IACHR
Press Release
IACHR and IPPDH Salute the End of their International Course on Public Human Rights Policies
February 28, 2019
IACHR Press and Communication Office
Tel: +1 (202) 370-9000
[email protected]
Washington, D.C. / Buenos Aires - The in-person week of the
International Course on Public Human Rights Policies—jointly
sponsored by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and
MERCOSUR’s Institute of Public Policies on Human Rights—was held in
Buenos Aires on February 11-15, 2019. The course brought together
100 participants from 22 countries in the Americas, and 72% of them
managed to pass the course, take part in the in-person week and
obtain the diploma.
During the in-person week, course participants held sessions where they
discussed and reflected on proposals and assessments of the public policies
they had put forward in their end-of-course projects. Further,
representatives of State institutions and civil society organizations from
Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Mexico presented “country experiences” of
public policies with a human rights approach.
The event also featured sessions that were open to the public, where
experts debated the public-policy challenges facing the region and spoke
about equality and non-discrimination, access to information and an
indicator system, participation and demands for rights, and public
institutions that focus on human rights.
The IACHR and the IPPDH salute the successful completion of this
international course and the progress it entails in terms of training and
capacity-building for relevant actors around the Americas, in order to
promote a human rights approach in public policy.
This effort to strengthen institutions and train organizations and
networks of social actors for the defense of human rights will be reinforced
in the fourth edition of the International Course on Public Human Rights
Policies. With these efforts, the IACHR seeks to implement Objective 3 of
its Strategic Plan, through the implementation of the Program for Technical
Cooperation on Public Institutions and Policies with a Human Rights
Approach, which promotes public policies aimed at bracing respect for human
rights as a fundamental element of any process to strengthen national
capacities to implement inter-American human rights standards.
This international course is an initiative of the IPPDH’s International
School. Its goal is to train strategic actors in the public sector and in
civil society organizations, as a contribution to strengthening public human
rights policies in the Americas. Since 2018, this has been a joint strategic
effort by two iconic human rights institutions.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States
(OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American
Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to
promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a
consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of
seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the
OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or
residence.
The IPPDH is a technical research institution active in the field of
public policy on human rights. Its strategic guidelines are approved by
MERCOSUR’s Meeting of High Authorities on Human Rights and Foreign
Ministries (RAADH, by its Spanish acronym), to support compliance with and
enforcement of human rights, which are regarded as central axes for
integration within MERCOSUR. Its structure was designed to carry out
research, training and consulting tasks for public-policy formulation, and
to provide support for communications concerning human rights.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
No. 049/19