The 2018 Oslo Diploma Course (ODC) took place from the 23rd May to 8th June in Oslo, Norway. The ODC, part of the Angola Human Rights Project, is a three-week intensive course on international human rights law for participants from the Angolan government, civil society and academia. The three-week programme focuses on international and regional human rights norms and standards and existing mechanisms and challenges in relation to the implementation of these norms and standards. The ODC also addresses particular human rights issues identified as pertinent to Angola. For this year´s course, that included migration and asylum, trafficking, and African human rights instruments.
The 2018 ODC was implemented by The Governance Group in cooperation with the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. This year’s participants came from a variety of Angolan Government Ministries both at central and provincial levels, including the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the Home Office, and the Ministry of Culture. In addition, we received participants from various civil society organisations including the Gender Observatory, Education for All, and the Association for Justice and Peace (AIPD).
Throughout the three weeks the participants attended lectures on international and regional human rights law, including refugee and asylum law, business and human rights, human rights and trafficking, and participated in a workshop on how to train others in human rights. Alongside their daily lectures, the participants also visited a number of Oslo-based institutions and organisations of relevance to Norway’s commitments to human rights, at home and abroad. These visits aimed to facilitate a more profound understanding of how human rights may be integrated in the day-to-day running of a society. Institutions visited included the Norwegian national human rights institution, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Norwegian Parliament, and the UN Association of Norway. More practical visits also included an introduction to Bredtveit Prison, a women’s high security prison in Oslo, Refstad transit centre for asylum seekers, and Oslo Crisis Centre, an emergency centre for women, men and children who are exposed to violence in close relationships. (Please see our gallery page for more information on the various institutions that were visited.)
In addition, the 12 participants wrote papers on an Angola-specific human rights topic of their choice in order to further advance their knowledge of a particular topic and to contribute to a culture of human rights in Angola through the production of academic literature.
During their stay, the participants also had the opportunity to explore the city of Oslo and visited museums such as the Nobel Peace Centre, the Holocaust Museum, and took a boat trip on the Oslo fjord.
The overall aim of the ODC is to develop a basic theoretical and practical understanding of human rights. At the same time, the course creates space for discussion and prepares the ground for further cooperation between Angolan and Norwegian individuals and institutions. The course is designed to broaden the participants’ perspectives and enhance their opportunities to integrate both key principles and practical approaches into their daily human rights work in various sectors across state and civil society. The Governance Group looks forward to further collaboration on human rights in Angola with the graduates of the 2018 Oslo Diploma Course.
Oslo Diploma Course 2018
