Training New Human Rights Trainers – IFMSA

Name of the activity: Training New Human Rights Trainers

Country/NMO: IFMSA

Program: Ethics & Human Rights in Health

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Capacity Building

General description:

Human Rights are inalienable and apply to all members of the human family, equally and
without discrimination. They set the foundation that allow all people to live with dignity, freedom, justice and peace. More than ever, Human Rights have become a focal point in the our world and as future medical practitioners with the responsibility of serving all people in the community, it is perhaps of even greater importance to us as medical students.

Training New Human Rights Trainers (TNHRT)​ is a​ workshop created by the Standing
Committee on Human Rights & Peace (SCORP) within IFMSA. The workshop was created in line with our mission to raise human rights awareness among medical students as well as
empower young people to take human rights action in their communities. Human rights
education is considered by the IFMSA as recognition of health as a fundamental human right.

The aims of TNHRT are firstly and foremost to create ambassadors for human rights and
humanitarian values within healthcare and the broader community by equipping medical
students with the knowledge and tools to advocate for human rights as well as the relevant soft skills for training, inspiring and empowering others.

Focus area:

raise human rights awareness among medical students

Problem statement:

The workshop was created in line with our mission to raise human rights awareness among medical students as well as
empower young people to take human rights action in their communities. Human rights
education is considered by the IFMSA as recognition of health as a fundamental human right.

The aims of TNHRT are firstly and foremost to create ambassadors for human rights and
humanitarian values within healthcare and the broader community by equipping medical
students with the knowledge and tools to advocate for human rights as well as the relevant soft skills for training, inspiring and empowering others.

This training provides a unique platform for medical students from different National Member
Organizations (NMOs) to receive the proper tools and skills to create and implement a Human Rights education program in their local communities as well as nationally and internationally if they wish.

Target groups and beneficiaries:

The workshop is the first step of a series of human rights related workshops offered by SCORP and is directed towards flourishing human rights education among medical students. Following completion of this workshop, participants will be expected to conduct a Human Rights related graduation training session, after which they will be encouraged to organised more sessions and become Human Rights educators and advocates in their local community. They will also be given opportunity to further develop themselves by attending more advanced human rights workshops offered by SCORP.

Objectives and indicators of success:

Goal 1: ​Provide participants with core knowledge on human rights, including their link to health, and explore the role of medical students as advocates for human rights.
Objectives:
● To introduce the concept of Human Rights, give a brief overview and contextualisation of
the history of Human Rights up until present including the​ UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
● To discuss the “Right to Health” and the importance of health (both physical and mental
health) as a human right and role of health workers in advocating for both physical health and mental health rights
● To discuss Human Rights Violations in the participants’ countries
● To educate and raise awareness on humanitarian issues and humanitarian law
regulations among medical students
● To increase knowledge on the topic of peace and conflict
● To empower participants to act as advocates for human rights.

Goal 2: Increase the participants’ understanding of the root causes for inequality, prejudice and discrimination, and provide them with the skills to identify and challenge those causes aiming to ensure that vulnerable groups can access their rights in society.
Objectives:
● To discuss the different types of Prejudice and Discrimination, with health and healthcare in mind
● To characterize different types of Prejudice and Discrimination and presenting possible scenarios for each
● To discuss the social determinants of health
● To discuss vulnerable groups in relation to human rights and how participants can
advocate these groups both in healthcare and also in a broader setting
● To discuss Migrant and Refugees’ Health and Rights including simulation of many legal
and societal hurdles undocumented persons face in accessing health care
● To identify the differences between Dignifying and Non-Discriminatory Health Care, how
to combat stigma and raise awareness in clinical practice
● To introduce Intercultural Learning to the participants, how culture can inform all aspects
of an individual life and how we can work interculturally to minimise hate speech, xenophobia and intolerance and the role of culture in healthcare.

Goal 3: Empower participants with skills and tools to use inspirational, innovative and interactive methods of non formal learning to share their human rights knowledge with peers locally and internationally.
Objectives:
● To build up the participants soft skills, such as presentation skills, public speaking skills,
communication skills and evaluation skills through incorporation of these skills within the
human rights topics. E.g. giving a presentation on a human rights issue during the boot
camp element of the workshop.
● To provide participants with training skills for organizing their own activities.
● To provide a forum for participants to share their current activities in advocating for human rights and in human rights education activities with each other.
● To encourage participants to network, exchange ideas and learn about each other’s
experiences in these fields.
● To share all the workshop’s resources and materials with participants before and after
the workshop.

Goal 4: Provide a communication platform for young human rights enthusiasts to network,
exchange ideas and learn about each other’s experiences both during as well as after the
workshop.
Objective:
● To support all participants post workshop with their graduation sessions and certification
as a human rights trainer.
● To include all participants in the Human Rights Network and share opportunities for them
to increase their Human Rights knowledge by promotion of other workshops available.

Methodology:

1. Interactive Presentations: In these sessions content will be introduced initially through
visually engaging powerpoint presentations before using other methodology such as discussions and group activities.

2. Whole Group Discussion: the whole group will be able to discuss and exchange ideas
and thoughts on a topic, this is particularly useful after watching videos or seeing a roleplay.

3. Role Plays/Theater: We use role plays to enable participants to simulate the situations
we are discussing so they gain an understanding of different viewpoints and feelings and
how behaviours may arise in these situations.

4. Debates: We use this so that participants begin to think critically about different viewpoints and helps with their persuasion and advocacy skills.

5. Ideas cafés: During idea cafes, participants will be able to exchange thoughts, experiences and knowledge in smaller groups. The exchange of ideas between participants is a key factor throughout the training; therefore, idea cafes will be used to introduce a number of topics.

6. Case studies: The participants will be divided into small groups to discuss different case,
this is particularly useful when discussing ethical issues.

7. Boot camp: Participants will deliver short training session at the end of the workshop.
While preparing, they have the opportunity to practice implementing what they have learned. Trainers will be assisting the preparation process. After the boot camp, participants will receive feedback trainers and fellow trainees.

Plans for evaluation:

1. Evaluation: The participants’ experience of the training will be evaluated through a
written survey, before, at the end of each day of the workshop and after the training. The
result will be compiled and distributed to the participants and the organizing team as well
as the SCORP IT team.

2. Compilation of the materials: All training materials will be shared via the Human Rights
Trainers Resources Centre google drive, by the end of the workshop. Materials include
presentation files, training methods, handouts, contact details of participants, minutes
and outcomes of the discussions. ​The Human Rights Trainers Resources Centre is
currently undergoing reform and we will be asking for feedback from APRM 2017 TNHRT
participants, in order to improve it for future participants.

3. Online platform: All participants will be added to the IFMSA Human Rights Trainer
Facebook Group. Through this platform, participants can cooperate and receive help
while preparing their future trainings, as well as network with other trainers and keep up
to date with calls for trainers, new materials and resources and input on capacity building
within SCORP.

4. Graduation trainings: TNHRT participants will need to deliver a graduation training to
receive their certification as a Human Rights Trainer. Graduate training should take
place up to six months after the TNHRT workshop, with the session having a minimum of
ten participants and 1.5 hour duration. The TNHRT trainers will support participants
during this time. After the graduation training, TNHRT participant will need to submit a
short report along with the materials used to the SCORP team, they may also choose to
write a short summary of their experience on the secret IFMSA Human Rights Group
page with photos.

5. SCORP International Team: All information related to follow-up processes is collected by
SCORP International Team. After becoming international TNHRT trainers, participants
will be given opportunities to deliver TNHRT workshops and human rights related
sessions all around the globe.