On June 28-30 2021, the Youth Initiative for Human Rights held the second in a series of trainings titled ‘How to Research and Report on the State of Human Rights’. The trainings are intended for young researchers, offering them an opportunity to learn more about the methods of reporting on human rights.

This programme offers to the participants an opportunity to learn more about the purpose and strength of a human rights report, the preparations and research methods that are used depending on the manner of data collection, as well as how the report is shaped and presented to the public.

The lecturers are renowned experts with many years of experience in civil society, who shared their knowledge and experience with the participants in order to prepare them for all the situations they may encounter if they decide to engage in research and reporting.

Bojana Selaković of the Civic Initiatives presented the work of civil society in Serbia and discussed the shrinking space for human rights defenders, stressing the importance of reporting on the state of human rights in the country. Jelena Radivojević of the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) talked about the mechanisms of access to public information, while Jelena Hrnjak discussed the work methods and reports by NGO Atina. The participants also visited the office of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection and hear more about the work of this institution. Here you can learn more about the visit.

The work of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights was presented to the participants, as well, with emphasis on the rights of persons deprived of liberty and right to asylum, all in the context of research and data collection during field work.

On this occasion we wish to thank all the participants and lecturers for taking part in the training. We are also thankful to the Commissioner for the reception.

The trainings are part of the project ‘Next Generation of Human Rights Defenders’ in Serbia supported by the US State Department.