PalThink for Strategic Studies inaugurated a ToT training course in the field of democracy and human rights as part of the activities and events of the “PalThink Academy for Democracy and Human Rights – Phase II” project, supported by the German Federal Foreign Office’s funds by ifa’s Funding Programme zivik.

Omar Shaban, Director of PalThink, opened the session, explaining that the aim of the course is to enhance the capabilities of the members of the Academy and prepare them to be trainers in the field of democracy and human rights.

He said that PalThink plans to achieve this through a comprehensive training program that focuses on honing the trainees’ skills and knowledge, including presentation techniques, communication skills, and managing dialogue sessions.

The training relies on innovative methodologies, adhering to international standards in training and conducting dialogue sessions and awareness workshops, ensuring the empowerment of the target group of 25 members of the PalThink Academy for Democracy and Human Rights to implement 60 awareness sessions in various areas in the Gaza Strip. The training course is scheduled for 12 days, with 6 training hours per day.

On the first day of the training course, lawyer Abdullah Sharshara discussed the concept of human rights, highlighting the evolution and characteristics of human rights and their relationship with the Constitution. He emphasized the importance of practitioners in the field of human rights being detached from personal interests, ideology, and social frameworks when dealing with human rights issues, in order to achieve an objective and neutral understanding of human rights issues.

Trainer Osama Mortaja presented the fundamental concepts of reconciliation and the differentiation between party interests and national interests. He defined reconciliation as a comprehensive national interest and an essential component of a sound democratic transition, independent of narrow political calculations. The training concluded with a discussion on the Palestinian general elections as a means to achieve Palestinian reconciliation.