Short Courses
CMRS short courses provide specialized education in particular topics within the field of refugees and forced migration. Each course is an intensive five days course tailored towards practitioners in the field as well as students and researchers. Participants include staff members of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Office of Migration, Caritas, churches, human rights lawyers and NGOs. The participants do not only come from Egypt and the surrounding regions but also from Europe, the United States and Asia.
Recently our courses are attracting AUC students, either in their undergraduate or graduate studies, in the field of Political Science, Anthropology, Sociology, and Human Rights and many of them decided to pursue the FMRS graduate diploma as a result of their positive experiences in CMRS short courses. Refugees in Cairo also attended our courses and add their unique perspective. Their participation is facilitated by tuition waivers provided by CMRS. Some of our short courses are either provided annually or repeated according to demand.
Two of our regular courses that are repeated each year are ‘The International Refugee and Human Rights Law’ and ‘Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees’. Most of our courses are delivered through a combination of lectures and interactive small group exercises where participants learn how to relate theory to practice. CMRS offered over 30 short courses since its initiation in 2000. The following is a brief description of the courses offered by CMRS.
CMRS Short Courses Summer 2010
June 6-12 2010 & June 20-24 & 26 2010
The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo AUC is offering two short courses on refugee issues in June 2010.
Detailed information on the courses and the instructors are to be found below.
The deadline for receiving course applications is April 26, 2010
Target group:
The courses are offered for students, researchers and practitioners in the field
of forced migration as well as government officials and staff of
International organizations.
All courses are conducted in English and no translation facilities are provided.
Participants should have sufficient command of English language.
Date and Time:
The first course on “Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees” will be
offered from 9:30 a.m to 4:30 p.m. from June 6- 10 and will be taught by Dr.
Nancy Baron
The second course on “Introduction to International Refugee Law” will be
offered from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from June 20-24 & 26 (with the exception
of Friday June 25) and will be taught by Mr. Martin Jones
Venue:
All courses will take place at the downtown campus of the American University
in Cairo
Application procedure:
If you are interested to apply for one or more courses, please submit the following to Sara Sadek, CMRS outreach coordinator: cmrscourses@aucegypt.edu by April 26, 2010:
1. The application form
2. A Letter of interest
3. Your updated CV
Fees:
The fee for each course is $ 500. Fees will cover course material pack and 2 coffee breaks per course day as well as any other site visits related to the course.
Accepted Participants are expected to pay a 30% of the total fees as a deposit. More information on payment method will be provided to accepted participants.
Accommodation and any other expenses are not included in the fees. Please check our nearby recommended accommodation venues in Cairo. Participants requiring an accommodation advice may contact CMRS.
A very limited number of partial and full scholarships are available. Both type of scholarships do not cover travel or accommodation expenses but are for course fees only.
Preference will be given to students and participants from low-income countries. Requests will be considered on the basis of financial need and eligibility of the participant as well as resource availability at the center.
If you wish to be considered for funding, please submit the course application documents (form, CV and letter of interest) as well as the subsidy request form and a reference letter from your employer or supervisor to cmrscourses@aucegypt.edu by April 19, 2010
Further information about the courses:
1. Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees:
June 6-10, 2010
Course description:
In this course, participants will increase their understanding of the psychosocial and mental health issues of refugees and learn how to implement effective interventions.
Topics will include:
• Review of Inter Agency Standing Committee Guidelines (IASC) for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for Emergency Settings and the implications for interventions;
• Latest research about the psychosocial and mental health consequences of war and violence;
• Skills for assessment of need;
• Culturally and contextually sensitive interviewing skills;
• Methods for working with translators;
• Introduction to individual, family and community interventions;
• Specific mechanisms workers and organizations can use to minimize staff burnout and maximize organizational effectiveness.
Instructor: Dr. Nancy Baron
Dr. Baron is the Director of Psychosocial Program at CMRS, the Psychosocial Training Institute of Cairo and Global Psycho-Social Initiatives (GPSI). She received her Doctorate in Education at the University of Massachusetts, U.S.A. with a concentration in Family Therapy and Counseling Psychology. Since 1989, she has provided consultation, assessment, training, program design and development, research and evaluation for UN organizations and international and local NGOs in community and family focused psycho-social, mental health and peace building initiatives for conflict and post-conflict countries. She has lived and worked with emergency affected populations in Africa: Burundi, Egypt, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda; in Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Sri Lanka; in Eastern Europe: Kosovo and Albania; in South America: Colombia; and in the South Pacific: Solomon Islands. She is also the International Training Director for the International Trauma Studies Program, New York, USA.
2. Introduction to International Refugee Law:
June 20-24 & 26 2010
Course description:
The course aims to provide post-graduate students, international agency staff, NGO workers, lawyers and others working with refugees or interested in refugee issues with an introduction to the international legal framework which governs the protection of refugees. Through lectures, case studies and small group sessions, course participants will learn about the basic features of international refugee law including the components of the international refugee protection regime; the elements of the definition(s) of "refugee" contained in international instruments; the ethical and professional obligations of those involved in advocacy on refugee issues and in individual cases; the basic elements of the process by which refugee status is determined; and, the rights of refugees under international law. A background in law is useful but not required. The course will include a simulated refugee hearing in which course participants will be assigned roles to carry out in mock refugee status determination proceedings. The course will also include guest lecturers from local refugee community; local legal aid NGOs; and UNHCR.
The course has as the following its learning objectives:
• An awareness of the history and legal framework of international refugee law;
• An understanding of the definition of “refugee”, including the elements of inclusion as well as the exclusion and cessation provisions of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and other international treaties governing refugee protection;
• An awareness of the legal and practical issues encountered in refugee status determination, in particular those encountered in RSD performed by UNHCR; and,
• An awareness of the situation of refugees in Cairo, including their legal status, their practical ability to access rights and protections, and their prospects for durable solutions.
Instructor: Mr. Martin Jones
Mr. Jones is a lecturer in international human rights law at the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York. He previously taught and served as a visiting researcher at Osgoode Hall Law School (Canada), Queen's University (Canada), the Centre for Refugee Studies (Canada), the University of East London (UK), Georgetown University (USA), the University of Michigan (USA), the American University in Cairo (Egypt) and, most recently, the University of Melbourne (Australia). Martin is a member of the executive committee of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration and past chair of its 11th biennial conference in Cairo. He is managing editor of the journal Refuge. Martin is a founding and active member of the Southern Refugee Legal Aid Network, its voluntary director of research and training and a consultant to refugee legal aid organizations in Cyprus, Egypt, Hong Kong, Jordan, Malaysia and Turkey.. Before his returning to academia in 2002, he practiced as a refugee lawyer in Canada where he n 2008, he co-founded the Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights which provides legal aid to refugees and migrants in Egypt. He serves as the chair of the Legal Aid Working Group of the Asia Pacific Network for Refugee Rights, a regional coalition of over 100 NGOs, and sits on its steering committee. He has co-authored a textbook on refugee law in Canada and has published on various topics, including the interpretation of the definition of refugee, refugee status determination and the prohibition on refoulement to torture. His research interests include the reform of the governance of the international refugee protection regime, the interaction between international and national refugee law, and refugee law in Asia. He is currently working on a project funded by the US Institute for Peace to develop in partnership with local legal aid NGOs networks of pro bono lawyers to assist refugees in securing protection in eight jurisdictions in Asia.
Winter Short Courses January 2010
The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies CMRS at the American University in Cairo AUC is offering the following two winter short courses on refugee law:
1. Introduction to Refugee Law (January 10-14, 2010):
Course Description:
The course will provide post-graduate students, international agency staff, NGO workers, lawyers and others working with refugees or interested in refugee issues with an introduction to the international legal framework which governs the protection of refugees. Through lectures, case studies and small group sessions, course participants will learn about the basic features of international refugee law including the components of the international refugee protection regime; the elements of the definition(s) of "refugee" contained in international instruments; the ethical and professional obligations of those representing refugees; the basic elements of the process by which refugee status is determined; and, the rights of refugees under international law. A background in law is useful but not required. The course will include a simulated refugee hearing in which course participants will be assigned roles to carry out in mock refugee status determination proceedings.
2. Advanced Refugee Law (January 17th- 21st, 2010):
Course Description:
The course will provide post-graduate students, international agency staff, NGO workers, lawyers and others working with refugees with further training on new developments and current debates regarding the international legal framework which governs the protection of refugees. Through lectures, case studies and small group sessions, course participants will discuss and debate the sources and governance of international refugee law; the minimum requirements of and best practices in refugee status determination; the nature of the "nexus" requirement; the nature of "persecution" (including the circumstances under which socio-economic disadvantage may qualify as persecution); how to distinguish between "persecution" and "prosecution"; the definition of refugee contained in the Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa; the ethical and professional dilemmas encountered in legal representation of and advocacy on behalf of refugees; and, the obligations to refugees arising from other areas of international law. The course will be taught using examples from past and current refugee policy and jurisprudence from different jurisdictions. Successful completion of an introductory course in refugee law or equivalent experience with refugee law is required. The course will include a multi-party negotiation exercise based upon a simulated refugee crisis in which course participants will be assigned the roles of affected states, UNHCR and civil society and be required to negotiate a solution.
Information about the Instructor:
Martin Jones is a lecturer in international human rights law at the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York. He previously taught and served as a visiting researcher at Osgoode Hall Law School (Canada), Queen's University (Canada), the Centre for Refugee Studies (Canada), the University of East London (UK), Georgetown University (USA), the University of Michigan (USA), the American University in Cairo (Egypt) and, most recently, the University of Melbourne (Australia). Martin is a member of the executive committee of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration and past chair of its 11th biennial conference in Cairo. He is managing editor of the journal Refuge.
Martin is a founding and active member of the Southern Refugee Legal Aid Network, its voluntary director of research and training and a consultant to refugee legal aid organizations in Cyprus, Egypt, Hong Kong, Jordan, Malaysia and Turkey.. Before his returning to academia in 2002, he practiced as a refugee lawyer in Canada where he n 2008, he co-founded the Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights which provides legal aid to refugees and migrants in Egypt. He serves as the chair of the Legal Aid Working Group of the Asia Pacific Network for Refugee Rights, a regional coalition of over 100 NGOs, and sits on its steering committee. He has co-authored a textbook on refugee law in Canada and has published on various topics, including the interpretation of the definition of refugee, refugee status determination and the prohibition on refoulement to torture. His research interests include the reform of the governance of the international refugee protection regime, the interaction between international and national refugee law, and refugee law in Asia. He is currently working on a project funded by the US Institute for Peace to develop in partnership with local legal aid NGOs networks of pro bono lawyers to assist refugees in securing protection in eight jurisdictions in Asia.
Application procedure:
To apply for one or both courses, please fill in the application form and send an
updated copy of your CV to Sara Sadek: ssadek@aucegypt.edu
The deadline for receiving course applications is October 8th, 2009.
Applicants accepted for the course will be notified by e-mail.
Venue of the courses
The courses will take place in the Falaki Building, at the downtown campus
of the American University in Cairo
Course fees:
The tuition fee for each course is $ 500 for non-Egyptians and an equivalent to $ 150 for Egyptians. CMRS provides 5 competitive scholarships restricted to registered refugees in Cairo
Participants are expected to pay a 30% of the total fees as a deposit before November 15th, 2009. More information on payment method will be provided to accepted participants.
Tuition fees will cover course material and 2 coffee breaks per course day
Accommodation and any other expenses are not included. Please check the link for some nearby recommended accommodation venues in Cairo.
Recommendations for nearby hotels
Summer Short Course 2009
International Law on Migrant and Refugee Women and Children
Sunday May 31 – Thursday June 4
Course description:
This course aims at giving the students a thorough overview and understanding of international law instruments pertaining to migration movements and to migrant and refugee women and children in particular. The course will have a human rights focus. The course will be structured around an examination of two groups and their rights; women and children. No single international treaty governs migration and migrants’ rights, but that does not mean that there is no “international migration law”. General Human Rights Conventions, such as the International Covenants on Civil, Political and on Economic, Social and Cultural rights are not only relevant for nationals but also for non-nationals who may count on the rights in these instruments for protection. Furthermore, specific instruments have been adapted to protect women and children, recognising their specific needs and corresponding rights and also the specific form of abuse from which these groups need particular protection. Likewise, specific vulnerable groups such as victims of trafficking may count on international instruments for protection. Both groups been characterised as “vulnerable” with particular needs and rights which derive particular attention – for example, the special rights of children who migrate in order to work or of women who are hired as domestic workers. The course will be legal and does require of the students that they have a basic knowledge of how international law operates, but will be structured so that also non-lawyers may follow without difficulty. Active participation will be required and the students will be asked to present short (1 page) papers as a reaction to the reading material they have been given and as a basis for discussion. Concrete cases before regional and international courts on migrants’ rights will be used for students to actively debate for and against a certain sentencing. National legislation will be used as examples and should be evaluated in the context of international obligations.
Instructor: Kristina Touzenis, International Organization for Migration. Kristina Touzenis has an LLB and an LLM from the University of Copenhagen, specialized in International Public Law. She has focused her research and publications on the rights of women, children and migrants both in human rights law and in international humanitarian law. She has published a monograph on the rights of unaccompanied children in international and regional law. She currently works for the International Organization for Migration and teaches Masters Classes at the University of Trieste and regularly lectures at the University of Pisa.
Summer Short Course 2008
In summer 2008, CMRS successfully undertook the three following short courses, attended by 91 participants:
Advanced International Refugee Law
The course covered various advanced topics in international refugee law including the "nexus" requirement of the definition, the meaning of "persecution", the recent developments in the interpretation of the exclusion provisions of the Convention, the non-refoulement and the expulsion provisions of the Convention. The course also covered refugee's rights as guaranteed by the Convention and the interaction between the Convention and other regional and complementary forms of protection. Finally, the course covered procedural issues raised by refugee status determination (RSD) particularly as conducted by UNHCR.
The course was instructed by Martin Jones, Research Associate, Centre for Refugee Studies at York University (Canada). Martin Jones practiced refugee law in Canada for seven years during which he represented hundreds of claimants at all stages of the refugee status determination (RSD) process. He was the chair of the 11th biennial conference of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration and a founding member of the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Martin has authored a textbook on Canadian refugee law, a practitioners’ guide to Canadian immigration and refugee law, and numerous articles and working papers on international refugee and migration law. He is the managing editor of "Refuge", a scholarly periodical on refugee studies. Martin has served as a lecturer or visiting researcher at the American University in Cairo, the University of East London, Georgetown University, the University of Michigan, Queen's University (Canada), and, upcoming, the University of Melbourne. He was a participant in the Fourth Colloquium on Challenges in International Refugee Law and a signatory of the resulting Michigan Guidelines on Protection Elsewhere. He was involved in the founding of the new Southern Refugee Legal Advocates' Network and has acted as a consultant to refugee legal assistance organizations in Canada, Egypt, Turkey and Hong Kong. He is presently a doctoral candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School (Canada) writing his dissertation on the status of military service evaders in international refugee law.
Addressing the Protection of Refugee Women and Girls
In all parts of the world, refugee women and girls are subjected to rape and other forms of sexual and gender based violence and torture. They are often targeted for human rights abuses from different aggressors, including regular army and militia members, irregular forces and members of their own community. This abuse includes forms of sexual abuse, rape, forcible impregnation, sexual slavery, and forced prostitution. Women may be kidnapped and made to serve as combatants, servants, ‘wives’, or members of so-called ‘suicide’ squads. Rape, torture and other violent types of sexual abuse are increasingly used as tactics of war and terrorism. In addition to the emotional and physical trauma caused by rape, many women give birth to the children of their rapists. Once refugee women reach a country of first asylum, they do not necessarily find the safety they deserve and to which they are entitled. Women frequently find that they have escaped violence in conflict or persecution to be confronted by different types of violence, physical hardship and psychological stress. Rape and sexual violence continue throughout the time in refugee camps. In some cases the perpetrators of sexual violence are those from whom they expect protection – military guards, camp administrators and refugee men. Sexual violence in refugee camps is so common that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has produced guidelines on prevention of sexual violence and response to survivors. Despite the hardships, women play a central economic and social role in camps. They are the life-sustaining force of any refugee community. They have the power to nurture future generations, re-establish the family and culture in exile, and recreate it on return to their homeland. This course examined the impact of this violence on refugee and IDP women and girls, families and communities. It explored ways in which to improve the protection of refuge women and girls at all stages of the refugee journey, and better respond to the abuse they have endured.
The course was taught during the period June 09-14, 2008 by Dr. Eileen Pittaway, PhD (Refugee Policy and Management), MBA (Social Policy and Administration), Graduate Diploma in Social Administration, Graduate Diploma in Education Studies, and Diploma in Social Welfare. Dr. Pittaway is the Director of the Centre for Refugee Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and Senior Lecturer in the School of Social Work. She is coordinating and teaching in the Master Program of International Social Development, and the Master Program of Refugees and Forced Migration. In the past decade she has conducted research, provided training to refugees, UN and NGO staff in refugee camps and urban settings, acted as technical advisor to a number of projects, and evaluated humanitarian and development projects in Kenya, Thailand, Ethiopia, Bougainville, Egypt and Sri Lanka. She is also involved in tsunami relief projects in Sri Lanka. She is specialized in the protection of refugee women and girls and has published extensively on this issue. She regularly attends the Executive Committee Meetings of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and has had input into the new “Conclusion” on the Protection of Refugee Women’s and Girls at Risk. She is currently a Council Member of Asian Women's Human Rights Council and the Chairperson of the Australian National Committee on Refugee Women. She is also a life board member of the Asia Pacific Women’s Watch, Australian Human Rights Centre, and the University of New South Wales. She is a member of the International Law sub-committee and member of the Program Advisory Committee of an international non-governmental organization: AUSTCARE (Australians for Refugees). In 2001 Dr. Pittway was awarded a Human Rights Medal by the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission for her work with Refugee Women and Children. In 2005 she was awarded a New South Wales Premiers Award for her contribution to public education regarding refugees.
Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees
In this course, the participants increased their understanding of the psychosocial consequences for refugees living in camps and urban settings and learned practical methods they can use to implement effective family and community based interventions. Topics included: Review of international research about the psychosocial and mental health consequences of war and violence; Overview of international guidelines for emergency psychosocial and mental health response; Implications for working with various cultures and contexts; Skills for assessment of problems, needs and resources; Introduction to individual, family, group and community methods of interventions; Methods for working with translators; Overview of methods for monitoring and evaluating the impact of interventions; and Specific mechanisms workers and organizations can use to minimize staff burnout and maximize organizational effectiveness.
The course was taught during the period June 15-19, 2008 by Dr. Nancy Baron, Director of Global Psychiatric and Psycho-Social Initiatives (GPSI). Dr. Nancy Baron received her Doctorate in Education at the University of Massachusetts, U.S.A. with a concentration in Family Therapy and Counseling Psychology. While working in the U.S.A., she was a program director of community based programs for court involved families and a private therapist specializing in marital and family counseling. She taught counseling courses at various universities and helped establish a graduate program in community mental health and an institute for family therapy. In 1989, she changed her context and specialization. Dr. Baron is presently the Director of Global Psycho-Social Initiatives (GPSI). She provides consultation, assessment, training, program design and development, research and evaluation for UN organizations and international and local NGOs in community and family focused psycho-social, mental health and peace building initiatives for conflict and post-conflict countries. She is also the International Training Director for the International Trauma Studies Program, New York, USA and Consultant and Senior Trainer for the Psychosocial Training Institute of the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization of Uganda. She has lived and worked in numerous countries during and after wars, conflicts and disasters including in Africa: Burundi, Guinea Conakry, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda; in Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Sri Lanka; in Eastern Europe: Kosovo and Albania; in South America: Colombia and in the South Pacific: Solomon Islands.
Summer Short Course 2007
This summer FMRS offered its two regular short courses: “International Refugee Law” and “Meeting the Psychosocial needs of Refugees” as well as a course on “Ethnicity and Nationalism”.
"Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees": The course was taught this summer between June 11-16, 2007 by Dr. Nancy Baron, Director of Global Psychiatric and Psycho-Social Initiatives (GPSI). Baron is also the International Training Director for the International Trauma Studies Program at Columbia University, USA and Senior Trainer for the Psychosocial Training Institute of the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization of Uganda.
“Understanding Ethnicity and Nationalism” was taught during the period June 18-23, 2007 by Dr. Eftihia Voutira, Associate Professor, Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece. The course presented an overview of different theoretical approaches to notions of “nationalism” and “ethnicity” from a sociological anthropological perspective. It raised questions regarding the relation between national and ethnic identity, and state formation, national consciousness and ethnic consciousness. Taking the end of the Cold War as a turning point in the affirmation of ‘new’ nations and nationalisms it explored the relation between ‘old’ and ‘new’ nationalist phenomena with special reference to current developments in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
"International Refugee and Human Rights Law": Due to the high demand on this regular course, FMRS opened two sections for the course taught simultaneously by two equally qualified instructors during the period June 25-June 30, 2007. One section was taught by Micheal Kagan, Adjunct Faculty at the American University in Cairo and consulting attorney to the Africa & Middle East Refugee Assistance. The second section was taught by Martin Jones. Martin Jones is an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston (Canada). He is also the Managing Editor of ‘Refuge: Canada‘s periodical on refugee issues’ at the Center for Refugee Studies, York University. Jones has published and presented in various academic conferences particularly on the issue of Canadian Immigration and Refugee Law.
Winter Short Course 2007
FMRS, in collaboration with the Sussex Centre for Migration Research (SCMR) at the University of Sussex, conducted a ten day advanced course entitled “Refugees and Migrants, and a Rights-based Approach to Development” during the period January 8-17, 2007.
The course was designed for practitioners from governmental, inter-governmental non-governmental agencies, donors and community representatives in the Middle East and Africa with institutional responsibilities in the field of refugees and migration. The participants explored the practical implications and challenges of applying the much-touted human rights approach to policy making in real situations. The course was both theoretical and practical, drawing on the wealth of lessons arising from trial and error, to determine the best-possible development outcomes for hosts, refugees, and migrants. Participants learned new skills and techniques to apply in their own context.
Course outline:
The Message of Human Rights
General and Specific Binding Sources and Standards
International and Comparative Guidance
Localizing and Indigenizing the Norms
Implementing, Monitoring, and Reporting
The Role(s) of Donors
Understanding “Integration”
Practicum: Applying the Human Rights Tools
Instructors included:
Joseph Schechla, Housing and Land Rights Network
Anthony Rutabanzibwa, ILO (Tanzania)
Dr. Lana Baydas, OHCHR
Michael Kagan, AMERA (Egypt)
Dr. Abrar Chowbury, The Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit--RMMRU
(Bangladesh)
Dr. Barbara E. Harrell-Bond, FMRS/AUC
The course proved to be very successful. Accordingly, FMRS is planning to conduct the same course in Arabic for Arabic-speaking participants next January 2008.