The MA in Human Rights and Democratisation in the Caucasus has welcomed Ms Kersty McCourt, Senior Advocacy Advisor, who leads advocacy work on civic space, counter terrorism and criminal justice and is currently part of the managing troika of the Human Rights and Democracy Network in Brussels. K. McCourt hold series of seminars on Civic Space and the role of Human rights Defenders. The aim of the course was to explore some of the most current changes in the human rights field and learn from practitioners about the new tactics and tools being deployed.
During the seminar sessions students studied various laws, policies and practices protecting Human Rights Defenders on international level, assessed trends and factors driving the closing space for civil society. Students also had two practical sessions: case-studies and human rights dialogue simulations.
Apart from the Seminar, K. McCourt, who graduated from the E.MA Programme in 2005 and used to be on the boards of the E.MAlumni and Global Campus Alumni Associations, together with programme Alumni Ani Khachatryan organised informal session on Global Campus Alumni.