Regional Masters in Human Rights and Democratisation

Regional Masters in Human Rights and Democratisation are the five regional masters in human rights and democratisation founded by the European Union, under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).
Programmes
Each programme is organised independently by several higher education institutions.
At present (March 2010) 5 regional masters have been organised and they are:
E.MA - European Master's Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (Venice, Italy)
LLM - Human Rights & Democratisation in Africa (Pretoria, South Africa)
ERMA - European Regional Master’s Degree in Democracy and Human Rights in South East Europe (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
DDHuLC - Program on Human Rights and Democratization: Latin America and Caribbean Master’s Degree (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
APRP - Master of Human Rights & Democratisation, Asia Pacific Regional Program (Sydney, Australia)
History
The is the oldest Master’s programme on Human Rights and Democratisation supported by the European Union. Its success has given rise to the development of additional regional human rights master’s programmes. Being generally modelled on the E.MA, the regional master’s programmes have many core features in common and there is considerable co-operation between them, including exchange of staff and students, joint publications and conferences. Such networking and co-operation is strongly encouraged by the European Union, which at the same time recognises that “overall academic coherence is to be ensured by the E.MA based in Venice, which inspired the Regional Masters Programmes”. The has welcomed the encouragement of the EU to realise and manage the joint platform.
Common features
Academic activities
The Curriculum
* Each regional network runs an academic programme with a core curriculum including common features as specified hereafter:
* Aspects of the European Union human rights and democratisation policy and activities
* Human rights instruments (Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international and regional instruments concerning civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights);
* Promotion of democratisation and the rule of law;
* International criminal justice and the fight against impunity.
* Regional variations are reflected in the programme. A particular effort is made to ensure that the rights of the child and women’s rights are fully part of the curriculum.
* All regional Master's programmes have a strong element of operational skill-building: the course curriculum provides adequate time for such teaching. The unique combination of theory and practice contribute to the interdisciplinary character of the Master’s programmes.
* Visits to international and regional institutions is considered and encouraged.
* The curriculum planning is evaluated on a regular basis.
* Academic teaching is supervised by high profile academics. Teaching is done by academic experts and also by experts from intergovernmental organisations, NGOs and national authorities, human rights practitioners experienced in fieldwork and EU representatives.
* The system of examination and assessment of thesis is consistent between all participating higher education institutions.
* The working language of each regional Master's programme is the most common language of the region. Language training can be offered to allow participation by deserving students from countries in the region where the language of the programme is not widely used.
Students
* The selection process for students is transparent, equitable and coherent between the participating higher education institutions. Reflecting the inter-disciplinary nature of human rights and democracy, students can represent a variety of academic backgrounds.
* Attention is paid to ensure a gender and sub-regional balance in the selection of students
* The majority of the students come from the region concerned. Moreover a small number of fee-paying students may be also allowed to participate in the programmes.
* Each programme follows-up graduates’ career development, including by providing opportunities for internships and supporting operational alumni associations.
Academic recognition of the Master's Degree
* In order to ensure the academic recognition of the Master's degree, each Master’s programme delivers at least 60 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits or their equivalent.
* The degree is conferred as an academic postgraduate degree by one or more of the participating higher education institutions, and is recognised by the other regional human rights and democratisation Master’s programmes.
Co-operation with other regional Masters programmes
* The regional networks cooperate with one another with a view to enriching their programmes through the exchange of lecturers, tutors, students, examiners and dissertation supervisors. This includes the European Master’s programme in human rights and democratisation organised by the European Inter-University Centre based in Venice, Italy.
* They also integrate the different regional programmes through the organisation of joint events and activities (website, international conferences, alumni reunions, visits to institutions, internships with international agencies) and the publication of yearbooks, journals and newsletters.
Management
Each lead organization of the Master’s programme of their region has at least four other partner higher education institutions from different countries in the same region, represented in the decision-making bodies, and able to actively participate in the training of students.
The decision-making bodies of the Master’s programmes are encouraged to establish joint consultations with student representatives, elected by their peers each year, on issues of concern to them.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The teaching staff and experts is regularly evaluated by students, and, if possible, by other academic audit systems.
Joint Publications
Two publications have been issued until March 2010.
The first volume was jointly published in 2001 by the European Master's (E.MA), the African Master’s, the South East European Master's (ERMA) and the Mediterranean Master's (which is no longer active).
This volume is a selection of eight theses chosen among the best ones submitted in the four regional masters.
Theses Titles:
* Olivera Luketic - The role of specialised bodies in the context of the new EU Racial Equality Directive
* Barbel Vrancken - Reviewing affirmative action: A comparative study of the conditions applied by the ECJ and other legal systems
* Lirette Louw - Hate speech in Africa: Formulating an appropriate legal response for a racially and ethnically divided continent with specific reference to South Africa and Rwanda
* Sisule Fredrick Musungu - The right to health in the global economy: Reading human rights obligations into the patent regime of the WTO-TRIPS agreement
* Ermelina Balla - Women’s right in Albania during the post-Communist transition
* Ivan Barbalic - The role of elites in the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
* Michael Michalakis - Equal rights and opportunities for men and women under the EU law
* Rym Ben Slama - The death penalty as an exception to the right to life: To what extent is capital punishment a violation of human rights?
The references to the volume are:
International Yearbook of Regional Human Rights Masters Programme 2001
Published by The Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 2001.
The second volume was jointly published in 2006 by the European Master’s (E.MA), the African Master’s, the South East European Master’s (ERMA) and the Mediterranean Master’s (which is no longer active).
* Nora Holzmann - Missing men, walking women: A gender perspective on organised armed violence in Brazil
* Sophie Olivier - Re-embodying the human: Narrative de/reconstructions of the subject of human rights
* Obiokaya Onyinye Iruoma - Eradicating delay in the administration of justice in African courts: A comparative analysis of South African and Nigerian courts
* Liliana Trillo Diaz - Protection of access to essential treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda from a human rights perspective
* Margiana Brading - Reconciling universaries of children’s rights and cultural diversity
* Kumjana Novakova New wine in old bottles, consociational democracy: Comparative analysis of Bosnia and Herzogovina, Kosovo and Macedonia
* Natif - The concept of culpable omission under the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. From 1993 until March 2003
* Philippa Said - International trade and human rights
The references to the volume are:
International Yearbook of Regional Human Rights Masters Programme 2006.
Published by ABC Press, Cape Town, 2008.
EU policy framework and background
Human rights education directly contributes to upholding the universal principles of individual freedom, pluralist democracy and the rule of law. These values also form the fundaments of the European Union. Human rights education is essential for the promotion of mutual understanding, tolerance and peace; it is therefore at the heart of EU efforts to promote and protect human rights.
Strengthening human rights and fostering democratisation are key objectives of the European Union’s foreign policy. The EU does not just fight for human rights, the EU invests in them through human rights education. The EU has expressed, on a number of occasions, and at the highest level, its support for programmes of human rights and democracy education, and has pledged to further develop activities in this field.
The 2001 Commission Communication on “The EU’s Role in Promoting Human Rights and Democratisation in Third Countries” has highlighted the role of human rights education, training and awareness-raising in strengthening and empowering individuals and civil society.
This commitment was reinforced in the 2006 Communication on a Thematic Programme for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide under the Financial Perspectives 2007-2013. The promotion of education and training in human rights and democracy is specifically mentioned in article 2 of the Regulation 1889/2006 of the European Parliament and the Council on establishing a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide.
Funding of human rights education projects
Human rights education is funded through a variety of financial means, starting from the bilateral cooperation schemes. Since 2002, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights has placed human rights education as one of its core objectives and provides support to a number of projects promoted by academic institutions and NGOs in various regions. These projects target a wide range of people, including the most vulnerable groups, from school children to community leaders and government officials. Between 2002 and 2006, €85 million were devoted to fostering a culture of human rights, through human rights education and awareness-raising projects.
Human Rights Master’s Programmes
The European Commission has been instrumental in the creation and support of five regional Master degrees in human rights and democratisation, upholding the European commitment to participate in the UN Decade for Human rights education.
It has furthermore given inspiration to the creation of similar EU-funded inter-university networks and education programmes in human rights and democracy in other regions of the world, notably the African Master based in Pretoria, the regional Master for South-East Europe in Sarajevo, the Asia-Pacific Master and the Latin American Master.
Regional Masters joint platform
The Joint Platform for the Regional Masters in Human Rights and Democratisation is a common website for the five regional masters in human rights and democratisation funded by the European Union, under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).
The joint platform was launched in Pretoria, South Africa, on 11 December 2009. This event took place during the celebrations of the 10 year anniversary of the LLM (Human Rights & Democratisation) Programme at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria.
The aim of this website is to have a central point of reference where to find general information about the five different programmes, their common features and projects. It is also the platform where information on the European Union policy concerning education in human rights and democratisation can be found. For further details about the single programmes a link is provided to access the individual Regional Masters programmes.
In the future, this platform will be extended to other Regional Masters and enriched by additional functionalities of interest to all Regional Masters and for the overall benefit of high profile studies in human rights and democratisation.
The joint platform is a website that comprises six components: a common component with information of general interest concerning all the programmes and five sections, one for each master programme: E.MA (Venice), LLM (Pretoria), ERMA (Sarajevo), LACM (Buenos Aires) and APRP (Sydney).
The aim of this website is to centralise information about the different programmes (including their common features and projects), the European Union policy concerning education in human rights and democratisation.
In the future, this platform will be extended to other Regional Masters and enriched by additional functionalities of interest to all Regional Masters and for the overall benefit of high profile studies in human rights and democratisation.

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