On July 15-19 at Lopota, Georgia, was held the first Summer School on Human Rights “Addiction is not a crime”. The aim was to improve the interaction between governmental and non-governmental organizations in the field of human rights, particularly concerning drug users’.

The five-day Summer School on Human Rights became an important event in preparation for the national advocacy campaign “Addiction is not a crime”, which starts in Georgia tomorrow. The trainers of the summer school are professionals with extensive practical experience:
Oleksandra Delemenchuk, coach certified by the Council of Europe, OSCE/ODIHR and the Front Line Defenders (Kyiv, Ukraine) introduced the participants to the concept of human rights and invited them to look at the work with drug addicts through the prism of human rights work; gave participants practical skills in the field of human rights protection mechanisms to work with drug addicts, as well as familiarized participants with the concept of security of human rights work.
Svitlana Valko, coordinator of field missions “International Partnership for Human Rights” (Kyiv, Ukraine) and Agit Mirzoev, Executive Director of the Analytical Center for Interethnic Cooperation and Consultations, coach on hate crimes prevention OSCE/ODIHR (Tbilisi, Georgia) briefed participants on the successful world experience in implementing harm reduction; demonstrated a variety of approaches to the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts; provided a comparative analysis of epidemiological, legal and social challenges of harm reduction.
Maryna Hovorukhina, PR-manager of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (Kyiv, Ukraine) trained participants on how to effectively communicate through speeches and texts and work with the media.

“The best summer school I have ever attended, was held on Lopota, and the knowledge gained there, are very good and can be used in practice,” – the participant Dimitri Nozadze wrote at the end of the summer school. “Many thanks to the organizers and everyone else who was involved in the preparation for the training. Of special note of our trainers – thanks to them, because it is rare when a pleasant combined with a helpful. But on Lopota it was.”

Besides the official part of the program there was also an informal one, but no less useful and intense. In 5 days the trainers and organizers turned into the Olympian gods, and the participants into the Argonauts, who set off on an exciting journey for the Golden Fleece. 6 teams, 6 colours, 6 ships and 1 goal. In order to get the Golden Fleece and snatch victory participants had to go through contests, quest “security threat”, abductions, predictions, ingenious puzzles.

“The summer school became one of the unforgettable and invaluable experience of my life“, – shared his impressions Alexander Gvindadze, a member of the Summer School. “The most interesting segment became gamification, moments allowed to plunge into the process and lose a touch with reality. The frantic knock on the closed window, as long as we decide what to take from the besieged office – it is impossible to forget.”

The final point of the summer school was staging a hearing of the European Court – with the lawyers of the plaintiff, defendant, expert witnesses, and even the media. During the trial all the information obtained by participants within the previous days was particularly useful. Through the prism of human rights and the knowledge and skills, the participants thoroughly prepared to defend their positions, to give a legal assessment of the situation, give a press conference and even released two issues of the newspaper! That court has become a decisive stage in the competition of 6 teams. The winners received prizes, and all the rest got the experience of new partners, inspiration and unforgettable experience.

Oleksandra Delemenchuk summarizes: “I believe that such schools are extremely important since knowledge about human rights are essential not only for lawyers, but also for social workers and other professionals from NGOs. Regarding the process of organizing the school I have only one thing to say: having 10 years of trainer’s experience yet this event made me rethink the informal education as it is.”

The summer school was held in the framework of the project “Bridging the Gaps: Health and Rights for Key Populations”  that implements the ICF “AIDS Foundation East-West» (AFEW-Ukraine) in cooperation with the Bemoni Public Union, Tanadgoma Tanadgoma – Center for Information and Counseling on Reproductive Health and NGO “The World of Tolerance.” The project is implemented with the financial support of Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.