Youth in Action in Spain: Get Transnational!

At the end of June, GHRD’s European Volunter Service (EVS) volunteer, Barbara Mojzes attended a Youth in Action training programme in Spain, targeting transnational youth initiatives within the new Erasmus+ Programme. 

The training organized by Spanish National Agency and took a place in Cercedilla; a picturesque Spanish village just a half an hour ride to Madrid. 24 participants representing various organisations from all around Europe, Turkey and even Nigeria guaranteed the diversity of opinions and perspectives during the whole week.

 The priority of the seminar was to promote European projects through transnational youth initiatives within the framework of Erasmus+ Programme and to establishing platforms for people who are interested in developing youth initiatives focusing on entrepreneurship.

Our trainers were experts on non-formal education and working methods, as all of the training sessions involved games, energizers, simulations and amusing exercises, which created a positive and cheerful atmosphere for further fruitful cooperation.  

In the very beginning of the training, participants got an opportunity to present their organisations and activities during the Project and NGO market. The session gave us an overview of organisations’ focus areas and their capacities. Since the core aim of the training programme was to establish transnational collaboration among various NGOs and set up projects (transnational youth initiatives) that are suitable for future realization.

One of my best memories is definitely the international night organized  during the first evening we spent in Cercedilla. The aim of the night was to present your own traditional cuisine. We had so much fun while tasting various (and sometimes peculiar) foods and drinks from Latvia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania, UK, Spain, France, Turkey and the Netherlands.

Following four days of intensive training and project management, we spent a pleasant afternoon in Madrid; the amazing Spanish capital that never sleeps. The timing was perfect since we all needed  some rest and inspiration during the last days of our great journey. So, we enjoyed the sightseeing led by local hosts and delicious dinner as much as possible.

It was not always easy to work with people with different cultural backgrounds and views, but I wanted to cherish this multicultural environment to the fullest. I mean what a boring and dull world it would be without this incredible diversity. Wouldn't you agree?

The Dalai Lama in Netherlands: Buddhist Teaching and Public Talk in Rotterdam

On 11th May, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and one of the most powerful spiritual leaders of the world visited Rotterdam, GHRD's EVS volunteer and intern attended this event.

Barbara Mojzes

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and one of the most powerful spiritual leaders of the world gave a thought-provoking public lecture in Rotterdam in front of 11,000 people.

Photo: Jurjen Donkers

The 79-year old Dalai Lama, currently living in exile in India surprised the audience with his down to earth attitude, spontaneity and great sense of humor. Wearing an orange baseball cap during his teachings made the lecture even more enjoyable and reminded us about how often we are concerned about improving our body instead of improving our mind.

As the head of a 500 year old religion, the Dalai Lama was not afraid to connect his beliefs to more modern theories from Quantum Physics in relation to questions of existence and the present time. For example, he spoke about a theory which came up with the possibility that time may not even exist. This is because, he argued, if the present moment we are living in turns into the past every second, and in the same second, the future becomes the present, does the present moment exist at all?

His Holiness then explained the three principal aspects of the Path. These are renunciation (the determination to be free), bodhichitta (the altruistic aspiration for enlightenment) and wisdom. We all, “Dharma Friends, Spiritual Brothers and Sisters” want happiness not suffering, but we need to know how suffering and happiness come about. Suffering is always a result of our own actions and the main reason or all the suffering in the world is ignorance, due to the gap between appearance and reality. It is not  technology, state governments or weapons that are our biggest enemies, but our own selfish attitude and ignorant minds.

Sara Fiorentini

Since I started working for human rights protection, one of the main issues I have had to face is that the more religious authorities influence the social and political choices of a country, the less a real integration between different communities is possible.

It is undeniable, indeed, that religions have a great effect on society as well as the opposite, in a dialectical relationship. I have always believed that religions can find a common ground to peacefully coexist and promote the protection of  fundamental rights which are recognized as intangible precepts. Nevertheless, if we do not contemplate the possibility of creating a neutral structure that allows different religions to express freely and to identify their common features, it seems impossible to state the existence of these universal principles. 

To this end, I was highly inspired by the Dalai Lama’s speech about the possibility to get a human rights-framework that allows different religions to coexist in a peaceful way on the basis of secularism.

He stated that every religion talks about love and compassion, as well as teaching self-discipline because it is fundamental to avoid impulsivity and greed. Therefore, the only difference between religions rests on the way in which they promote love and compassion, that is to say that religions do not contradict each other.

The only way to gain a peaceful coexistence between religions is to build every State’s rules on secular principles able to reflect the fundamental teaching of love that every religion shares. According to this pattern, a tolerant society is possible: a society which rests on moral ethics and promotes both individual and communal values. A State should promote these principles by delegating educational tasks to individuals, families and small communities that when working together, have the capacity to build up a local, national and then international idea of tolerance and mutual respect.

In the voice of: SAWERA

SAWERA was introduced to GHRD by Front Line Defenders, an international organization based in Ireland that was set up in 2001. The organization works to protect human rights defenders, like the staff at SAWERA, who are at risk because of their peaceful and courageous work for the human rights of others in their community. Front Line Defenders provides this protection in many ways including providing security grants to improve human rights defenders' physical protection and conducting security and computer training to strengthen their physical and online security. See www.frontlinedefenders.org for more details.  


GHRD was lucky enough to interview a member of SAWERA in order to learn more about their work. We thank them very much for their time and insightful answers!

- Please explain what SAWERA is and where you work?

SAWERA - the Society for Appraisal and Women Empowerment in Rural Areas, works to promote the equal status of women in the tribal society by helping to foster women's social and political rights. We try to improve the lives of the women in the region by promoting women's literacy and employment and educating people in an attempt to combat domestic violence.

We work in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas, known more commonly as FATA, of Pakistan because when the Taliban regime fell in Afghanistan in December 2001, the remaining militants retreated to the FATA in Pakistan in order to regroup. This area is located in northwestern Pakistan, just across the border with Afghanistan, and has a population of approximately 4.1 million. Here the militants challenged the fragile tribal governing system in place in the region and exercised their power and control by brutally targeting innocent civilians and thus diminishing the power of the existing governing system.

A map of Pakistan which highlights the FATA region in red

The Government of Pakistan tried to limit the Taliban with a military operation but it was unsuccessful and the militants were able to extend their activities and move towards the bigger cities located near the FATA. As a result, people began to leave their homes in the region and reside as displaced persons in the outskirts of the district. Civil servants, businessmen and humanitarian workers fled the area as incidents of kidnappings and targeted killings increased.

Not only did the militants reject the incumbent governing system by the tribes in the FATA, they also strongly denied women's rights in the region. Female teachers, doctors and health workers were shot and killed which served to scare women back into their homes. Educational and economic opportunities for women diminished to 0%, with women's involvement in decision making and dispute management processes becoming an unattainable dream. The society became increasingly male-dominated and women were viewed as secondary. This was the real inspiration and motivation for the founding of SAWERA.

SAWERA began by organizing meetings with women on the importance of women's rights and education and went on to open a school to educate the girls whose schools had been destroyed by militants in the Khyber Agency district of the FATA.

- Please explain a bit more about the work SAWERA does?

SAWERA works to promote the equal status of women in this tribal society by helping to foster women's social and political rights. We try to improve the lives of the women in the region by promoting women's literacy and employment and educating people in an attempt to combat domestic violence.

SAWERA began by organizing meetings with women on the importance of women's rights and education and went on to open a school to educate the girls whose schools had been destroyed by militants in the Khyber Agency district of the FATA.

- And what is your role within the organisation?

I work as the security adviser for SAWERA. I manage the level of threat against the organization and respond to any security incidents. My duties include assessing an area from a security perspective before any SAWERA staff travel there. I do this by identifying and mitigating the risks and threats. I design security protocols and procedures to provide protection for SAWERA staff and I deliver safety and security training to protect them. Moreover, I also manage responses to security incidents and deal with the media.

- Please tell us more about the people you work with?

We work to help the female half of the population in this rigid, tribal society where there is a strong militant hold. This half of the population have been consistently ignored by tribal administrative authorities since the country was founded in 1947 and since the 2001 influx of militants from Afghanistan, the situation for women and children has become much worse.

In 2008, under the control of militants, dozens of new sanctions against women were introduced in the FATA region, for example they introduced the rule that women were not allowed to go outside unless they were accompanied by a male member of their family. If a woman was found to be breaking this rule she would be severely punished. The Taliban groups based in the North and South Waziristan districts of the FATA announced that women were not allowed to apply for a CNIC card – the National Identity Card, which is compulsory for opening bank accounts, applying for a passport and almost all substantial monetary transactions, such as buying cars, land and other assets. They also insisted that women wear the burqa (traditional scarf).

- What do you think are the biggest challenges and problems that women face in FATA?

Violence against women and honor killings are two burning issues for women in the tribal region, coupled with the fact that the power to challenge these issues lies with the leading male figures in society, to whom women are invisible. There are no institutions or mechanisms for women to submit complaints about their abusers. There are no women's courts in the tribal area.

Furthermore, before the war against terror in Afghanistan, the female literacy rate in the FATA region was 3%. However, when the Taliban retreated from Afghanistan, and entered the FATA, they started pushing their own agenda, demolishing many girl’s schools, claiming that these schools were providing secular education. Then, for fear of more demolitions and bomb blasts, the remaining schools for girls closed. These factors combined to further reduce the levels of literacy and female education in the region which is the third biggest challenge.

SAWERA has worked hard to improve the lives of girls and women

- Please explain some of the innovative projects you have implemented

SAWERA has implemented a wide range of programs in the FATA since its inception in 2004. Women Protection Groups were set up in an effort to protect women from violence, harassment and to engage them in peace-building, non-violent activities. For the first time in the country's history, women and girls are being involved in security mapping and peace-building initiatives. These groups identify unsafe places within their communities and they subsequently go on to link-up with government and non-government institutions for the provision of support on the bases of their identified security issues.

SAWERA also implements an Open Intervention Program to build the capacity of local community based organizations (CBOs) for women in the FATA. This program incorporates diverse training events on the approaches to development in order to enhance the capacity of CBOs in building an understanding about the obstacles that inhibit people, governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations from realizing their developmental goals. These trainings also enhance the CBOs strengths so that they will achieve measurable and sustainable results. This project has facilitated some 30 village-level CBOs to date, with many participants now serving as social activists in their communities, facilitating ongoing developments. 

SAWERA also provides IT (Information Technology) training for women in the FATA. These trainings have provided the participants with skills required for employment, and some have gone on to secure jobs in government institutions, earning a source of income for their families.

- What are the main issues that SAWERA faces?

SAWERA is operating programs in the FATA, one of the most dangerous regions in the world for human rights work and in particular women's rights work.

In June 2012, Farida Afridi, one of the founders of SAWERA, told journalists that she was receiving threatening messages from an anonymous source. These messages told her to stop her work for women's rights and to stop her open criticism of the Pakistani government, the Taliban militants and the male-dominated structure of Pakistani society. In July 2012, whilst leaving her house to go to work, Farida was shot once in the head and twice in the neck by two men on a motorcycle. Later that day, she died in hospital.

Additionally, in 2013, the SAWERA office was bombed, thankfully nobody was injured, but there was a lot of structural damage to the infrastructure. The militants continue to threaten us, demanding that we cease our work for women's empowerment and the promotion of women's rights. The threats still exist, each and every day for us.     

- What do you think SAWERA needs in order to work more effectively?

Funding is key. At present we are operating with limited resources and we do not have adequate funds to provide financial support to victims of the violence. Ideally we would like to have the resources to manage investigation visits within the country as well as rest and respite visits out of the country for staff members who are attacked or under severe stress. Additional funding would also be useful to help us in relocating our office to a safer location so that the space could have the dual-purpose of being an office and a safe-house for staff and families in emergency situations.

- Why do you think international support is important to an organisation like SAWERA?

International recognition acts as an encouragement to the staff of SAWERA. By recognizing the importance of the work we are doing to promote women's rights the international community gives us strength. It also serves to spread the news that such marginalization and discrimination exists in the FATA and hopefully this can lead to more support for these women.

Earlier this year SAWERA won the 10^th Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. This was an international acknowledgement that despite the risks and the losses we have faced, the international community is aware of our work and recognizes our courage. It was also an opportunity to extend our global network and to meet with people who will further support the work of SAWERA. 

SAWERA has some global partners including Safe World For Women, Women’s WorldWide Web (W4) and Asian Girl Campaign, who all highlight the importance of SAWERA's work globally.  

- Where does SAWERA see itself in 5 years?

It is our goal in SAWERA for the female literacy rate to be increased by 50% in the coming five years. We also hope for peace in the region, as once peace is restored both boys and girls will be able to go to school safely and happily. As we continue to work to change people's attitudes in the tribal society we hope that they will learn to accept the equal status of women and be open to women's empowerment.

The strength of the women in the region will grow and this will resolve some of the issues women are facing, allowing them to exercise power in areas of decision making in the coming years.

Ultimately, peace is of utmost importance for women in the region to exist in an environment that will allow them to realize their rights. 

Photos courtesy of SAWERA

Disclaimer: Blog posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Human Rights Defence.

Youth In Action: on the edge – inclusion across borders

by Karin Sternäng

Earlier this month, GHRD’s Human Rights Intern, Karin Sternäng visited Azerbaijan to learn more about social inclusion as part of a Youth in Action Project.

The training programme, 'on the edge - inclusion across borders' was organized by the European Intercultural Forum in cooperation with a local organization from Azerbaijan called Bridge to the Future. 30 participants representing 24 youth and human rights organisations attended the event and came from a diverse range of countries including The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Latvia, Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia and Moldova. The aim of the training was to raise the issue and awareness level of the social exclusion of young people. This was done through non-formal methodology consisting of discussions, workshops and role-plays. With so many different organizations present, the training also served as an excellent platform to learn from each other’s experiences and to form new partnerships.

The subjects discussed during the training course included the definition of exclusion, solutions to exclusion, identity issues, youth participation and identifying the specific problems that youth in Europe experience in relation to exclusion. An exciting aspect of the training was to see how the group developed throughout the week. Due to the fact that participants were from so many different countries and backgrounds, it took us a while to reach a common ground where we could understand each other, our common issues and interests and feel comfortable as a group. By the end of the week however, we had developed a strong group dynamic.

On one of the training days we went on an excursion to the nearby city of Ganja, which has been awarded the European Youth Capital 2016. It was there we met with representatives from the European Youth Capital Committee and the Municipality who informed us about the application process of becoming a European Youth Capital and what Ganja can expect over the next few years in regards to this award. The training itself was set in the beautiful surroundings of  the national park of Togana, which is located in the north west of Azerbaijan. This peaceful venue was great for the training but unfortunately it was too disconnected from reality; if it hadn’t have been for the great Azeri food they cooked us, we would not have known we were in Azerbaijan! However, as I had never been to the Caucasus before nor to a country where the limitation of freedoms is so evident. My travel partner and I had booked our flight so that we would have an extra 4 days to explore Azerbaijan on our own. Azeri people are extremely friendly; they were all very helpful in situations where we were a bit lost or in need of help. Although Azerbaijan is a wealthy, resource-rich country, this is not something you can understand from walking through the streets as corruption is ever present in daily life. The reality of the political and social situation in Azerbaijan serves as a bitter truth to its people and judging from the friends we made in Baku, sadly none of them feel hope that change will come or that they could play a part in starting a social or political movement in the near future.

İçəri Şəhər. The "inner city"/old city of Baku

Overall, the training was successful in bringing awareness to the problem of social exclusion. We were made aware of the many different situations of exclusion that youth in our countries face on a daily basis and what this in turn can lead to for the individuals and groups affected. Having said that, the other participants and I felt that the discussion had stayed at a very a-political level and that we still lacked a deeper level of analysis of the problems.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the European Intercultural Forum and Bridge to the Future for the invitation, organizing the training and for a great week in Azerbaijan.

For more information on GHRD’s upcoming projects and training events check our website (www.ghrd.org) or contact our education department (education@ghrd.org).

Disclaimer: Blog posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Human Rights Defence.

Human Rights in Istanbul: how does civil society in Turkey compare with The Netherlands?

Earlier this month, GHRD's Communications Intern, Jess Bailey, visited Istanbul to learn more about human rights and minority rights issues affecting Turkey. She attended this trip as part of Northwestern University’s student group ‘Northwestern Conference on Human Rights’.

Turkey: a transcontinental border country between exotic and chaotic confusion and a democratic and organised Europe.

Founded in 1923, Turkey was born out of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s idea of a secular nation, now ruled by the AKP for over 12 years, Turkey can be seen to be regressing from this .

Shortly before our arrival to Istanbul, Erdogan blocked twitter and whilst we were there also banned access to YouTube. During our trip we visited TOG - Community Volunteers Organisation and spoke with the founder, Ibrahim Betil, who earlier in the week quite eloquently tweeted ‘when the rules of nature and technology combine, no one can turn off the tweet of the birds’.

During the trip we also attended a day of lectures at Koc University to learn more about Turkish civil society, migration patterns and the human rights issues that affect the country. We specifically learnt about post-war emigration to Europe, the Kurdish Issue and the current Syrian crisis. We also spoke to students who participated in last year's protests.

We also visited ‘Helsinki Citizens Assembly’ where we learnt about Turkey's geographical limitation to the 1951 Geneva Convention, which means that Turkey only accepts asylum seekers from Europe and asylum seekers from other countries must apply via UNHCR and are then resettled elsewhere if successful. HCA also spoke to us about the free legal assistance they provide to failed asylum seekers who are stuck in limbo as well as the work they do with in regards to furthering the integration of the Kurdish community.

Additionally, we visited a newly established civil society organisation called Hamisch and learnt more about the Syrian conflict and their work which aims to connect Syrian intellectuals in exile. This provided an interesting contrast to our current knowledge obtained from western media about Syria which is mostly related to the refugee crisis and not other parts of Syrian culture.

Walking down the main street of Istanbul, Istiklal Cadessi, the street seems hauntingly different today as photos of last year’s protests remind passers-by of the Gezi Park protests and the struggles for freedom of speech and democracy.

LGBT protesters were highly visible during the Gezi Park protests which coincided with the 2013 Istanbul Gay Pride, making it the largest Gay Pride ever held in Turkey and Eastern Europe. LGBT issues were also pushed forward politically through the Gezi protests and although the government made attempts to cover-up all their artistic efforts, these stairs remain a symbol of the underground LGBT community. 

A year on,  small protests continue to erupt on a frequent basis as the city remains concerned with rights to freedom of expression, culture and access to the arts. This peaceful protest was concerned with the closure of art institutions was conducted peacefully using chants, music and dance.

Our visit coincided with local elections and the city’s infrastructure was a blank canvas for the masses of banners and posters. Several small rallys were also set up to disseminate party information and encourage people to vote. Many students from Koc University were flying back to their hometowns in order to participate in the voting process as this year, voting was assumed to be more important than ever.

It became more and more clear as the week continued that the Turkish state is putting a lot of money and attention into advancing the economy and this has often come at the expense of minority communities and civil society.

It also became clear that there are many differences between Turkish civil society and Dutch civil society. For example, Turkish civil society is less developed than Dutch civil society and receives much less governmental support and funding, yet there are a higher number of minority and human rights abuses in Turkey.

Reflecting upon my week of NGO visits, it has become clear that the main human rights issues in Turkey relate historically to minority rights abuses. However, what seems to be an important issue in the current climate is that human rights abuses in Turkey are no longer just associated with minorities as the main human rights abuse of the moment, the lack of freedom of expression, affects the entire population. Although this is negative for all 74 million inhabitants of Turkey, it can only be seen to worsen the situation for minorities.

Photo credits to Jess and other members of NUCHR.

Disclaimer: Blog posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Human Rights Defence.

MASTERMINDS OF A BETTER FUTURE: How can we trust 'Gross National Happiness' if it doesn't work where it was founded?

 by Rachel Dixon (University of Sussex, UK)

Ground-breaking?

Idealistic?

Impossible?

The Gross National Happiness index (GNH), conceived in Bhutan, is cited as an innovative and more ‘human’ alternative to the Eurocentric school of poverty measures, which includes the more well-known and more frequently cited Human Development Index, Multidimensional Poverty Index, Dollar a Day etc and on first glance it is remarkable. The GNH aims to measure 9 domains that are said to take a holistic approach to progress, development and policy making: psychological well-being, health, education, time use, cultural diversity and resilience, good governance, community vitality, ecological diversity and resilience, and living standards. This is what the development world dreams of, surely? A welcome divergence from unrelenting reports of inequality, environmental destruction and questionable governance, this approach has nevertheless fallen into a familiar trap: the exclusion of a significant minority.

A quick Google search will find that Bhutan is chiefly categorised as a Buddhist nation with Dzongkha recognised as the official national language. This of course, veils the true demography of a nation composed of an estimated 25% Lhotshampa (Nepalese speaking Bhutanese Hindus) as well as the 70% Mahayana Buddhists, which are the two largest ethnic groups in Bhutan, the remaining population consisting of indigenous or migrant tribes. This contradiction typifies the two approaches generally taken to the analysis of the GNH: 1) the image of Bhutan - generally endorsed by government officials as a nationalist, homogenous and culturally united Buddhist state; and 2) a diverse, exclusionary and centralised state.

Under the GNH index, policies have been implemented with the aim of promoting both cultural diversity and resilience. However, although GNH comes with the idyllic promise of a thriving and accepting cultural and religious environment, in reality the tangible actions taken by Bhutan have almost solely upheld the Buddhist majority. Buddhist sites of worship have been renovated (undoubtedly a positive step for a large proportion of Bhutanese citizens) and the government has issued a decree requiring all citizens to observe ‘driglam namzha’, the traditional dress, values and etiquette of Bhutan. Certainly in the global context of an increasingly homogenised, ‘western’ cultural outlook, the focus on the resilience of tradition is attractive, almost enviable. The abolition of the teaching of Nepali in schools and the denial of their freedom to practice their own cultural customs thus begins the marginalization of the Lhotshampa community.

Bhutanese people wearing the traditional clothes of Driglam Namzha

The Bhutanese government’s “one nation, one people” policy based on the traditions of the Northern, Buddhist Bhutanese, arguably the product of its escape from colonisation and its status as a small, isolated state surrounded by two powerful giants, India and China, has seen the denial of the ability of vast segments of the population to enjoy their human rights. A report by Amnesty International identified the arbitrary arrest, torture and rape of the Lhotshampa Bhutanese, which spurred the flight of thousands to the Nepalese border where many still reside in refugee camps. Discriminatory land rights, marriage acts and limits on the freedom of assembly were just some elements of legislation enacted in the light of the GNH index that led to this migration.

Over the past half century Bhutan has been transformed into a thriving, unique society with much to be admired and emulated by the rest of the world. The focus on happiness, wellbeing, environmental awareness and health is an undeniably positive approach which one could say needs to be adapted by European countries. However, if a similar scheme were to be implemented elsewhere, the necessity to follow through on the acceptance and encouragement of diversity and equality would be paramount and inescapable. Although today, the Lhotshampa still largely reside in Nepalese refugee camps and tensions continue to exist between the Lhotshampa and the Bhutanese government, the new Prime Minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, may be taking the first positive steps in a positive and inclusive direction. He is quoted stating that “rather than talking about happiness, we want to work on reducing the obstacles to happiness”. 

Disclaimer: Blog posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Human Rights Defence.

Youth In Action: Be innovators: Make a Social Change

by Ganna (a participant from Ukraine)


In January 2014, an “out of the box” Youth in Action project entitled “Be innovators: Make a social change” was organized by Global Human Rights Defence for 25 participants representing NGOs from Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Romania, Armenia, Serbia and the Netherlands.

The main aim of this project was to introduce the concept of social entrepreneurship as a means of sustainable and independent functioning for an NGO working in the youth field or any other field.

The project was designed as a training course based on non-formal education methods such as discussions, debates, presentations and workshops etc.

A very clear and precise image of a social enterprise was introduced to the participants by Jonathan Talbott from Talbott International presentations who outlined the main characteristics of social entrepreneurship and stressed the differences between its use in non-profitable and business activities. The introduction to the topic was then taken over by Peter van Poortvliet who represented Cordaid, a civil society organization which focuses on development within vulnerable regions and areas of conflict. In addition, a meeting with representatives from Enviu, an organization that focuses on co-creation and business-development, greatly contributed to the overall understanding of the idea of social entrepreneurship.

Participants also had a unique chance to meet social activists from the NGO Stitchting Mytikas. This NGO uses innovative approaches in their work with youth and has conducted many interesting and comprehensive workshops with organizations based in The Hague, The Netherlands that work with sexual minorities, people with disabilities, migrants and refugees.

During the event, it was not just ideas of potential social enterprises that were discussed among participants. The training course also brought forward innovative and creative approaches of design thinking. The GHRD team also presented a workshop based on methodology obtained from Stanford University which gave participants a thoughtful, step-by-step explanation of how to design ideas in a unique and interesting manner.

The training course “Be innovators: Make a social change” was seen as a turning point for many participants in their perceptions of NGO functioning and further development. Innovative ideas were taken back to the participant’s home countries and I believe one day in the near future we will see outstanding activities from the NGOs who attended the event. 

Disclaimer: Blog posts do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Human Rights Defence.