DESCRIPTION:

The WHRI, while rich in theory and scholarly information, will be characterized by committed, engaged activism, rather than a purely academic stance. There will be an integration of theory and practice; reflection and action; and critique and vision. Human rights, peace, and emerging alternatives to globalization will be examined both as interconnected elements of a socially just and sustainable world and as alternative ways of knowing, acting, being, and interacting. This will be reflected in the teaching principles and methodology; the institute will aim to create a safe, supportive, cooperative and celebratory space that honours differences, affirms women’s strengths, values individual and collective experience and draws on and contributes directly to practice.

All instructors have extensive activist experience at local, national and international levels and are known for their theoretical, academic and policy contributions in these areas. To maximize each individual’s learning opportunity, the number of participants for the six-week programme  is limited to twenty and will come from all regions of the world.

COURSE THEMES

• What Does it Mean be a Female Human? (Basic notions of Human Rights)
• Human Rights in the Age of the Market (Feminist Alternatives to Corporate Globalization)
• From Women´s / Our Bodies to the U.N. (Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Violence Against Women)
• CEDAW for Change (Tools for Building Human Rights)
• Another World Is Possible (Dreaming Human Rights into Reality)
• Human Rights Education for a Lasting Peace (Participant Presentations and Workshops)

Students will receive a Certificate of Completion for full participation in the WHRI, including the six weeks in class and their post training plan to implement their learning. Those who wish to apply their work toward academic credit in other programs will be supported to do this.

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE?
Participants should have an interest in and openness to feminist approaches and respect for their variety, a commitment to social change, and a desire for dialogue with others with different experiences and approaches.

Anyone involved in humane governance, human security, peacekeeping, conflict transformation, constitution building, poverty eradication, personal transformation, sustainable development, crime prevention, eradicating violence, sexual and reproductive health will gain insights about these issues through learning about human rights as a way of being in this world and in their communities, and as a legal and ethical framework to guide them into the future. Participants will learn about peace as a comprehensive, multifaceted concept aimed at not only ending the direct violence of war and armed conflict but also of creating the conditions for a just and sustainable world.

We encourage a wide variety of participants, including teachers and educators, union representatives, practitioners, policy-makers, movement activists, development workers, government workers and staff, and students. The WHRI will serve those interested in learning how to develop their projects within a human rights framework, those wishing to strengthen their practice and develop their theoretical and conceptual understanding of human rights and peacebuilding and those interested in human rights education within both school and community settings.

Participants taking part in the six-week WHRI will have the opportunity to:
• gain a deeper knowledge of gender and feminist analysis and theory
• engage in research/scholarship connected to and informed by practice
• gain increased understanding of the causes of injustice and possibilities for change
• learn about the U.N. Human Rights system and how to use a gender sensitive rights-based framework in their own work
• increase their skills in community practice, political lobbying, and international networking and organizing
• increase their ability to use Human Rights education as a tool for social change
• develop their own perspectives by examining diverse approaches and current debates and addressing tough questions of practice

• develop their own plan for applying their learning post-WHRI, implement their plan and submit a report that will be featured in the WHRI’s online library

Read more here on the six-week Women’s Human Rights Education Institute.

For those who cannot attend the full six-week WHRI, the one-week CEDAW for Change module within the longer course is available for enrollment.