The first Regional Human Rights Summer Camp ended Sunday after 14 days of rigorous training in the theory and application of human rights.  This was the first step in a five-year project which will establish a network of human rights’ workers comprised of students, lawyers, and non-governmental agency members.

The summer camp organized for the Arab Region by the American University of Technology (AUT) and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) was a great success.

Nabil Rawdah, UNOHCHR’s regional program officer, said the coming training sessions would be divided into two parts: a theoretical part, and a  practical one involving the application of the tools acquired. 

Joumana Elhassan, camp coordinator,  said the main goal of the 2005  Human Rights Summer Camp, organized in coordination with Amnesty International and the Arab Institute for Human Rights (AIHR), was to create a network of key resource people throughout the Arab world committed to raising awareness of basic human rights.

AUT President Ghada Hinain said it had long been a vision of hers to provide the education needed to improve human rights in the Middle East and indicated that AUT academic programs are geared towards allowing graduates to have a wider vision of the world issues. Human rights are an important issue in this perspective according to Hinain.

Dr. Iwona Safi, organizer and camp manager, says AUT plans on developing a web site to help participants work together in the future. Dr. Safi considers it important that participants “go further and spread the message of human rights in their societies.”

“Another main goal was to strengthen the participation of young people in public issues, human rights and democracy,” said Journana Merhi, the director of AIHR’s Beirut branch.

The Human Rights Summer Camp ended on August 21 after 2 weeks during which 45 participants from 12 Arab countries worked together on human rights issues mainly in the Arab world under the coaching of specialists from the UN, Amnesty International, AIHR and many other NGOs. They were housed at Saydet El Jabal monastery in Fatka, and the workshops were offered at AUT in Halat. Several events were organized to allow better bonding among participants. The Camp was sponsored by many institutions, among which are the embassies of the Netherlands, South Korea, Australia, Germany and Canada, the Safadi Foundation, and the Lebanese Canadian Bank.

Autofocus, the student newspaper, sponsored a journalism competition throughout Lebanese high schools. will present the authors of the three best articles with their awards – and six other students will receive honorable mentions for their fine submissions – at the inauguration of the newsroom, which should take place in May. Look for invitations on campus, and you can read the three winning articles in the April issue of Autofocus.

Results of the journalism competition:

1. Return of the Ex-Pats, by Philip T. Khoury, Adma Int’l.

2. The Art of Living, by Raya Harb, Ecole Nationale Grecque Orthodoxe des Jeunes Filles- Tripoli