MINELRES: Distance education course on Human Rights Advocacy (17 February-11 May 2003)

[Felisa Tibbitts]

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION COURSE ORGANISED BY HREA

HREA has been extremely pleased with the interest and participation in the 
distance learning courses offered in 2002: "Research & Evaluation in the 
Human Rights Field", "Human Rights Advocacy", "Information and 
Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Human Rights Work" and "Human Rights 
Monitoring". I am happy to announce the first distance learning course that 
will be offered in 2003, on Human Rights Advocacy.

Note that there is now also the possibility to audit the course. Auditors 
will: receive the course materials; read the weekly facilitator message; 
follow the course discussions, exercises and assignments. Auditors will not 
be entitled to participate in the course discussion, exercises or 
assignments; will not receive a Certificate of Participation.

The registration deadline for this course is 1 January 2003. Scholarships 
for participants from Central and Eastern/Former Soviet Union are 
available. If, after reading the announcement below, you have any further 
questions about the content of the course or the application process, 
please write to: <applications@hrea.org>.

Please be aware that HREA will be offering a distance learning course on 
Human Rights Advocacy in Russian in 2003 as well. Further details will be 
announced on this list in November.

Best wishes,

Felisa Tibbitts
Director, HREA

----------------------------------

HREA Distance Learning Course 2E03:
HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCACY
17 February - 11 May 2003
Instructor: Dr. Valerie Miller

This distance learning course provides human rights activists with a range
of proven human rights advocacy methods and critical concepts as a means
for them to reflect on and deepen their own work. The course will look at
the theoretical foundations and critical issues of human rights advocacy,
elements of advocacy planning, and strategies for action.

In this course, participants should deepen their knowledge about advocacy
and its relationship to: Politics and Democracy; Citizenship and Rights;
Power, Empowerment and Citizen Education and Action. Participants will
gain basic skills and knowledge in: visioning; contextual analysis;
problem/issue identification; analysis and prioritisation; power mapping;
goal/objective setting; analysis of advocacy arenas and strategies;
message development, reports and media; public outreach and mobilisation;
lobbying and negotiation; advocacy leadership and coalition building; and
assessment of success.

The course involves 60 hours of reading, on-line working groups,
interaction with students and instructors/facilitators and assignments,
and is offered over a 12-week period, beginning on 17 February 2003.
E-mail will be the main medium for the course, although participants will
need to have periodic access to the Web (part of the readings/assignment
will be distributed via CD-ROM). The course is based on a participatory,
active learning approach, with an emphasis on peer-to-peer learning.
Participants will do the required readings, prepare interim and final
assignments and participate in group discussions. The main course text
will be "A New Weave of Power, People, and Politics: An Action Guide for
Advocacy and Citizen Participation" (World Neighbors, 2002), by Lisa
VeneKlasen and Valerie Miller. The maximum number of course participants
is 25. It is also possible to be an auditor of the course. Students who
successfully complete the course will receive a Certificate of
Participation.


COURSE OUTLINE

Weeks 1-3: Conceptual Foundations and Critical Issues

Week 1: Politics, Advocacy, Democracy, Rights and Citizenship
Week 2: Power, Empowerment and Citizen Education and Engagement
Week 3: Advocacy Effectiveness: Factors and Measures of Success

Weeks 4-7: Elements of Advocacy Planning

Week 4: Overview of Planning; Analysis of Political and Social Context
Week 5: Identification, Analysis and Definition of Problems; Selection of
Priority Issues
Week 6: Analysis of Political Arenas and Advocacy Strategies; Selection of
Policy Hooks and Angles
Week 7: Analysis of Forces, Friends and Foes; Review and Readjustment of
Strategies

Weeks 8-12: Doing Advocacy: Strategies for Action

Week 8: Messages, Reports and Media
Week 9: Public Outreach and Mobilization
Week 10: Lobbying and Negotiation; Advocacy Leadership and Coalitions
Week 11: National and Local Cases (and links between)
Week 12: International Cases (and linking Global, National and Local)


ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Valerie Miller has worked in advocacy, international development, gender
and human rights for more than 30 years. She has collaborated with
grassroots organisations, NGOs, and international agencies in many
capacities -- as an organiser, trainer, advocate, evaluator, and
researcher. Over the past 15 years, she has been policy advocacy director
at Oxfam America, director of policy and exchange programs at the
Institute for Development Research, and advisor and associate of a wide
variety of organisations including the Global Women in Politics Program;
Women, Law and Development International; and the Highlander Center. She
has taught courses on advocacy under the auspices of the University of
Brasilia and New Hampshire University. Dr. Miller holds a doctorate in
adult education and she has published numerous articles and books on
issues of advocacy, development, education, and politics.


ABOUT HREA's DISTANCE LEARNING PROGRAMME

HREA's Distance Learning Programme (DLP) was initiated in 2000 in response
to an unaddressed need for the continuing education of human rights
professionals and practitioners. The programme builds on HREA's extensive
experience in both the training of professionals (teachers, advocates, law
schools) and the use of the new information technologies to provide
resources and to network human rights advocates and educators. By offering
short, practical yet specialised courses via distance learning barriers
that prevent many practitioners from participating in continuing
education, such as a lack of time and/or lack of funds to travel to
regional or national workshops/trainings, can be overcome. HREA annually
organises distance learning courses on human rights monitoring; research &
evaluation in the human rights field; programme development and
management; use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for
human rights work;  new developments in international human rights law;
NGO management; and human rights advocacy (in English and Russian). For
more information about the DLP, please visit: http://www.hrea.org/dlp/

Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) is an international
non-governmental organisation that supports human rights learning; the
training of activists and professionals; the development of educational
materials and programming; and community-building through on-line
technologies. HREA works in partnership with education agencies, NGOs,
governments and inter-governmental organisations to implement training
programmes for teachers, NGO staff, jurists and other professionals
involved in human rights work. Current and past partners include, inter
alia, Amnesty International, the Constitutional Legal Policy Institute
(COLPI), Council of Europe, Croatian Ministry of Education, HURIDOCS, the
Inter-American Institute for Human Rights, the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, University of Minnesota Human Rights Center
and UNESCO. HREA is registered as a non-profit organisation in the
Netherlands and the USA. More information on HREA can be found at:
http://www.hrea.org


WHO SHOULD APPLY

The course is intended for staff members of human rights/social justice
organisations. Candidates should have a good written command of English
and have high competence and comfort with computer and Internet use. HREA
aims to ensure equal gender and geographical distribution across the
selected participants.


COSTS

The course tuition fee is US$ 455. Tuition for auditors is $ 200.
Scholarships are available for applicants from Africa, Asia-Pacific,
Central and Eastern Europe/Newly Independent States, Latin America/Caribbean.


APPLICATIONS

Further information about the course and application forms (in Word and
PDF) can be downloaded at: http://www.hrea.org/courses/2E.html
Applications need to be submitted by 1 January 2003. Successful applicants
will be notified by 10 January 2003. Full tuition payment is due on 7
February 2003.

Inquiries about the course can be sent to <applications@hrea.org>.