LAHORE: The second Module of Participatory Course on Democracy and Human Rights (PCDHR) began Friday under the auspices of the Centre for Human Rights Education (CHRE).
CHRE Chairperson William Basharat, CHRE Director Samson Salamat, and renowned journalist Shoaib Adil addressed the opening ceremony of the PCDHR.
Twenty-five human rights activists from different areas of Pakistan are attending the course. The first Module of PCDHR was held from September 10-19, 2011, with same participants.
The course focuses on the development of knowledge through the concepts of human rights, democracy and skill development of the participants, with a vision to better prepare them to contribute to efforts to build a human rights friendly society.
The participatory course on democracy and human rights is an extensive learning programme designed for human rights defenders working with human rights organisations, university students of social sciences departments, officials of state institutions and members of the media and political groups.
The course would be conducted in participatory methodology and emphasis would be on putting the learning into practice, therefore, the trainees would be required to develop and implement their individual plans on different human rights issues in their respective areas. Apart from in-house sessions, the participants will visit Punjab Assembly, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), members of transgender community, religious minorities and a privately run Women’s Shelter Home (DASTAK) to assess human rights situation in connection with international human rights standards and principles. After the assessment, the participants in their individual plans shall strategise research, advocacy and awareness raising initiatives to address human rights issues.
Discussions will also be held with experts, including human rights practitioners, journalists, office bearers of political parties and elected representatives to discuss responsibilities of state institutions, political parties and voters for creditable electoral process in future.
By: Daily Times
