Human Rights and Community Relations Deliver Training

The Community Relations Council (CRC) has hosted a training programme on Peace-building and Reconciliation in partnership with the NI Human Rights Commission. The three half-day workshops on human rights and community relations were delivered in May at CRC’s offices to individuals working in the voluntary and community sector. Certificates were awarded on 29 May to those who completed the training.

Les Allamby, Chief Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission, said

“The Commission welcomes the opportunity to partner with the Community Relations Council. Human rights are most powerful when people are empowered to apply them to the issues that affect their everyday lives. We look forward to supporting the training programme to use human rights as a practical tool to promote tolerance, mutual respect and understanding in local communities.”

Delia Close, Member of the Board of the Community Relations Council, said

“The inherent interconnectedness of the principles underlying community relations, human rights and equality are critical in attempting to address structural, social, cultural and political differences and tensions and play a central role in moving towards a more shared and reconciled society. The Community Relations Council thanks the Human Rights Commission for developing and delivering the training. It has been a very productive and enjoyable partnership which I hope will lead to further training within the sector.”

“We hope that the training has reinforced the fact that good community relations are based on the principle of respect for the inherent dignity of all human beings and how all rights must be implemented in an integrated way and not ‘cherry-picked’ to suit individual needs or demands.”

The course incorporated the 3 main strands of a Human Rights Education training:-

learning about human rights, learning through human rights and learning for human rights. The workshops encouraged learner interaction and inclusion and used group discussion, exercises and relevant case studies.

Comments from participants

Brian (LSCA)

I recently came across a quote from Frankiln D Roosevelt which provided me with the incentive to attend the workshops –

“It has long been recognized that an essential element in protecting human rights was a widespread knowledge among the population of what their rights are, and how they can be defended”.

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Marion (REACT)

Quote re Human Rights training

” This Human Rights training has been the most relevant and useful I have ever done in relation to the work I do.”

About REACT

REACT is a community organisation based in Armagh City with the aim of supporting marginalised groups and individuals through a range of projects.

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Andrea (Resurgam)

“I have found how a person can come to understand more about human rights and that we rely on rights awareness to encourage us to develop more understanding and knowledge within our communities.

I really enjoyed being involved in our group discussions and how every person is their own individual. I have learnt more about human rights and have found this training very interesting and will carry on researching to make me more aware of our Human Rights”.

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Derek (LINC)

“The Human Rights Training has been enlightening: separating the clichéd cynicism of tabloid myths from the balanced aspiration for the right to life, liberty and equality”

The LINC Project is a Conflict Transformation initiative utilising Community Relations and Community Development theory and practice to address issues of sectarianism, segregation and social justice in Northern Ireland.

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Charmain (RCN)

“I undertook this training to further enhance my work particularly in relation to human rights and its linkages with community relations. This course has been so beneficial to me as a rural practitioner in terms of making the linkages between human rights and community relations a reality. The grass roots practical approach to this training has allowed me to explore a wide range of sensitive issues through a human rights lens and it will become a useful and vital tool for any future work I am engaged in”.

Rural community network is a voluntary regional charitable organisation working to improve the quality of life for rural dwellers across northern Ireland. This organisation has three programmes of work. Training and development. Policy and advocacy and community/good relations. Through the good relations programme

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Suzanne (SLIG)

“I have really enjoyed the programme as it has given me so much knowledge around Human Rights Issues faced by our communities on a daily basis and given me some insight into how to ensure our participants are aware of their human rights”.

SLIG is a Peace and Reconciliation organisation delivering various programmes to both Suffolk and Lenadoon Communities which include programmes around contentious and non-contentious issues, training and well-being projects and our Peace Walls Programme and Regeneration Projects.