International Summer School on Human Rights for Social Development Held in Assam Don Bosco University

Sonapur, 19 October 2019: A ten-day International Summer School on Human Rights for Social Development: Frames and Agents was organised by Assam Don Bosco University in collaboration with University of Frankfurt and DAAD (German Academy Exchange Service), Germany from 9 to 19 October 2019. The International Summer School was attended by thirty-five students from Germany and different parts of India.

While addressing the gathering during the closing ceremony of the summer school, Fr. (Dr.) Stephen Mavely, Vice Chancellor of Assam Don Bosco University said, “Human Rights for Social Development is about reaching out to the peripheries. It is about ensuring that all human beings are able to live with dignity and respect.” He called upon everyone to participate in their respective institutions, communities and countries to make it possible for all to enjoy their rights.

Dr. Ursula Fasselt, Professor of Social Work and Health, who was also the Convener of the Summer School, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, also said, “It was a very inspiring week. We all experienced a journey which brought us from a theoretical concept – every person being endorsed with inalienable, indivisible, universal Human Rights – to a deep feeling about the necessity of social change in order to fully implement those rights.”

During the ten-day period, special lectures on human rights for social development, field visits to Human Rights agencies, interaction with development practitioners, Art Exhibition on Communication for Human Rights, street play, among other activities were held. The Exhibition was the outcome of the weeklong intensive workshops facilitated by Meike Porz and Prof. Bernard Kayser from Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, and faculty members of Assam Don Bosco University. As part of the International Summer School, a World Blind Walk was also organized on 17 October in collaboration with NAVJAN.

In order to bring in grass root experiences into the class room, Samudra Gupta Kashyap, Senior Journalist, Ketaki Bardalai, Executive Director, Shishu Sarothi, Sheetal Sharma, ARIAS Assam, Laxminarayan Nanda, UNICEF Assam came in at different points of the summer school as guest faculty. It may be mentioned here that four faculty from Germany, Prof. Ursula Fasselt, Prof. Carola Berneiser, Ms. Meike Porz and Prof. Bernard Kayser spent a fortnight at Assam Don Bosco University and taught in the Summer School.

The Report of the National Conference on Social and Behaviour Change Communication for North Eastern Region which was jointly organized by ADBU, UNICEF Assam, and Tezpur University, in the month of August 2019, was also released during the closing ceremony. The closing ceremony was graced by Ananya Goswami, Social Policy Specialist, and Suresh Parmar, Communication for Development Officer, both from UNICEF, Assam.