Åbo Akademi, Human Rights training

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

Participation, of approximately ten Ph.D. students and scholars from developing countries, to the professional training organized by the grant recipient is supported by the discretionary government grant. The professional participant will be chosen amongst researchers, teachers, government officials and jurist. The participants are given the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the latest developments of the international human rights protection and of different national mechanisms for implementing human rights. During the previous years the participants have possessed key positions in universities, governmental offices and non-governmental organizations. The participants come from ODA-eligible (the OECD list of development assistance countries, ODA-DAC) countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Therefore the training benefits mostly an enlarged group of people in developing countries. The government grant will enable the recipient to organize two different trainings 1) Advanced Course on Realizing Human Rights through Criminal Law (18.-22.8.2014 2) Advances Course on Justiciability of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights One aim of the first mentioned course is to find ways for improving women’s rights by punishing engendered criminality based on international criminal law. In addition gender equality is considered as a cross-cuttingly in other components of the course. The second training aims at developing legal remedies for implementation of economic, social and cultural rights on national and regional levels. The training aims at advancing the enforcement of ESC-rights by teaching effective use of legal remedies. Both of the courses correspond contentually to the Human rights Strategy for the Foreign Service of Finland, in the aspect of aiming at advancing and strengthening the justiciability of ESC-rights, as well as, improving women’s and girl’s rights and their opportunities of participation. Gender equality and reducing inequality are crosscutting themes in Finland’s Development Policy Programme and Government report on development policy. The realization of ESC-rights is a key component in reducing inequality.