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Refugee Stories
PCHR and UNRWA: Promoting human rights in UNRWA schools
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) organised a training course in human rights, with a special emphasis on the rights of the child, in UNRWA Gaza Elementary School “A”. The course targets 23 teachers, all women. “I think that being trained in human rights is extremely beneficial, especially if one lives in Palestine,” says Radia, one of the teachers attending the course. “It is very important that UNRWA teachers reach a better understanding of human rights principles and their implication in the education of Palestinian children, explains Siham, another teacher at the school.
“We are learning about human rights conventions and bodies, and the role of human rights organizations,” she adds. The training course covers a variety of human rights topics, including the historical development of human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the right to education. “After finishing this course, our teachers will have developed a better understanding of human rights and will be able to integrate them in their teaching,” notes Mohamed Rabi’, deputy head-teacher of the school.
“Among other things, the course aims to strengthen human rights understanding at school and at home. This will impact the way we interact and the way we look at society and others in general,” continues Rabi’. “The Palestinian people live in a very complex reality and learning about human rights is key to its understanding,” Rabi’ adds. “We have been collaborating with UNRWA for the past five years to promote human rights in Gaza. Human rights are taught through courses, reports and curricula analysis,” explains Bassam Al-Aqra, one of the PCHR trainers. John Ging, Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, comments “We are very grateful for the expert training that PCHR are providing and I am particularly pleased with the enthusiastic and energetic participation of our students and teachers". Gaza, May 2007 The human rights training course, which ran in Gaza Elementary “A” school from 19 April to 16 May 2007, is part of an agreement between PCHR and UNRWA for an annual training programme in human rights. |
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In UNRWA schools, human rights are integrated into three main courses
taught in grades five to nine. Education is UNRWA's largest programme,
and more than 195,000 Palestine refugee children attend 193 UNRWA
elementary schools in Gaza, almost half of whom are female.