Welcome to the United Nations 
OHCHR 
Statements
MESSAGE BY THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS FOR THE EUROPEAN MASTER'S DEGREE IN HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIZATION
28 September 1998
Share
Award of the Diplomas of the European Masters 1997/1998
and Inauguration of the Academic Year 1998/1999
Venice, September 28, 1998, 10 h.
It is always a pleasure for me to learn about the existence of post-graduate programmes aiming at training talented and committed people on human rights related matters. The European master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratization is unique of its kind, as it was established through the joint efforts of 15 European Universities and it represents the sole regional programme on international human rights standards. The diploma you will be awarded with today makes each of you a precious and valuable human officers ready to join the human rights’ cause. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in particular may be one of the main beneficiaries of this programme for the following reasons:
- The OHCHR has been repeatedly underling the primary role of human rights education in the promotion and achievement of stable and harmonious relations among communities and in fostering mutual understanding, tolerance and peace. Education on human rights and dissemination of human rights knowledge, both theoretical and practical, is the aim of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education which is, inter alia, directed to: the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; the promotion of the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity; and the promotion of understanding, tolerance, gender equality and friendship among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. Those who were trained in this Master’s programme can now serve themselves as trainers both at national and international level, acting as a vehicle to spread the human rights’ message world-wide, and thus contributing in our efforts to creat
e a universal culture of human rights.
- During the last year you have all been engaged in deepening your knowledge of International Human Rights Law and of various human rights issues. The high quality outcomes of the work you’ve been carrying out are of a particular interest for the OHCHR and for the UN human rights mechanisms and bodies. Furthermore, the researches and analysis in the field of human rights you will undertake in the future may be focussed in such a way as to support the work of the UN human rights treaty bodies, experts, country and thematic mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights and the work of my Office itself.
- The operational activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have been increasingly growing in the past few years and today we have more staff working in the field than at Headquarters. One of the major problems we had to face in the past was the difficulty in finding well trained professionals who could serve as human rights officers in the field for both technical cooperation, education and/or monitoring mandates. Today we have agreements with various institutions which keep updated rosters and can share with us lists of qualified individuals having the required profile and ready to be deployed in the field. My office is particularly interested in establishing this kind of cooperation also with the European Master’s Programme on Human Rights and Democratization and to have the opportunity to put the experience and knowledge of those graduated in this Programme at the disposal of our operational activities in the field.
As we enter the 21st century, let me wish Professor Papisca and all Rectors and Presidents of other Universities gathered here today, all the best for the future of this Programme. I hope that the European Master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratization will keep growing in importance and dimension and will become one of the world most prestigious institution for the study of international human rights law and standards.
Let me now sincerely congratulate you all on your graduation and wish you a very successful career in the challenging field of human rights.
Thank you.
and Inauguration of the Academic Year 1998/1999
Venice, September 28, 1998, 10 h.
It is always a pleasure for me to learn about the existence of post-graduate programmes aiming at training talented and committed people on human rights related matters. The European master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratization is unique of its kind, as it was established through the joint efforts of 15 European Universities and it represents the sole regional programme on international human rights standards. The diploma you will be awarded with today makes each of you a precious and valuable human officers ready to join the human rights’ cause. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in particular may be one of the main beneficiaries of this programme for the following reasons:
- The OHCHR has been repeatedly underling the primary role of human rights education in the promotion and achievement of stable and harmonious relations among communities and in fostering mutual understanding, tolerance and peace. Education on human rights and dissemination of human rights knowledge, both theoretical and practical, is the aim of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education which is, inter alia, directed to: the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; the promotion of the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity; and the promotion of understanding, tolerance, gender equality and friendship among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. Those who were trained in this Master’s programme can now serve themselves as trainers both at national and international level, acting as a vehicle to spread the human rights’ message world-wide, and thus contributing in our efforts to creat
e a universal culture of human rights.
- During the last year you have all been engaged in deepening your knowledge of International Human Rights Law and of various human rights issues. The high quality outcomes of the work you’ve been carrying out are of a particular interest for the OHCHR and for the UN human rights mechanisms and bodies. Furthermore, the researches and analysis in the field of human rights you will undertake in the future may be focussed in such a way as to support the work of the UN human rights treaty bodies, experts, country and thematic mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights and the work of my Office itself.
- The operational activities of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have been increasingly growing in the past few years and today we have more staff working in the field than at Headquarters. One of the major problems we had to face in the past was the difficulty in finding well trained professionals who could serve as human rights officers in the field for both technical cooperation, education and/or monitoring mandates. Today we have agreements with various institutions which keep updated rosters and can share with us lists of qualified individuals having the required profile and ready to be deployed in the field. My office is particularly interested in establishing this kind of cooperation also with the European Master’s Programme on Human Rights and Democratization and to have the opportunity to put the experience and knowledge of those graduated in this Programme at the disposal of our operational activities in the field.
As we enter the 21st century, let me wish Professor Papisca and all Rectors and Presidents of other Universities gathered here today, all the best for the future of this Programme. I hope that the European Master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratization will keep growing in importance and dimension and will become one of the world most prestigious institution for the study of international human rights law and standards.
Let me now sincerely congratulate you all on your graduation and wish you a very successful career in the challenging field of human rights.
Thank you.