Ramallah: Human Rights and Democracy Media Center "SHAMS" participated in the training session of the Euro - Mediterranean for the training of trainers on human rights education with the participation of the Arab University s students in Beirut/ Lebanon, this session was sponsored by Council of Europe and the Center for Human Rights in the Arab University of Beirut in collaboration with the jurist Center of Public Affair to the issues of public affairs and Permanent Peace Movement, which was attended by 24 participants from countries of Lebanon, Spain, Syria, Switzerland, Palestine, Italy, Iraq, Armenia, Jordan, France, Yemen, Poland, and Egypt.

 Ms. Majd Biltaji represented "SHAMS" center in the session and said that the course achieved the objectives and results, whether at the local level or regional level in terms of developing the efficiency of trainers to work with human rights education at the national and regional levels and that enable them to be trained and animators in the field of human rights education, where participants were introduced to methods of  work and related activities and trends of human rights education manual and how to optimally use and adapt them in a way that fits with local realities and needs, using the trends and teaching tools.

 She added that session s participatory approach offered participants to actively intermingle with different activities and to reflect their experiences and concepts about the field of human rights education, where participants can compare their approaches to education on human rights across the European countries and the Arabic-speaking countries in an environment of dialogue and cultural exchange.

Ms.Biltaji stressed the need for adequate methodologies and trained practitioners in the field of human rights so as to enable further measures relating to these programs and development. She praised the role played by the Council of Europe and the European Commission in the field of cooperation in the policies and activities for youth by recognizing the potentials in human rights education and by initiating Partnership between Youth and the European Commission and the Council of Europe as one among other objectives to support education on human rights and respect for cultural diversity.

The program addressed needs of such training sessions and introduced an overview of the evolution of human rights education and the challenges face the participating countries, and has introduced different approaches and structural trends of  human rights education manual for youth, and analyzed the competencies and skills and values of trainers in the filed of human rights education in order to share experiences and challenges in the framework of systematic and non-systematic education through conducting practical workshops on skills and attitudes essential to human rights education, and by giving the opportunity to test and evaluate methods and activities in various directions relating to the directory of human rights education for young people, and by introducing the "know how" to design training modules for possible workshops or national programs, which can be developed by the participants and their institutions.

 
Biltaji said that recognition of the importance of human rights education and the need to enhance skills and knowledge in related international conventions and instruments and enhancing skills in the dissemination and realization of the principles of human rights in the Arab world will put all of us on the right track.

At the end of the session participants emphasized on the education of human rights and that approach should constitute part of the background of policies setting for youth sector, particularly those related to non-formal education as it exemplify the majority of youth activities and different youth associations and tournaments activities. In addition, education on human rights is indispensable for promoting equality and human dignity. Youth represents an important source of human rights education; they are bearers of human rights slogans, and promoters and publishers of its objectives. At the end participants recommended the need to hold more workshops on the subject in universities and colleges in each of the participating states and generalized and share recommendations with other countries to raise awareness and understanding among young people about the subject.