Human Rights Defenders School Now in its Third Year Kicks Off in Serbia

The Human Rights Defenders School, an initiative of Civil Rights Defenders has for a third year in succession opened its doors to young human rights lawyers and human rights defenders from across Serbia. The first lectures were held in Belgrade and Niš and attended by 50 students. Goran Miletic, Programme Director for the Western Balkans kicked off proceedings with an introductory lecture.

The primary aim of the school is to empower young academics who have a passion for human rights through capacity building initatives. The lectures and workshops focus on contemporary human rights issues that are prevalent in Serbian society today such as: human rights concerning LGBT people, the Roma community, transparency and accountability, transitional justice, freedom of media and other related topics.

The classroom experience is also complimented with many field trips so the students can get hands on knowledge of the issues affecting their society. These trips include study visits to Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as volunteering opportunities for the participants at major human rights events. The participants were all chosen from more than a hundred applicants.

“The Human Rights School was launched as we want to look to the future in Serbia and come up with sustainable solutions to the human rights issues that affect our country. Our aim is to create a new generation of well trained, skilled human rights defenders, who will protect and promote human rights in the long run,” said Goran Miletic, Programme Director for the Western Balkans at Civil Right Defenders.

More than 50 lectures and workshops will be arranged throughout the duration of the Human Rights Defenders School hosted by partners, distinguished human rights defenders, law experts and representatives of the international community.

For more information about the Human Rights School, please contact: hrdschool@crd.org.