By Mehrin Karim
I was blessed with the opportunity to participate in the 2016 edition of the Critical Interdisciplinary Course on Children’s Rights (CICCR) from 28 August, 2016 to 9 September at the University College Ghent in Belgium. I was selected among 1,000 candidates from all over the world to participate in this insightful program with the prestigious VLIR-OUS scholarship which covered accommodation, round-trip plane fare, and daily expense. This year, the program welcomed 35 participants from 18 nationalities and 4 different continents. I was chosen to represent Bangladesh. The course organizers main aim was to achieve an equitable geographical representation of participants from all continents.
The international training program, Human Rights for Development (HR4DEV) has been organized in Belgium since 2012. In 2012, 2014 and 2015, the program consisted of a recurrent general module (two weeks on human rights and development), and a variable thematic module (in 2012 & 2014: children’s rights; in 2015: transitional justice). In 2016, the course is still organized within the institutional framework of HR4DEV, but consists of one thematic module only, focusing on children’s rights. The children’s rights module builds on interdisciplinary courses that have been organized by Ghent University (and, at a later stage, jointly with University College Ghent and Antwerp University) since 1996. In 2009, Flemish expertise on children’s rights was pooled in the Children’s Rights Knowledge Centre (KeKi), which became the new host of the children’s rights course.
It was a two weeks’ course which thematically focused on children’s rights governance between the local and the global.
The course was aimed to promote knowledge, insight, and skills in the field of children’s rights, as well as to develop young leaders in policy, practice, and academia. More specifically, it intends (a) to enable the participants to transfer this knowledge and these skills to their own society and working environment (according to the train-the-trainers model), and (b) to stimulate critical and strategic reflection on the integration of children’s rights in their professional activities.
The organizers have explicitly opted to expose participants from the North and the South to the views of participants from other continents. Information, knowledge, and means that are relevant in both of these regions were shared.
On the first day, upon arriving at the beautiful City of Ghent which is also known as the City of Lights, we were taken to a very beautiful old pub called Vooruit where we had a meet and greet session with the other participants from the other countries and also the wonderful organizers. They worked effortlessly to facilitate the program. Ghent is part of the Flemish region, which means the official language is Dutch. Known as Gent in Flemish and Gand in French, Ghent was medieval Europe’s largest city outside Paris. Sitting on the junction of the Leie and Scheldt Rivers, it was the seat of the counts of Flanders, who built a fearsome castle, Het Gravensteen. Today, Ghent is Flanders’ biggest university town and an important Flemish cultural center. The city center offers numerous shops and restaurants and is also a showcase of beautiful gothic buildings. Some people understand French, and most of them will speak a bit of English too. Young people tend to be quite fluent in English. Nevertheless, the organizers taught us a few phrases like “Bedankt!” (thank you) and “Goeiemorgen!” (good morning).
Our first class started on the 28th of August where we are handed The Routledge International Handbook of Children’s Rights Studies which was used as a reference work during the entire course. We had an ice-breaking session where all the participants had to sit in pairs and instead of introducing ourselves; we had to introduce each other. There were participants from various disciplines ranging from researchers like myself from multiple academic disciplines to policy-makers and practitioners working on matters concerning youth and children’s rights.
In a first cluster, the course mapped the potential and limits of various academic disciplines in understanding children’s rights (3 days). The second cluster looked at children’s rights from a contextual perspective, drawing on academic and hands-on experience about children’s rights in a diversity of local contexts (2days). Finally, four topics at the intersection of local and global children’s rights issues were explored in a third cluster (4 days). Children’s rights are also seen as a potential lever to change the social relations in our society towards a more human dignity for children and young people.
Methodologically, CICCR program consisted of lectures, workshops, an individual assignment, a field visit and active discussions.
The lectures were presented by distinguished experts from Flanders and abroad and were followed by Q&A sessions and time for discussion. There were small working group’s discussions where we were given a scenario and we had to discuss the problems and formulate policies.
I discussed the child marriage and child labor problem that is widely prevalent in our country and how government, other NGOs, and civil organization are working to tackle this grave problem. Most of the African participants talked about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) that is still occurring in many African countries.
We were not only confined to classes, we were taken on a tour in bikes where our instructor showed how Ghent is a child-friendly city. Ghent is a city, committed to fulfilling children’s rights. It is a city where the voices, needs, priorities and rights of children are an integral part of public policies, programs, and decisions We were taken in different parks which were situated all over the city. They have hospitals where children can play when waiting. Children and youngsters enjoy easy and safe transportation in the city. All the choices and decisions made by the municipality are taking into account the views of children and youngsters. They can ventilate their opinions, they know that their feelings are taken seriously and they are involved in regards to decisions that affect them. Child-friendly service desks, Child- and youth library, and even cemeteries are built in such a way with attention for kids. I was really amazed and impressed with how priority is given to children who will be the future builders of the country. This really opened my eyes on how they put so much emphasis on children rights, and Bangladesh can learn from these.
We were all very sad when the two weeks program came to an end. All the 35 participants including the organizers and the mentors became very good friends. On the last day, we were taken on a boat ride for lunch to an old church which has now been transformed into a cafe where food is given at a subsidies rate. It was a beautiful structure with intricate murals on the ceilings.
We were handed our certificates upon the completion of the program. Overall, it was a very memorable experience and insightful program and I would suggest anyone interested in Human Rights participate in this course for the next year.
The writer is a Senior Research Associate at Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh and can be reached at mehrin.karim07@gmail.com
