The Conclusion of the “Amin Mekki Medani” - Regional Training Course

As of today, the Geneva Institute for Human Rights, in collaboration with the United Nations Center for Training and Documentation in the Field of Human Rights for Southwest Asia and the Arab Region, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sudan has concluded the work of the second regional training course, namely "Amin Mekki Medani Course" on human rights concepts and mechanisms, which was held remotely/via Zoom.

The course that took place for 5 days hosted 43 participants from 18 Arab countries with a varied group of trainers, including : Kholoud Al-Khatib, Muhammad Abdullah Khalil, Kamal Al-Mashreqi, Ebtisam Sanhouri, Ishraq bin Al-Zein, Bahaa Al-Din Al-Saadi, Farid Hamdan and Nazar Abdelgadir Salih.

The trainers presented several important topics, such as:

• Human Rights Concepts and Terminology,

• An Introduction to the International Human Rights System,

• Human Rights Charter-Based UN Mechanisms,

• Human Rights Council,

• Core International Conventions on Human Rights,

• Contractual Mechanisms for the Protection of Human Rights,

• System of Special Procedures,

• Universal Periodic Review Mechanism,

• National Mechanisms for the Protection of Human Rights,

• Civil Society Interaction with UN Mechanisms,

• Human Rights and the Sustainable Development Goals,

• Information on Human Rights Protection Mechanisms on the Internet .

Participants kindly shared their evaluation of the training course.

Mohamed Gamal Abdel Naim from Egypt stated “...despite my attendance of many courses and workshops on human rights issues, this session is the most unique, organized and rich in content. It is most distinguished for its inclusion of participants from different scientific, cultural and academic backgrounds, ensuring gender diversity and representing different areas in the Middle East and North Africa region, which ensured effective participation and a varied pool of visions and ideas. This allowed for a region specific understanding of the course.”

Kholoud Al Bulooki from the Community Development Authority in Dubai mentioned that “the regional training course was necessary and of great importance. I am grateful to have participated. Due to the unique style of presentation, the course was interesting and engaging. The presence of many young people of different nationalities was great.”

Yasmine Mustafa Kamal from Sudan added : “The most beautiful thing that memorialized the regional session as crucial was that it bore the name of one of the important human rights figures of my country, Dr. Amin Mekki Medani, one of the few who selflessly gave their lives defending human rights in Sudan, at a national, regional and international level. It also gave us the opportunity to get acquainted with the basic concepts of human rights and link them to our reality in our respective countries. It also gave us the opportunity to discuss, learn and exchange experiences with a distinguished group of trainers and colleagues from different backgrounds. It motivated me to delve deeper into the different concepts and conventions of human rights.”