New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) collaborated with the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) to conduct a four-day residential capacity-building programme for senior forest officers on human rights.
The programme, which was held in Dehradun, aimed to integrate human rights perspectives into forest and natural resource management, policy implementation, and practices on the ground.
The officers were sensitized on various aspects of human rights, including the protection of tribal communities and other forest dwellers, and mitigation of climate change, community welfare, and sustainable development goals aligning with national and international human rights frameworks.
Through about 15 sessions, the officers were sensitized on various aspects of human rights, including the protection of tribal communities and other forest dwellers, and mitigation of climate change, community welfare, and sustainable development goals aligning with national and international human rights frameworks.
The NHRC emphasised the importance of human rights education for forest officers and stressed the need to protect the rights of forest dwellers, Scheduled Tribes, and forest labourers amidst challenges posed by climate change. The officers were also urged to internalise the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other relevant laws for better understanding and appreciation of human rights.
The IGNFA expressed its gratitude to the NHRC for partnering with other all-India services (AIS) national academies in developing training modules on various human rights dimensions for building officers’ capacities for protecting and promoting human rights.