Ceremony of the Awarding of Diplomas of the “European Master in Human Rights and Democratisation” Academic year 2020/2021

The Ceremony of the Awarding of Diplomas of the European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (EMA, Global Campus Europe) for the academic year 2020/2021 and inauguration of the 25th course, academic year 2021/2022, will be held on Sunday 26 September at 16.00 at Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice (also available in live streaming in the Global Campus social media channels).

Welcoming the graduates, students, professors and partner organisations will be Manfred Nowak, Secretary General of the Global Campus of Human Rights, Maria Laura Picchio Forlati, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, and local authorities.

The keynote speakers will be Michael O’Flaherty, Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Yetnebersh Nigussie, Disability Rights Activist and Right Livelihood Laureate 2017, Shaharzad Akbar, President of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, and Eamon Gilmore, EU Special Representative for Human Rights; the Ceremony will be accompanied by the music played by Interpreti Veneziani.

The Ceremony will mark an important moment of recognition and sharing of the accomplishments of the Global Campus of Human Rights, the network composed by 100 universities worldwide specialised on human rights education, from which EMA is the flagship programme in Europe. Participating in the Ceremony will be the representatives of the partner universities; rectors and professors of the EMA participating universities; the representatives of some among the international organisations and local government authorities which actively cooperate with the programme, including in particular the European Union - the main supporting institution of the Global Campus of Human Rights– and the Right Livelihood Foundation.

An important moment of the Ceremony will be the EMAlumni Award 2021, introduced by Adam Jacobi Møller, President of the EMAlumni Association. The award is a glass sculpture entitled “Collective Memory” generously donated by artist Koen Vanmechelen and Fondazione Berengo.

Illustrations of the Italian artist Nicola Ferrarese of very important international Human Rights Defenders will be exhibited during the event to highlight the importance of Human Rights Education with a call to support our institution.

During the ceremony, Covid-19 for the prevention measure related to will be taken by all of the participants respecting the Italian health regulations.

INSTITUTIONAL MESSAGES:

Manfred Nowak, Secretary General of the Global Campus: "The Global Campus is proud to start again the academic year of the European Master in Human Rights and Democratisation (EMA) and to do so with a higher number of students than last year. It is remarkable that we will welcome among the students and speakers of the Ceremony, many human rights defenders. Their experience is of inspiration to many young people engaged in this particularly difficult historical moment in raising awareness on different international crises".

Elisabetta Noli, Administrative Director of the Global Campus: "The Graduation Ceremony of the European Master’s students renews every year the welcoming and gratitude "pact" which the community of students and teachers of the Global Campus annually “sign” with the city of Venice, a city with which they establish a privileged bond, and which is an ideal location for the development of academic activities on human rights protection and sustainability".

(Picture taken before Covid-19 at the EMA Graduation Ceremony of 2019)