Pacific Regional Rights Resource Team Update
Bula everyone
Since our meeting in October 2006, I have had the opportunity to facilitate several workshops, consultations and seminars which I will list below:
1) 2-4 November
I facilitated a training workshop for Senior Police Officers and Unit Commanders in Vanuatu. Approximately 20 Officers attended the workshop and we discussed human rights, international human rights conventions and gender issues. In particular, we looked at why Human Rights were important for police officers to understand and protect. Some of the points discussed (which some of you may find useful when talking to or conducting sessions for Police Officers) are:
Human rights are for everyone, includuing police officers. It's about dignity and respect for everyone
People are continuing to know about their rights (through the work of CSOs)and are feeling empowered to seek legal redress if their rights are aboused. This can lead to an officer being suspended or terminated, surcharged, the police force being sued, the accused being acquitted
It pays to be professional at all times & the best way to do this is to observe Human Rights
(ii) November 13-17
Human Rights & Gender Training for the newly set up Police Domestic Violence Unit in Samoa
This training was similar to the one done in Vanuatu. However, the Samoans have set up a new DV unit to effectively deal with the growing DV in the country
(iii) 11-13 Dec
Consultation with Vanuatu Members of Parliament (32 out of 52 MPs attended) on the Family Protection Bill. I had worked on this Bill since early 1999 and it had taken various forms and had finally gone to Parliament in 2005-06. My role was to help prepare the Parliamentary Ad-Hoc Committee on the Bill for the public consultations on the Bill which is to start in April/May 2007. There was alot of lessons learned & if any one is interested, I could share these with them.
(iv) Jan 29 - Feb 10
RRRT puts aside 2 weeks per year to upgrade its staff and trainers on new issues, practices and tools to be effective trainers as well as to build the capacity of the organisation. One of the new areas we are looking at is HIV and Human Rights and I must admit that I have really boosted my knowledge in this area during that training. The training is also held with our Legal Rights Training Officers from around the Pacific so we get to share knowldege on issues and threats facing the countries in which we work in. I'm sure that most of your organisations have annual retreats to do this but if you don't then I recommend it for everyone. It's very refreshing - education is a gift and it only stops when you're 6 feet under!!
(v) Tonga ADvocacy Training for Community Paralegals
Our community Paralegals in Tonga went through the final phase of their training which was on TOT and other advocacy skills (media, Monitoring & evaluation, resource mobilisation i.e. fundraising, writing proposals for donors etc). It was great - our friend Vanessa Lolohea from the Tonga National Youth Congress also graduated from the Training (so congrats Vanessa)
For the Future -
Am going next week to faciliate a workshop on Human Rights Application in the Pacific in the Solomons in collaboration with the Ombuds Office (21-23 March)....
And then the week (March 26 - Apr 2) after I'll be in Port Vila on doing a Community Paralegal Refresher on the Family Protection Bill & HIV & Human Rights. RRRT does this refresher courses to keep our Community Paralegals updated.
April 11-13 we will be in Auck for the High Level Consultation with Ministers for Health & Justices from the Pacific on HIV Legislative Reform......
And then straight to our annual training for Graduate Lawyers from USP for their Professsional Diploma in Legal Practice. RRRT facilitates two weeks per annum on Family Law & Human Rights (we have seen the positive impact of this in the growing number of cases across the pacific where international human rights conventions and case precedents have been used by the same lawyers that we have been training at USP for the past 9 years. (Our aim has always been to get them sensitized before they are overcome by the vices of the profession)
That's all for now
Apolosi Bose
As we can see......we're going to be very busy for the next month or so
