Academics

Peer-to-Peer Learning Center for Excellence: Human rights, religion and global dialogue

At The American University of Paris (6, rue du Colonel Combes, 75007 Paris)
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In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and The American University of Paris (AUP) are organizing a Peer-to-Peer Learning Center for Excellence on issues relating to human rights, religion and global dialogue.

The Center for Excellence will be in session from June 12-14, 2023 and provide participants with a “Faith for Rights” (F4R) Training Certificate for program completion. Participants will acquire comprehensive tools to implement the F4R framework as a touchstone for human rights and global dialogue. Discussions will be based on the peer-to-peer learning methodology of the #Faith4Rights toolkit, available online.

Participants will work closely with OHCHR representatives to articulate threshold criteria for commitments 10 and 15 of the Beirut Declaration, with an emphasis on preventing the instrumentalization of religion in politics and aid delivery as well as on promoting gender equality.

Program

Monday, June 12, 2023

9:00 | Individual introductions and presentation of the Faith4Rights movement by Dr. Ibrahim Salama and Dr. Michael Wiener, OHCHR

10:00 | Beirut Declaration commitment 10 not to tolerate exclusionary interpretations on religious grounds which instrumentalize religions, beliefs or their followers for electoral purposes or political gain

11:00 - 13:00 | Interactive discussion in plenary and working groups to articulate threshold criteria for commitment 10, building on the criteria set out in the Rabat Plan of Action: https://www.ohchr.org/en/freedom-of-expression

14:00 | Visit to the Mosque of Paris

16:30 | Visit to the Shoah Memorial

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

9:00 | Guest speakers: Dr. Nazila Ghanea, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief (https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-religion-or-belief) and Dr. Thiago Alves Pinto, University of Oxford

10:30 | Visit to the French Human Rights Commission (CNCDH)

14:00 | Guest speakers: Nicole Ameline and Nahla Haidar (UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women), https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/cedaw

15:00-17:00 | Interactive dialogue on the Beirut Declaration and its commitment 5 on gender equality

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

9:00 | Guest speakers (also for AUP Summer Institute for Human Rights): Dr. Ibrahim Salama and Dr. Michael Wiener on reconciling religion and human rights

10:30 | Beirut Declaration commitment 15 on non-coercion and Interactive Dialogue with the aim of establishing principles for non-coercion      

12:00 | Guest speaker: Eloi Deschamps, Co-Director of Coexister

15:00 | Hybrid exchange of views of participants of the Gandhi-King Global Academy course on “Religions, Beliefs and Human Rights: A ‘Faith for Rights’ Approach”: www.usip.org/academy/catalog/religions-beliefs-and-human-rights-faith-r…

17:00 | Visit to the Quai Branly museum