The new Human Rights Education for Youth (HEY) programme developed by the North South Centre was officially launched on 27 November, during the UN Alliance of Civilizations Forum, which took place in Estoril from 25 to 27 November in the Portuguese city of Cascais.

The NSC Executive director presented the programme during a thematic panel on dialogue for peace through inclusive transformative education, which contributed to the discussions on peace, dialogue and future.

The goal of the HEY programme is to strengthen young people’s capacities to act for human rights, by raising their knowledge and understanding of European standards and other international legal frameworks for human rights protection (such as specific United Nations, League of Arab States and African Union treaties, conventions, protocols and charters). This is done through a series of online tutored courses, based on the Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) platform of the Council of europe, which has been training legal professionals on human rights and rule of law for over 20 years.

Different courses will be developed and promoted for young people in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, in cooperation with national authorities, international parthers and youth organisations.

More information on the HEY programme can be found here.