Friday 28 June 2013

When nature helps to evaluate and make perceptible the philosophy of human rights


When nature helps to evaluate and make perceptible the philosophy of human rights

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In July 2012, an international seminar entitled “The Nature of Human Rights” took place in Iceland. The seminar was funded by the European Youth Foundation and organized with the support of the European Confederation of Youth Clubs (ECYC). Twenty-three youth workers from Belgium, Armenia, Russia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Cyprus, Sweden, Norway and Iceland participated in the program. Armenia was represented by the Federation of Youth Clubs of Armenia (FYCA). The project trainers represented4 countries: BjarniÞórðarson, SigurlaugVordísEysteinsdóttir, AndriLefever, and Gunnar E. Sigurbjörnssonfrom Iceland; Robin Van Den Bosch from Belgium;Åsa Margarita Moren from Sweden and NelliGishyan from Armenia.
During the project, participants learned about the principles, the nature and regulating mechanisms of human rights.
Well-known tools and methods of NFE were primarily used during the seminar. Several activities took place, which let the participants visit, sightsee and interact with different Youth NGOs in Iceland, creating opportunities to get acquainted with local problems and achievements and to exchange participants’ own unique country experiences.
The “Nature of Human Rights” seminar was attractive, unique and one of the more glorious parts of the project that has been objectively mentioned many times by participants. In this seminar, they had an opportunity to go hiking, which was another chance to enrich their knowledge of human rights by presenting their group work while in the great outdoors. This great occasion, in its turn, helped them to have discussions in more frank atmosphere.
During the project, participants also had the opportunity to meet representatives from the Human Rights Defender Office in Iceland and the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe. The representative from the European Youth Foundation presented the main goals and issues of the Council of Europe and its future activities, which aroused a great deal of interest among the participants.
The program was concluded with a unique party, during which the European Youth Foundation’s 40th anniversary was celebrated. The European Youth Foundation was established in 1972 and has been supporting the implementation of such wonderful youth initiatives since then.
Nelli Gishyan
Reykjavik – Yerevan
FYCA Secretariat

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