Refugee Law Reader course in Quito

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, with the support of the Global Learning Centre and the Regional Legal Unit (Costa Rica) of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and in cooperation with the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito is organizing a five-day course on refugee law and forced migration, based on the Refugee Law Reader (www.refugeelawreader.org/es/), the only comprehensive, global on-line curriculum for the teaching of refugee law.

• When and where?

The course will be held on 4-8 December 2014, in Quito, Ecuador, and will be hosted by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador.

• The objective and content of the course in brief:

The objective of the course is to enhance and support the education of refugee law in Latin-America, establishing a regional network of academic experts. The course will focus on the following main areas:

• International refugee law: conceptual framework and current challenges
• Regional challenges, 30 years after the Cartagena Declaration
• “New” areas of international protection: internal displacement, statelessness, environmentally induced migration
• The methodology of teaching refugee law with the help of the Refugee Law Reader, innovative adult learning methods
• The refugee law clinic methodology – how to engage students in practical legal work
• For whom?

The course is aimed at committed, energetic and ambitious academics teaching law from any Spanish-speaking South- or Central-American country and Brazil. Participants should preferably be at an early phase of their career, with some background in refugee, migration or human rights law and a firm interest in teaching refugee law and cooperate with a regional network in the future.

• Language

The course will be held in Spanish (some lectures will be delivered in English with simultaneous interpretation into Spanish), therefore a good command of the Spanish language is a condition of participation.

• How can you participate?

There is no course fee, and thanks to the generous contribution of ACNUR the organisers will cover the costs of meals and accommodation of all participants. For a limited number of participants, the organisers can also cover travel costs. However, due to the limited number of places only selected participants can attend the course.

Interested candidates should send their CVs accompanied by a short motivation letter which answers all of the following questions:

a) Why are you interested in this course?

b) How are you planning to use the knowledge acquired during the course?

c) Would you or your university be able to cover the cost of your travel to Quito? If not, please explain in brief why you are in need of financial support for this and how much your travel would cost approximately.

All applications should be sent in e-mail to reader@helsinki.hu/ by 17 October 2014. Participants will be jointly selected by the organisers; selected candidates will be informed before the end of October 2014.

The Call for Participation in Spanish can be downloaded here.