine specific thematic topics in human rights such as children’s rights and refugee rights. You will get a chance to meet public and not-for-profit organisations working to realise human rights.

The course will provide an overview of the philosophical and conceptual foundations of Human Rights, and an introduction to the main international and regional human rights instruments and monitoring mechanisms. It will address the current trends in Democracy and Elections, seeking to identify the main threats, with insights from the field. The course will also examine specific thematic areas such as children’s rights and refugee rights; and advocacy and communication strategies towards the realisation of human rights. The course will end with a discussion on current challenges, trends and opportunities facing human rights. This course will give you a unique opportunity to meet public and not-for-profit organisations working to protect and implement Human Rights. This course offers a balanced combination of a theoretical background and a practitioners’ approach, with concrete insights from the field.

Applicants must show an interest in human rights, but no specific degree is required for this summer course.

Coordination team | Carla Luís and Veronique Lerch


Participants

The course uses an interdisciplinary approach, being led by a team of academics and practitioners. It offers a perfect introduction for people who want to know more about Human Rights. It can be useful for researchers, professionals, and people seeking to work in the field, Human Rights activists, as well as civil servants, lawyers, members of the judiciary, policy-makers, and Human Rights practitioners in general. 

Registration fee:
€350 – until 1st May 2020.
€400 – from 2nd May.
Former VotedHR students: €350

What does the fee cover?
The fee includes all sessions, visits, coffee breaks and lunch on the first day.

Certified training: Laboratório Associado - DL n.º 396/2007, de 31/12, DL n.º 63/2019, de 16 de Maio e Estatutos do CES.  Certificate issued (English and/or Portuguese) upon completing the course.

If you are not based in Lisbon, the fee does not cover accommodation or transportation.

If you require an acceptance letter, in order to apply for funding or scholarships, please let us know, and we will process it shortly.

Scholarships
Three places in the course are reserved for people based in Portugal, passionate about Human Rights and with limited financial means. Send us an e-mail to ceslx@ces.uc.pt with your CV and a motivation letter explaining why we should waive the fee for you. Deadline: 1st May 2020.

Activity within the research project VotEDHR, a Project on Elections, Democracy and Human Rights,

HUMAN RIGHTS: FOUNDATIONS

MONDAY, 29th June

9:30 - 10:00 - Registration of participants.
10:00 - 10:30 - Introductory words and logistics for the week.
10:30 - 13:00 - Historical and conceptual foundations of Human Rights. UN Human Rights instruments and mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights at the international level. Véronique Lerch and Carla Luís

13:00- 14:00 - Lunch
Tayybeh – Syrian food - Catering service by Syrian refugees

14:00 - 15:00 - Regional Human Rights instruments and mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights.
15:00 - 16:30; How can the United Nations make a difference regarding Economic, Social and Cultural Rights?
Virgínia Brás Gomes, Former Chair of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

 17:00 – 19:00; Migrantour - Lisbon - Tour of Lisbon ran by migrants, coord. by Renovar a Mouraria (Portuguese ngo)

DEMOCRACY, ELECTIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

TUESDAY, 30th June – Location: European Commission in Portugal
10:00 – 13:00 - Opening words: Sofia Colares Alves, Head of the European Commission Representation in Portugal (TBC)
Democracy, Election, Populism and Human Rights. and other current challenges to a democratic society and fair elections. Carla Luís

13:00 - 14:30-Lunch.

14.30 - 16.00-Fake news, Democracy and current challenges.
Fact checking exercise (TBC).

HUMAN RIGHTS: SPECIFIC AREAS

WEDNESDAY, 1st July

10:00 - 13:00 - Children rights: are children’s rights Human Rights? 
History of children’s rights in the context of human rights; Child’s right to participation; Child protection. Véronique Lerch

13.00 - 14.00-Lunch

14.00 - 15:30-The Portuguese Ombudsperson and her role on Human Rights protection. Ana Rita Gil, Cabinet of the Portuguese Ombudsperson

HUMAN RIGHTS IN PRACTICE

THURSDAY, 2nd July – Location: Aljube Museum, Alfama

10:00 - 12:30 Aljube Museum – guided visit.
Aljube is a former political prison till 1974, and is now a museum on the Portuguese fight for freedom and democracy

12:30 - 14:15-Lunch.

14:15 - 17:30-Workshop
Human Rights advocacy: e.g., strategic litigation, lobbying, communication strategies, monitoring EU and UN institutions. Véronique Lerch

HUMAN RIGHTS UNDER THREAT: CURRENT CHALLENGES

FRIDAY, 3rd July

10:00 - 11:15- Current challenges to Human Rights and emerging Human Rights issues. Carla Luís and Véronique Lerch
11:30 - 13:00 – Human Rights: successful advocacy campaigns.

13:00 - 14:30 - Lunch.

Departure of participants.

Carla Luís works on Elections, Democracy, and Human Rights. Currently she coordinates a Training Programme on Elections, Democracy and Human Rights. She coordinates a Training Programme on Elections, Democracy and Human Rights, aiming at raising awareness regarding the main aspects of Democratic Elections. This includes advanced training courses on Electoral Observation, Elections and Democracy, among others. She worked with International IDEA on the Electoral Justice Toolkit in 2018. Visiting researcher in The Electoral Integrity Project, coord. by Prof. Pippa Norris, Sydney University - Harvard University, 1st semester 2015. UNDP Electoral Legal Adviser in Timor-Leste, on the 2012 Electoral Cycle. Researcher in the Project "Peacebuilding and sustainable peace: UN missions in Timor-Leste and Portugal's contribution" (2012-2014). Board Member of the Portuguese National Electoral Commission since 2010. PhD on International Politics and Conflict Resolution, University of Coimbra. E.ma European Masters in Human Rights and Democratisation, Law Degree by the New University of Lisbon.

Véronique Lerch is an international human rights consultant, specialized in child rights and governance issues, working for institutions as UNICEF and the European Commission. Her areas of expertise are: policy development, child and youth participation, alternative care, advocacy and communication for change, organizational development and capacity-building. She was previously the Head of the Advocacy department of a large child rights organization: SOS Children’s Villages International. She notably led an advocacy campaign to improve the rights of young people ageing out of the care system in over 20 countries of Europe and Central Asia and introduced participatory methods in the campaign allowing children and young people to be change agents. She also worked for the Africa department of the global anti-corruption coalition, Transparency International. She holds a European Master degree in Human Rights and Democratisation (EMA) from EIUC and a Master in International Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Maria Virgínia Brás Gomes was Born in Goa, India. Member of UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights since 2004. From 2008 to 2010 she served as Vice-chair of the Committee, from 2012 to 2014 as Rapporteur and from 2017 to 2018 as Chair. She was co-rapporteur for the Committee’s General Comments nº 19, on the right to social security, and nº 23, on the right to just and favourable conditions of work.

She works as Senior social policy adviser in the Ministry of Employment, Solidarity and Social Security of Portugal and is Chair of the Board of the Portuguese UNICEF Committee.  She is also a Distinguished Guest Lecturer in the LLM Program in Intercultural Human Rights at the St. Thomas University School of Law (2018); Invited expert at the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University / College of Asia & the Pacific (2015); Faculty member of the Leadership Institute in Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2011 to 2015). She has participated in a number of national and international conferences on economic, social and cultural rights, social security, and sustainable development, and conducted training in treaty body reporting and on human rights in Africa, Asia and Europe, on behalf of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Associação Renovar a Mouraria was created in 2008 by a group of residents with the aim to revitalise the historical neighbourhood of Mouraria located in the centre of Lisbon. This is a non-profit private organisation with public utility status.The Associação Renovar a Mouraria promotes a wide array of activities with the major goal to strengthen the social inclusion of various communities by fostering cultural interaction and mutual support. It undertakes its activities mainly at the Communitarian House in Mouraria, a former derelict building which was thoroughly revitalised. Teaching Portuguese as a foreign language for immigrants, literacy education, study support for children and youngsters, legal support services, traditional Chinese medicine or the solidarity hairdresser are its leading community development projects.  However, the scope of activity of this Association goes much beyond the walls of the Communitarian House, with projects such as the community newspaper Rosa Maria, guided tours with local national and immigrant tour guides (Migrantour) and the Atelier Ideal, which aims at improving the image and communication of local trade.

Maria Lúcia Amaral, The Ombudsperson (Since November 2017) was born in Angola. She is a Law Professor in the Faculty of Law of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and was a Justice of the Constitutional Court between April 2007 and July 2016. She dedicated her academic life to the study and teaching of Public Law, especially Constitutional Law. She is an author of studies in this domain and a member of several international scientific associations. Maria Lúcia Amaral was elected, by the Parliament, as the Portuguese Ombudsman on October 20th 2017 and took office on November 2nd the same year.

Ana Rita Gil has graduated in Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra (2003), where she completed a postgraduate degree in Child Protection (2005). She holds PhD in Law, awarded by the New University of Lisbon in 2016, with a thesis on Human Rights of Immigrants. She works in the areas of Human and Fundamental Rights, in particular Migrants, Refugees and Children, and is the author of scientific works published in Portugal and abroad. She is Professor of the Masters in Law at New University of Lisbon, and in the Faculty of Law of the Portuguese Catholic University. She was Advisor to the Judges’ Office of the Constitutional Court (2010-2018).

Aljube Museum - Resistance and Freedom is dedicated to the history and memory of the fight against the dictatorship and the recognition of resistance in favour of freedom and democracy in Portugal. It is a musealised site and a historical museum that intends to fill a gap in the Portuguese museological fabric, by projecting the appreciation of the memory of the fight against the dictatorship onto the construction of an enlightened and responsible citizenship, and by taking on the struggle against the exonerating and, often, complicit silencing of the dictatorial regime that governed the country between 1926 and 1974.

Luís Farinha is the Director of the Aljube Museum Resistance and Freedom and a researcher at the Institute of Contemporary History (FCSH-UNL).