In early July, the 20th Annual Conference of the HELP Network, organised under the auspices of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, took place in Strasbourg. Valentyna Lisovska, Centre for Professional Development in Sphere of European and Euro-atlantic Integration of the High School, was part of the Ukrainian delegation of 27 representatives of universities and educational institutions. The three-day study visit was organised by the HELP for Ukraine Project.

The conference is a platform for presenting the developed courses and key HELP projects and strengthening the impact of human rights training and improving cooperation between members and partners of the HELP network.

More than 150 participants from 50 countries discussed trends and challenges in European legal education, the achievements of the HELP programme, and shared best practices in education for better human rights protection.

New relevant courses developed within the framework of the HELP Project for Ukraine were presented, including international humanitarian law and human rights, deportation of children during armed conflicts, temporary protection in the EU, etc.

It should be noted that the High School actively cooperates with the Council of Europe’s HELP (Human Rights Education for Lawyers) for Ukraine, including in times of war. Together, they implemented a project on internal displacement, which trained 80 civil servants. In June, a Training for Trainers was held to train tutors to successfully teach the HELP online course to different audiences. The joint HELP training course ‘Discrimination and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, Homophobia and Transphobia’ is currently underway. We plan to launch a certificate programme for category A civil servants who formulate human rights and anti-discrimination policies.