OSCE trains educators and civil servants to teach human rights to Ukraine’s schoolchildren

Some thirty school teachers and civil servants were trained on methods in teaching human rights to young people at an event in Lviv, organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) from 6 to 8 December 2013.

The train-the-trainers event was held in partnership with the Ukrainian Justice Ministry, the Ministry of Education and Science and the Office of Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights. It brought together school teachers from all around Ukraine, as well as civil servants responsible for human rights awareness activities aimed at children and youth.  

The training covered the theory, history and evolution of human rights, international instruments and mechanisms to protect them. The training methodology was based on the comprehensive handbook on human rights for children, developed by the PCU in co-operation with the Justice Ministry in 2011. Participants received copies of the book as well as teaching materials.

In addition, an interactive training seminar was held for more than 100 local school students, aged from 14 to 16, to raise their awareness of protecting human rights.

The event was part of a project aimed at improving legal education and the promotion of human rights education in Ukraine, implemented at the request of the Justice Ministry, the Office of Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights and the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.