Beirut - Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor’s regional office in Beirut has concluded the first phase of its Youth for Rights Fellowship programme for a second cohort, which lasted two months and saw trainees gain a variety of human rights skills.

Fellows have begun the second phase of the programme, which will also last two months, during which they will report on human rights issues across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region under the supervision of qualified specialists and trainers.

The programme, which Euro-Med Monitor launched at the end of last year, aims to strengthen young people’s capacities in engaging directly in human rights work, defending human rights in their own societies, and creating job opportunities for themselves. These aims are accomplished by connecting each cohort with other international, regional, and local human rights organisations.

The fellowship’s second phase allows 20 young people from various MENA countries to receive theoretical and practical lectures on international human rights, criminal, and humanitarian law, as well as undergo training on the various stages of preparing reports documenting human rights violations. Applying knowledge and skills acquired in the first phase, fellows will write five human rights reports about distinct topics, including free expression in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, rights of migrants and asylum seekers in Türkiye and Greece, gender-based violence in Algeria, human trafficking in Lebanon, and the political undermining of human rights.

“The Youth for Rights Fellowship is a real opportunity for participants to develop their professional skills and integrate into the field of defending human rights within their societies, to promote individuals’ rights and freedoms and ensure they exercise their rights adequately,” said Ramy Abdu, Chairman of Euro-Med Monitor.

“Youths are the foundation and future of society; Euro-Med Monitor always operates from this perspective, enabling youth to gain the skills needed to effect change and create prosperity in their societies,” Abdu added.

The Youth for Rights Fellowship initiative is part of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor’s overall strategy to provide youth with a platform and turn victims of human rights violations across the MENA region, who are often passive recipients of outside aid, into active defenders of their own rights.