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Back Presentation of the HELP Programme to officials from the South Mediterranean region

The Human Rights Education Programme (HELP) of the Council of Europe and four of its landmark courses were presented to senior officials from the South Mediterranean region in a 2-day seminar in Rabat on 27-28 November 2017.

The seminar took place in the premises of the Training Institute to the National Human Rights Council of Morocco (CNDH), which will remain a key partner of the HELP Programme in its future interventions in Morocco and the South Mediterranean region.

Magistrates, prosecutors, lawyers but also members from academia, civil society and public officials from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine got a first-hand knowledge of HELP and its courses on Data Protection and Privacy Rights, Trafficking in Human Beings, Child-friendly Justice, and Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

Norwegian Ambassador to Morocco Merethe Nergaard opened the event which was co-funded by Norway, alongside the European Union/Council of Europe joint Programme "South Programme (II)". The event corresponded to the fourth module of the Programme of Advanced Training in the field of Human rights, the rule of law and democracy for Southern Mediterranean (PATHS).

From the Council of Europe, as Head of Coordination and International Cooperation Division within the Directorate I, Tatiana Termacic stressed the aim of the Council of Europe’s Neighborhood Policy: to promote dialogue and cooperation with countries and regions located in the vicinity of Europe willing to cooperate with the Council of Europe on the basis of shared values such as human rights, democracy and the rule of law. José Luis Herrero, the Council of Europe Head of Office in Morocco, highlighted the national dimension of the Action Plan priorities for Morocco.

The HELP Head of Unit, Eva Pastrana introduced participants to the key elements of the Programme, namely its Network of Judiciary Schools and Bar Associations and the HELP practical courses, developed to help legal professionals and other authorities to identify and resolve human rights issues in their daily work.

Top experts were mobilised to deal with different topics. First, the Council of Europe Head of the Data Protection Unit, Sophie Kwasny, who provided a comprehensive overview of Convention 108, complemented by the testimonial experience of Jean-Luc Sauron, Conseiller d’Etat and tutor of the HELP course launched for French magistrates and lawyers in collaboration with the Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature (ENM) and the Conseil national des barreaux (CNB).

Benoit Van Keirsbilck, President of Défense des Enfants Internationale (DEI) - Belgium and one of the developers of the HELP course on Child-friendly Justice, presented it, emphasising the Council of Europe instruments including the Lanzarote Convention.

Nicolas Le Coz, former President of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA), explained and stressed the value of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings and its monitoring mechanism.

Among the various participants talking about the current situation in Mediterranean countries, we would like to highlight the interventions of Judge Amina Oufroukhi, responsible for women affairs, children and trafficking within the Moroccan Public Ministry.

As concluded by Younès Ajarrai, the Director of the Training Institute of the CNDH, the event was a forerunner of a full-fledged HELP project under the European Union/Council of Europe Joint South Mediterranean Programme III to start in 2019 based on a demand-driven approach and aiming at the reinforcement of human rights, democracy and the Rule of law in Southern Mediterranean countries in accordance with European and other international standards.