A five-year program (from 2017 to 2022) supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented in Ukraine by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.
The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 50 years. In Ukraine, USAID’s assistance focuses on three areas: Health and Social Transition, Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance. USAID has provided 1.8 bln technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since 1992.
For additional information about USAID programs in Ukraine, please visit our website or our Facebook page.
On January 20, the traveling educational exhibition “Everyone Has the Right to Know Their Rights” was launched in Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast.
At the first stage (from 20 January to 24 January), the exhibition was held in the Druzhkivka Secondary School no. 9 of the Druzhkivka Town Council of Donetsk Oblast. There not only the students, teachers, and parents but also the residents of the surrounding districts had the opportunity to visit it.
On January 25, the opening ceremony of the traveling educational exhibition “Everyone has the right to know their rights” at the regional level was held at the Central Town Library named after Lesia Ukrainka.
Leaders of the Druzhkivka Town, representatives of the Oblast State Administration of Donetsk Oblast, representatives of the Donetsk Regional Institute of Postgraduate Education, and members of “The X anniversary Oleksa’s readings”, which were dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the birth of Oleksa Tykhyi, attended the exhibition.
Students and teachers of Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and Kostiantynivka also attended the exhibition.
The travelling educational exhibition “Everyone Has the Right to Know Their Rights”, as well as the guideline to work with it, were developed in 2011 by the NGO “MART”, the UHHRU member organization, with support from the International Renaissance Foundation, using expert materials and within the framework the action plan of the Ukraine-wide educational program “We Understand Human Rights”, as one of the steps to respond to the need for a systematic approach to human rights education. It enables to use these products as supplementary materials for learning and encourage discussion of human rights issues.
NGO “MART” is a non-political non-profit organization, focusing on civil society development, as well as human rights education, monitoring of human rights observance, public interests advocacy through mechanisms of human rights protection.
The Ukraine-wide traveling educational exhibition “Everyone Has the Right to Know Their Rights” organized within the framework of initiatives implemented by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, the Human Rights First project, supported by Global Affairs Canada and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Human Rights in Action programme, a part of the national educational program “We Understand Human Rights”.
On the 31st of January chief of UHHRU’s Documenting Center Oleksii Bida and coordinator of the international advocacy programms of UHHRU Sasha Delemenchuk took part on behalf of the Ugspl in the international meeting “Draft guidance paper for Human Rights Defenders working in conflict, protracted conflict, post-conflict and emergency situations” organized by OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
Alexandra Delemenchuk and Oleksii Bida in Warsaw
A lot of strategies for enhancement of security of the defenders have been discussed, however experts also outlined a lot of challenges faced by human rights monitors and advocates in the world with growing number of conflicts and insecurities.
Alexandra Delemenchuk stated – “There are no ready solutions, but work is ongoing, while we return to Ukraine to work further in Donbass and Crimea”
UHHRU Briefer no. 13 (25) by December 2016 (in English), the USAID Human Rights in Action Program
We offer for your attention the Briefer of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union that is being issued within the framework of the USAID Human Rights in Action Program once a month to inform about the activities UHHRU as well as current events in the country in the field of human rights.
The Human Rights in Action Project, which is implemented by UHHRU thanks to the generous support of the American people through the US Agency for International Development (USAID);
The American people, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 50 years. In Ukraine, USAID’s assistance focuses on three areas: Health and Social Transition, Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance. USAID has provided 1.8 bln technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since 1992.
The visit of monitors of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and the Office of the Ombudswoman was held in November. The report is available here.
The aim of the initiative is to assess the human rights situation within the competence of local government in some regions and administrative units at various levels. A kind of human rights “passport” should be the basis for further steps in the field of training of civil servants and a careful control of the local authorities by the local community.
This monitoring mission took place as part of the institutional development of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine.
Now the analytical data of the monitoring mission in Chernivtsi and some districts of the region as well as of some districts in Zaporizhia region are available for review.
The aim of the initiative is to assess the human rights situation within the competence of local self-government in some regions and administrative units at various levels. A kind of a human rights “passport” should be the basis for further steps in the field of training of civil servants and the local community’s careful control of the local authorities.
The monitoring mission in Chernivtsi and some districts of the region was held on September 26-30, 2016. The report is availablehere.
The monitoring mission in Zaporizhia and some districts of the region was held on October 17-21, 2016. The report is availablehere.
The visits took place in cooperation with the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and the Office of the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
We also note that the Human Rights Passportisation of Regions project was officially presented by the Office of the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
The analytical overview that highlights the project’s activities during the year is available here.
The visit was implemented within the project of institutional development of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and financially supported by the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine.
At the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the winners of the Ukraine-wide ‘Human rights through the Prism of Modernity’ contest of school students essays have been selected.
Also, the winners of the Ukraine-wide competition of teaching developments about human rights were selected. The Coordinator of the Ukraine-wide educational program “We Understand Human Rights”, and the head of the educational direction of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union Serhii Burov explained the reasons for the competition.
Serhii Burov
‘We think that human rights education is still at a rather low level in the system of modern education. We believe that such a way the civil society in partnership with government agencies that deal with human rights can stimulate educational institutions and the education system to reflect and to think from the perspective of human rights,’ says Serhii Burov.
The winners of the school students essay contest have been chosen among 300 participants from 22 regions of Ukraine. In the essays, the students talked about their vision of human rights under the conditions of the war conflict, children’s rights in school, how persons with disabilities can exercise human rights, freedom of speech and the right to life, the problems of labor and gender discrimination. For example, Kateryna Kalatura, the winner and a 10th-year school student of the Velykopavlivka Specialised School of Zinkiv Rayon of Poltava Oblast, wrote an essay about the lives of athletes with disabilities.
Kateryna Kalatura
‘My work is about the athletes with disabilities, who come first and achieve success. In the essay, I tried to feel like these athletes. I wanted to describe in more details how some events are held for children with disabilities in our and other countries. We have to remember these people and support them,’ says Kateryna Kalatura.
Anastasiia Hontova, a student of the Poltava Music College, came third with her essay “In order to take actions.”
Anastasiia Hontova
‘The basis of my essay is what is happening with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All what is written there and what is happening in reality. What is happening in our country and other countries, and how the Declaration affects us. Due to ti the Post-Soviet syndrome in our country, there is an impression that the concepts of a man and a state are something completely different,” says Anastasiia Hontova.
John Pennell, Acting Regional Mission Director, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), told why the United States decided to support this competition.
John Pennell
‘We all know that respect for human rights is the foundation of any democratic society. And that is why we, the USA, are proud to have the opportunity to support the people of Ukraine in ensuring human rights in the country. We are also honored that we can cooperate with the Ukrainian Helsinki Union, with the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights on issues such as raising awareness of Ukrainian society in matters of human rights. Education, especially of the young generation, is to let Ukrainian youth know their rights, first of all,’ says John Pennell.
The winners of the competition of teaching developments had been chosen among 150 participating teachers from 20 regions of Ukraine, who submitted materials on various topics in the form of lessons, quests, quizzes, interactive exercises, projects, business games and more. Aksana Filipishyna, a representative of the Office of the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, mentioned the high level of the works participated the contest.
Aksana Filipishyna
‘I am impressed by the essay with the analysis of discriminatory Bill no. 4511. The Commissioner has also responded to the Bill concerning authorized restrictions on the rights of religious organizations operating in Ukraine,’ says Aksana Filipishyna
Arkadiy Bushchenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, mentioned the creative approach of the contestants to their essays and developments.
Arkadiy Bushchenko
‘I want to say that these are very interesting works that are interesting to read. Human rights are not some well-established science of steadfast principles that you can learn and then no need think about it. The most important are that the children were thinking, teachers were thinking,’ says Arkadiy Bushchenko.
Both competitions were organized by the USAID Human Rights in Action program, which is implemented by the Helsinki Union under the national educational program “We Understand Human Rights” and supported by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
The American people, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 50 years. In Ukraine, USAID’s assistance focuses on three areas: Health and Social Transition, Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance. USAID has provided 1.8 bln technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since 1992.
On December 23, 2016, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and the Office of the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights presented the annual results of the joint project concerning development and practical implementation of the system of measurements of the human rights index locally.
Valeriia Lutkovska, the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Arkadiy Bushchenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Bohdan Kryklyvenko, Head of the Office of the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Oleh Martynenko, Head of the Analytical Direction of UHHRU, Andrii Halai, Project Coordinator of UHHRU, AlinaKobenko, an Assistant of UHHRU Educational Programs, Larysa Boiuk, Chief Specialist of the Department on the Implementation of the National Preventive Mechanism of the Office of the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and TarasShcherbatiuk, the coordinator of the UHHRU public reception in Cherkasy Oblast, attended the event.
The project was built on the international Human Rights Indicators and is a unified mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of local authorities in ensuring the rights and needs of the community.
The aim of the initiative is to assess the human rights situation within the competence of local self-governments in some regions and administrative units at various levels. A kind of human rights “passport” should be the basis for further steps in the field of training of civil servants and a particular control of the local authorities by the local community.
The working group composed of representatives of UHHRU and the Office of the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights worked on the development of the measurement system. At the stage of monitoring missions, experts from other civil society organizations were involved. During the project, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Chernivtsi, Voznesensk (Mykolaiv Oblast), Kovel (Volyn Oblast) and Uman (Cherkasy Oblast) were monitored.
A fundamentally new mechanism in the field of public control over the functioning of the local self-governments allows to evaluate their activities in the field of human rights by a flexible system of indicators in the following areas: torture and ill-treatment prevention; socio-economic rights; children’s rights, non-discrimination and gender equality; access to public information and personal data protection; protection of the rights of internally displaced persons and military.
Under the project, the 5-day pilot training of community activists on monitoring instruments was conducted. In the result, a number of training participants organized independent human rights monitoring in their towns, including in Uzhhorod and in several cities of Cherkasy Oblast.
During the work of the monitoring missions in regions, positive cases and violations of human rights of wards in places of captivity were identified. Among them, they identified the lack of specialists-physicians and psychiatrists in institutions of social protection, inappropriate use of funds and noт-normative use of physical limitations in mental institutions.
During the presentation, the example of passportisation of Cherkasy Oblast was presented. The experts analyzed the actions of the self-governments of three towns in the region. It turned out that the local self-governments were not prepared for the monitoring in the initial stages , because of the fear of finding flaws in their work. Only additional explanations have provided requested information.
As the results of the Human Rights Passportisation of Regions project, the Commissioner will continue to monitor human rights based on the Ombudsman Plus system, where “plus” means the civil society.
In the near future, the initiative will develop by improving the tools and system of the monitoring and visual presentation of its results; interoperability and monitoring participants and expansion of monitoring visits and responding to their results. UHHRU also provides for strengthening of public education factors of monitors and public discussion of the process.
Andrii Halai, the Project Co-ordinator, can clarify issues concerning the Human Rights Passportisation of Regions project: 0667442336, [email protected]
The Human Rights Passportisation of Regions initiative is being implemented under:
The Human Rights in Action Project, which is implemented by UHHRU thanks to the generous support of the American people through the US Agency for International Development (USAID);
The Project on Institution Building of UHHRU funded by the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine;
The Human Rights First Project, implemented by UHHRU and funded by Global Affairs Canada.
The American people, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 50 years. In Ukraine, USAID’s assistance focuses on three areas: Health and Social Transition, Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance. USAID has provided 1.8 bln technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since 1992.
Under the “Human Rights at the Local Community Level” project, the nine information events were held in eight cities of the Ukraine between the 7th and 15th of December 2016.
This information events helped to present the achievements of the project participants and to involve a wide range of stakeholders to address the problems that exist at the local level. Also, project participants were able to find partners among civil society activists, local officials and media that will allow to implement positive change at the local level effectively and to resolve problems identified during the project.
During the information event in Uzhhorod, the participants presented the results of the monitoring “Protecting the Rights of Mobilized People, Soldiers and Their Families” in the framework of human rights “passportisation” of the Uzhhorod region.”
Public meetings-presentations in selected communities, where the project participants told about the possibilities of the project, presented the achievements and held discussions on the possibilities of human rights for the development of effective local democracy, attracted a wide range of stakeholders at the local community level.
153 activists participated the local events, including local activists, volunteers, advocates, journalists, sociologists, teachers, students, pupils, employees of state and local governments.
In Lviv, participants of the event concerning procedures for conducting checks of places of residence of IDPs during the work.
As the next step after the information events, the contest of project proposals has been planned. In the results of the contest, 5 – 7 advocacy and lobbying campaigns will be developed that will introduce real changes at the local level related to the resolution of the humanitarian crisis in the Ukraine.
Also, it is planned to conduct a final major conference for all project participants; each will be able to share good practices of the implementation of changes at the local level, to exchange experiences and to start working on the implementation of projects at local community level.
The participants of the information event in Chernihiv on issues concerning the availability of concessional health services, medicines, health-resort treatment and rehabilitation of combatants of ATO and persons equated to them
The “Human Rights at the Local Community Level” project is aimed at enhancing and improving the capacity of local communities for effective use of the impact of the procedure on solving the problems of public interest at the local level.
Activities conducted with the assistance of Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union supported by Charles Stewart Mott Foundation under the “Human Rights at the Local Community Level” project.
On December 15, 2016, in the hall of the museum of the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”, the round table “Legal Clinics: 20 Years of Practical Training, Advocacy, and Legal Education in Ukraine” was held.
The discussion during the opening event was about the establishment of the institute of legal clinics in Ukraine, its values, activities, development and cooperation with the executive authorities. The moderator of the roundtable was Andrii Halai, the Chairman of the Association of Legal Clinics of Ukraine and representative of the Analytical Direction of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.
Ambassador Vaidotas Verba, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, highlighted the importance of clinical legal education in Ukraine. He spoke about the work carried out by the OSCE in this regard. Roman Romanov, the Coordinator of the Renaissance Foundation, said that today in Ukraine we can confidently speak about the clinical legal movement.
Roman Usenko, an Adviser to the Minister of Justice, noted that the Ministry pays considerable attention to the issue of legal education, including the issue of legal clinics. He also expressed hope that legal clinics will be involved in the reforms that the Ministry of Justice implements.
Ashot Ahaian, a representative of the USAID Nove Pravosuddya Justice Sector Reform Program, told about more than 87 areas, which are now involved in the Program. Legal clinics became a part of this massive work. According to him, 5-10 years before the issue has not been as so important as today.
Arkadiy Bushchenko, Executive Director of the Helsinki Human Rights Union, noted that the issue of human rights in legal education, according to him, in the early 2000s was not properly represented. Currently, the Union within its training direction is trying to actively develop thematic issues of human rights according to challenges. Arkadiy Bushchenko also noted that the network of legal aid receptions is ready to provide the field of work to legal clinics.
The roundtable consisted of several sessions. The first session was devoted to the history and achievements of clinical movement, the second – the improvement of clinical legal education in Ukraine. The third section was the roundtable dedicated to the strategic goals of the institute of legal clinics and partnership development in this area.
The event was organized by the Association of Legal Clinics of Ukraine with the support of the Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation, the USAID Nove Pravosuddya Justice Sector Reform Program and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.
The American people, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 50 years. In Ukraine, USAID’s assistance focuses on three areas: Health and Social Transition, Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance. USAID has provided 1.8 bln technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since 1992.
On December 14-15, the Uzhhorod Central City Library held The Human Rights and Gender Equality training.
Expert support of this training was provided by the Ukraine-wide educational program “We Understanding Human Rights.” The event was held as part the programme “Responding to Human Rights Violations and Empowering Citizens and Human Rights Defenders in Ukraine” (Human Rights in Action program) of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The programme is being implemented by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.
Local partners and developers were the NGO Zakarpattia Сommunity, NGO Uzhhorod Сity Organization of the Women’s Union of Ukraine and Zakarpattia Youth Council – Separated Subdivision of National Youth Council of Ukraine.
Participants were lawyers, political scientists, psychologists, students, teachers, employees of the City Council of Uzhhorod, the National Police of Ukraine, representatives of the civil society and others. The goal of the training was to raise awareness about human rights, the foundations of gender equality and prevent gender violence.
The American people, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), have provided economic and humanitarian assistance worldwide for 50 years. In Ukraine, USAID’s assistance focuses on three areas: Health and Social Transition, Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance. USAID has provided 1.8 bln technical and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since 1992.
