THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO
THE FORCED MIGRATION AND REFUGEE STUDIES PROGRAM
Summer Short Courses 2006
- Responding to Refugee Women at Risk - from the Camp to the United
Nations.
- Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees.
- International Refugee and Human Rights Law
Responding to Refugee Women at Risk - from the Camp to the United
Nations.
18-22 June 2006
Course description:
In most refugee situations all women and girls are at risk of rape and
other forms of sexual and gender-based violence. Many refugee women
and girls experience multiple traumatic events; in situations of
conflict, during flight and in countries of first and subsequent
asylum. The impact of each event is compounded by ensuing incidents
and by lack of adequate protection, creating extreme levels of risk
and vulnerability to further abuse and trauma. Because of resource
shortages and lack of effective systems, the international protection
system often fails to respond to the needs of these women. This
course explores the concept of "risk" in relation to refugee women,
and analyses the reasons for the apparent failure of the system
established to protect them. It will explore a range of strategies
which can be used to address this critical issue, including
community development techniques within a human rights framework,
national and international advocacy, and using the United Nations
systems to address and identify potential solutions.
Instructor: Dr Eileen Pittaway and Ms Linda Bartolomei, University of
NSW, Australia
Dr Eileen Pittaway is the Director of the Centre for Refugee Research,
University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia where she lectures in
the area of International Social Development. Dr. Pittaway has been
actively involved in refugee resettlement policy, with a focus on
refugee women and the women's movement for over twenty years. Her
major area of research has been into the issue of rape in conflict
situations, publishing extensively in this field. She participates in
a range of United Nations meetings at an international level and has
an ongoing interest in the relationship between the United Nations and
civil society, in particular in Human Rights and their use by women's
groups at local and global levels. In 2001 she received a Human Rights
award from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission for her
work with refugee women. She is currently working on a research
project with refugee women in Kenya on the Thai Burma border focusing
on the notion of "international protection" in the context of the
sexual and gender based violence experienced by refugee women. She is
a member of Asian Women's Human Rights Council.
Linda Bartolomei is a Senior Research Associate in the Centre for
Refugee Research at the University of New South Wales, Sydney,
Australia. She is currently employed on a three-year longitudinal
action-based study into the implementation of the Refugee Women at
Risk Program and its effectiveness as a tool of international
protection in refugee camps in Kenya, Thailand, and Australia. She
lectures in International Social and Community Development and has
co-authored several recent publications on contemporary refugee and
gender issues. She is a trained social worker with expertise in
community development, human rights and gender, and human rights
documentation and lobbying within the UN system. She is a board member
of the Australian National Committee on Refugee Women (ANCORW) and is
currently enrolled in a PhD examining the link between grassroots
women's activism and the effectiveness of international, legal and
policy responses to refugee women's experiences of sexual and gender
based violence.
The course will take place at the American University in Cairo, 6th
Floor Lounge, Hill House Building between 9 am and 5 pm, every day.
See Below for application procedures.
Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees
26 June - July 1, 2006
Course description:
Understanding and meeting the psychosocial needs of refugees is
essential to effective humanitarian intervention. This course aims to
help psychosocial workers enhance their knowledge of refugee needs and
increase their ability to meet them appropriately. Topics will
include cultural concepts of mental health and well being, basic
interviewing and supportive counseling skills, working with
translators, conceptualizing and treating refugee trauma,
understanding and meeting children's needs, and managing stress and
preventing burnout among humanitarian workers. Participants will be
assigned to psychosocial teams to analyze and solve practical and
ethical dilemmas that arise in this line of work.
Instructor: Ms. Courtney Mitchell, Mental Health Therapist at Africa
and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA) in Cairo & Lecturer at the
American University in Cairo (AUC).
Ms. Courtney Mitchell, MA, LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor)
teaches the Psychosocial Issues in Forced Migration course, a core
course for the FMRS diploma at the American University in Cairo. She
is currently working as a Mental Health Therapist at AMERA in Cairo
providing psychological assessments for refugees, in coordination with
the UN, as well as other forms of mental health support. Mitchell
began providing individual and group therapy for survivors of various
forms of abuse and trauma in the USA in 1996. For the last seven years
she has been working internationally in South East Asia, East Africa
and Central America. During this period she worked as a coordinator of
outreach services for homeless youth through local government offices
in Nepal and as a consultant providing training for United Nations and
other agency staff. She has conducted seminars for Nepalese police in
interview techniques for trauma survivors through the British Embassy.
For the last four years she was employed by the United Nations World
Food Program as the Program Manager for Bhutanese refugee camps in
Nepal and as a Head of Sub-office for Burundian/Rwandan/Congolese
camps in far NW Tanzania. Following her recent resignation from the
UN, Mitchell continues to be involved in efforts related to refugee
advocacy as well as UN reform.
The course will take place at the American University in Cairo, 6th
Floor Lounge, Hill House Building between 9 am and 5 pm, every day.
See Below for application procedures.
International Refugee and Human Rights Law
2-8 July 2006
Course description:
This course will introduce participants to the primary elements of the
refugee definition and its application. Consideration will be given to
the interaction between the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1969 OAU
Convention, as well as the current debates and challenges in
contemporary refugee law. Topics will include the standard of proof in
refugee claims, the role of international human rights law in
expanding the scope of protection, violations of socio-economic rights
as the basis for refugee claims, and the application of the exclusion
clauses to war crimes and "terrorism". The course will be delivered
through a combination of lectures and interactive, small group
exercises. Participants will have an opportunity to apply legal norms
to refugee case studies and build skills in country-of-origin
research, interviewing and advocacy.
Evaluation will consist of a written assignment due on the final day
of the course.
Maximum Enrolment: 50 Participants
Instructor: Sharryn Aiken, Professor, faculty of law at Queen's
University.
Sharryn Aiken is a professor in the faculty of law at Queen's
University where she teaches immigration and refugee law,
international human rights, administrative law and public
international law. Formerly a refugee lawyer, Professor Aiken
continues to serve as pro bono counsel to public interest
organizations intervening in refugee cases before the Canadian Supreme
Court. Professor Aiken is a past president of the Canadian Council for
Refugees and is currently editor in chief of Refuge, Canada's
periodical on refugees. She has conducted training sessions on refugee
law to decision makers and advocates in Canada, South Africa, Uganda,
as well as the Philippines and is returning to AUC for the fourth time.
The course will take place at the American University in Cairo, 6th
Floor Lounge, Hill House Building between 9 am and 5 pm, every day.
See Below for application procedures.
Tuition
The tuition fee for each course is US $100 for international
participants and LE 200 for Egyptians and Residents of Egypt. A
limited number of tuition waivers are available upon request (based on
need only).
Application procedures
Please send a letter of application stating:
a) Interest in the Summer School
b) The course(s) you are applying for.
c) Why the course(s) is/are important to your work or academic interest.
d) State if you are applying for a tuition waiver, and why.
And include your updated curriculum vitae.
Addressed to:
Ms. Maysa Ayoub Email: [log in to unmask]
Assistant to Director Tel: (202) 7976626
Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Fax (202) 7976629
American University in Cairo FMRS/AUC,
113 Kasr El Aini Street, PO Box 25000, Cairo 11511, Egypt
Deadline for applications is May 15th, 2006
For further information regarding accommodation in Cairo and further
updates on FMRS up-coming events access: www.aucegypt.edu/fmrs (under
Outreach).
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