The Summer School
Human Rights Defenders play an essential role in the realisation of rights, including equality in its various dimensions. Not only do they fight for human rights in situations of oppression and abuse; they also act as monitors, drawing attention of the international community to otherwise neglected violations and threats; they assist victims in claiming their rights; and they contribute to holding those in power accountable.
Structure and Content
The structure of the Venice School is designed with morning plenaries reviewing a cross-section of instruments, policies and coordination mechanisms that have been devised to protect and facilitate the work of human rights defenders. The afternoon sessions will sharpen participants understanding through case studies and skills developing activities, discussing a variety of empirical evidence, namely on gender-based violence in different contexts, business and human rights, economic, social and cultural rights with a focus on health and freedom of expression. The School also addresses key challenges by applying a comprehensive approach through a gender sensitive analysis.
Faculty
Lorent Saleh, 2017 Sakharov Laureate, is the keynote speaker for the opening lecture of the Venice School along with Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. Other lecturers are internationally recognised experts in the fields of human rights, such as the Academic Responsibles George Ulrich, EMA Programme Director, and Kalliope Agapiou-Josephides, Chairperson of the European Institute for Gender Equality. Manfred Nowak, Professor of International Law and Human Rights and EIUC/Global Campus Campus Secretary General; Teresa Pizarro Beleza, Full Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the new School of Law of NOVA (New University of Lisbon); Koen De Feyter, Professor of International Law at the University of Antwerp.
About the Global Campus
The Global Campus of Human Rights is an EU-funded global network of universities based on cooperation between the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) - the network’s focal point and umbrella organisation - and seven Regional Programmes which are based in Venice for Europe, in Sarajevo/Bologna for South East Europe, in Yerevan for the Caucasus, in Pretoria for Africa, in Bangkok for Asia-Pacific, in Buenos Aires for Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Beirut for the Arab world.
