Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

Yesterday (18 June 2015) Amnesty International announced something that is (rather will be) something new in human rights education: a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Who knows, the horrible acronym may one day be as normal as HRDs or AI itself. For this to come about Amnesty International is partnering with edX, a global leader in online education founded by Harvard University and MIT.  The first MOOCs will be available later this year. The free online courses will be designed by human rights and education experts from across Amnesty International.

a MOOC is:

• massive in that it is not limited by the four walls of a school building; hundreds of thousands of people can take a MOOC at one time.
• open in that anyone, regardless of social status, income, or academic affiliation may sign up and participate in the courses.
• online in that all course videos and materials are available to anyone with Internet access.

“These new courses will have something for everyone. They also have the brilliant ability to attract a new kind of human rights defender to our cause.” said Salil Shetty, SG of Amnesty International. 

Founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, edX is a leading MOOC provider and offers already on-line courses from more than 75 top universities and institutions. EdX is the only major MOOC provider that is non-profit and open source. Anant Agarwal, CEO, edX, said:  “We hope that our global platform, with more than 4 million people from every country in the world, will be an ideal place for the organization to amplify its message of justice for all.”

Amnesty International is canvassing opinion from potential subscribers to the course about their learning preferences. Its experts on human rights and education will use this information as they design and deliver the courses.

Human rights education is key to addressing the underlying causes of injustice around the world. The more people know about their rights, and the rights of others in society, the better equipped they are to protect them. So the initiative should be warmly welcomed.