About

In 2019 the Global Campus was entrusted by the European Commission - Directorate General International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) to lead the new capacity-building project “Development of Human Rights Education and Research at the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL)”.

The project, funded by the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) through the Country Based Support Schemes (CBSS)is implemented in Dili in cooperation with the Global Campus Asia-Pacific Programme based at Mahidol University (Thailand) and in coordination with the EU Delegation in Timor-Leste.

The project contributes to the promotion of human rights, democracy and development in Timor-Leste by establishing a Human Rights Centre within the Faculty of Social Sciences of UNTL, and active throughout all nine Faculties. The aim of the Centre is to engage in training, international networking and research activities. It is envisaged that it will become an active partner of the Global Campus through its Asia-Pacific regional network.

The building of capacities to develop and deliver curricular, extra-curricular and research activities in the field of democracy and human rights lies at the core of this project. This will be carried out in the following manner:

• The development of adequate facilities to house the new Centre located at the Faculty of Social Sciences
• Structural ‘’Study & Training Programmes’’ for a targeted audience, as a precondition for mainstreaming human rights education throughout the UNTL
• A specialized library of about 500 items with access to digital resources
• Several cooperation initiatives with key local and international stakeholders in the field of human rights and democracy

Upon the completion of the project the Centre will be officially handed over to the UNTL to be embedded within its system. Furthermore, as a direct outcome of this project, a compulsory undergraduate course in Human Rights will be introduced across all UNTL’s nine Faculties from 2021, thus placing Timor-Leste at the vanguard of human rights education in the region.