Earlier this year, from June 14 to July 23, the Auschwitz Institute conducted a six-week course of Foundations on Atrocity Prevention for Colombian and Ecuadorian public officers and social leaders, as part of the training component of the project entitled, “Atrocity Prevention and the Latin American Migration Crisis.” The course was organized with the support of the zivik funding program of the ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen). Following the course’s conclusion on July 23, AIPG organized a subsequent Master Class on “Challenges in Atrocity Prevention in Latin America, Human Rights and Human Mobility: Perspectives of the Inter-American System.” The presentation was conducted by Joao Guilherme Casagrande, Specialist of the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Migrants of the Inter-American Council on Human Rights (IACHR).
The Master Class aimed to promote a reflection on the intersection between the fundamental concepts of atrocity prevention discussed in the course and the challenges of preventing discrimination and violence against migrant communities. During the event, Eugenia Carbone, AIPG’s Latin America Program Director, thanked the participants for their involvement in the course and their commitment to apply this knowledge in the design and implementation of public policies on human rights and the protection of migrants. During her presentation, Carbone expressed her appreciation for the participants’ interest in the actions that AIPG has been developing since 2019 in both Colombia and Ecuador to bring innovative proposals on the prevention and protection of migrants.
The event was attended by over 80 stakeholders, including representatives of the Office of the Ombudsperson, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, foreign embassies, and local advisors. Corporate social responsibility leaders and representatives of national and international human rights organizations that support the migrant community, such as UNHCR and the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (“OEI” for its acronym in Spanish), also participated in the event.
In his Master Class presentation, Mr. Casagrande focused on human mobility from a prevention-centric perspective as well as the main challenges and advances in the protection of human rights for migrants and refugees. He shared a broad overview of the challenges related to human mobility and the need for the protection of migrants, highlighting key concepts involved in each. He also emphasized the importance of deploying preventive mechanisms, such as early warning and response systems, to raise timely alarms, influence policies, and develop actions at the global and regional levels to prevent the occurrence of atrocities.
To watch the Master Class video, please click here.