OSCE/ODIHR Academy in Georgia focuses on strengthening skills of national human rights institutions staff
Representatives of national human rights institutions (NHRIs) completed on 3 June 2016 in Tbilisi the third NHRI Academy, a week-long course led by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and organized jointly with the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), in partnership with the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs and the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia.
Twenty-four participants, representing NHRIs from 21 OSCE participating States, discussed principles related to the status of NHRIs, human rights monitoring, NHRI-civil society co-operation, torture prevention and human rights protection in countering terrorism, with gender mainstreaming integrated in all sessions.
"The Academy, a flagship initiative of ODIHR and its partners, is an important contribution to the work of national human rights institutions in the current context. In times of increasing securitization of public space and discourse and growing mistrust in public institutions we need to redouble our efforts to strengthen and support the work of independent NHRIs in protecting and promoting human rights," said Katarzyna Jarosiewicz-Wargan, Head of ODIHR’s Human Rights Department.
Lora Vidović, the Chair of ENNHRI, said: "The NHRI Academy fulfilled the demanding expectation of being both an important capacity-building event and a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and good practices in a series of timely topics."
"The NHRI Academy provided me with critical knowledge about methodology of human rights research, and highlighted the interdisciplinary perspective of my own work," said Agnieszka Grzelak, Deputy Director at Poland’s Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights.
The NHRI Academy was initiated by ODIHR and the ENNHRI in 2013, to address particular challenges NHRI staff face and help them develop skills to fulfill their roles more effectively. The Academy is an annual event, providing for the continuing professional development of NHRI staff, and fostering the development of professional NHRI networks in the OSCE region.