More than 200 students from nine regions of Russia and four CIS countries took part in the sixth annual Summer School on Human Rights, organized by the Consortium of Russian Universities. This year, a week-long training program was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and focused on the legacy of the Declaration and the challenges of our time.

Organized with the support of the UN Human Rights Office in Russia, the annual Summer School provided students with the opportunity to attend lectures and workshops by more than 30 prominent national and international professors, practitioners, human rights defenders and experts of the UN treaty bodies from 10 countries.

Why is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights important today? What influence did it have on the formation of the European system of human rights protection? How does it help protect vulnerable groups such as migrants and refugees, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, women and children? These and other questions were discussed by the students of the Summer School.

The summer school program was recently featured in a side event held during the 39th session of the Human Rights Council. The side event focused on human rights education, in particular the Master's Program in Human Rights, an example of successful collaboration between the UN Human Rights Office, government, academia and national human rights institutions. Universities were able to present their achievements, and the program’s graduates – share their experiences, as part of a side event.

Films from the competition program of the International Festival of Human Rights Films “Stalker” were shown and a competition “Model of the European Court of Human Rights” was also held during the Summer School. On the final day, students took part in a brain-ring dedicated to the UDHR.

Both, students and lecturers, noted that the Summer School provided them with a unique opportunity not only to acquire new knowledge and skills, but, first of all, to communicate with various people and exchange experiences and opinions outside the university environment.