Centre news
16.10.2024

Human Rights & Global Governance stream MIA students joined a study visit the Amnesty International Germany

Coordinated by the Centre for Fundamental Rights, the visit introduced students to the work of Amnesty International, the world's largest human rights NGO.

On 9 October,  MIA students enrolled in the Human Rights and Global Governance stream visited the Amnesty International Germany office in Berlin, where they explored a range of topics related to Amnesty’s mission and work. The visit was Coordinated by the Centre for Fundamental Rights as part of the extracurricular activities organised to support students pursuing this stream.  

Beate Streicher, Human Rights Officer for Policing, Human Rights, and International Law, and Kristina Hatas, Human Rights Officer for Climate Justice and Business and Human Rights, and a Hertie School alumna, led the session. Following an introduction to the organization’s guiding principles and structure - where students shared insights into Amnesty’s work, they were already familiar with - the presenters provided an overview of Amnesty’s evolution. This included its evolution from focusing only on political and civil to expanding its efforts to the protection of socio-economic rights from 2002 and addressing the climate crisis and human rights from 2015 onward. 

The discussion also covered Amnesty’s key areas of work: research, advocacy, lobbying, and campaigns. Major outputs of the organization’s research include its annual report on the global state of human rights, along with various thematic reports. Two recent reports, “Stop Burning our Rights! What governments and corporations must do to protect humanity form the climate crisis” (2021) and a report of the Policy and Human Rights Programme (2015), were discussed with the students. The legal aspects of Amnesty’s work, including submissions to international committees and national legislation, were also introduced.