Development of Human Rights Education and Research
at the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL)
About
In 2019 the Global Campus was entrusted by the European Union - 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) was 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.
Implemented over four years and until 2022, the project aimed at contributing 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 goal of the Centre is to engage in training, international networking and research activities, becoming 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 lied at the core of this project. This was achieved by:
- building adequate facilities to house the new Centre located at the Faculty of Social Sciences
- implementing structural ‘’Study & Training Programmes’’ for a targeted audience, as a precondition for mainstreaming human rights education throughout the UNTL
- creating a specialised library of about 500 items with access to digital resources
- organising outreach initiatives with key local and international stakeholders in the field of human rights and democracy
At the completion of the project the Centre was 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 was introduced across all UNTL’s nine Faculties from 2021, thus placing Timor-Leste at the vanguard of human rights education in the region.
Discover more the project results and impact through this booklet.