Geneva Institute for Human Rights

The Geneva Institute for Human Rights, in collaboration with the University of Irbid, held its first national seminar on how to teach human rights in Jordanian universities on Tuesday, October 18.

Approximately 14 professors participated in the session from various Jordanian universities, all of whom are researching and teaching about subjects directly related to human rights.

The panel focused on four main themes. First, participants addressed curricula and study plans, discussing the challenges faced when talking about human rights in Jordanian universities, then moved to the impact of university curricula in promoting a culture of human rights. They also discussed how to train teachers to incorporate into their curricula ideas about human rights and explanations of international mechanisms for the protection of human rights. Finally, they sought to develop a Jordanian strategy to teach human rights at universities.

The panel discussion comes as part of the Geneva Institute for Human Rights' strategy in 2011, which focuses human rights education. A regional seminar pulling in participants from most Arab states is being planned to develop a pan-Arab strategy for the teaching of human rights in universities.