Australia-China Human Rights Technical Cooperation Program

Activities for 2007-2008

The Australia-China Human Rights Technical Cooperation Program strengthens the administration, promotion and protection of human rights in China, by assisting in three thematic areas: legal reform, women's and children's rights and ethnic and minority rights.

For further information on the HRTC see Aid activities in China - HRTC.

The following activities will be implemented for the year 2007-2008.

Long-term Study Awards

These study awards aim to expand and strengthen the understanding of human rights law and the related domestic implementation issues among Chinese officials working in a key government agency directly concerned with human rights issues. Two masters-level scholarships will be awarded to officials of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to study human rights-related disciplines in Australia.

Counterpart Agency: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Victims of Crime Study Visit

Counterpart Agency: Supreme People's Court (SPC).

Protection of the rights of victims is currently one of the major “working themes” of China's Supreme People's Court (SPC). The study visit will provide a key Chinese criminal justice agency with knowledge of Australian laws, policies and practices for protecting and promoting the rights of victims of crime.

Victims of Crime Seminar

A seminar designed as a result of the study visit described above will be conducted in China. It will expose a wide range of judges and court officials to Australian approaches to protecting and promoting the rights of the victims of crime.

Counterpart Agency: Supreme People's Court (SPC)

Government Support for NPO Seminar

The development of Not for Profit Organisations (NPOs) is currently in an evolving state in the context of China's political and social structures. This activity will provide the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) and related agencies with detailed knowledge of Australian practices and approaches to providing government support for NPOs working in areas relevant to the protection and promotion of human rights.

Counterpart Agency: The Ministry of Civil Affairs

Anti-Corruption Study Visit

Corruption looms as one of the biggest political and economic challenges facing China in the twenty-first century. The study visit is designed to provide a key Chinese criminal justice agency with knowledge of Australian agencies' laws, policies and practices designed to combat official corruption.

Counterpart Agency: Supreme People's Procuratorate

Anti-Corruption Seminar

Following the activity described above, a seminar will be held in China focusing on practical measures by which the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) can prevent and remedy official corruption. The seminar will address investigation of individual cases as well as broader systemic and institutional measures.

Counterpart Agency: Supreme People's Procuratorate

Penitentiary Administration Study Visit

The Penitentiary Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) is responsible for a system of detention centres separate and distinct from the prison system administered by the Ministry of Justice. The study visit will enable a key Chinese criminal justice agency to consolidate and extend its knowledge of Australian laws, policies and practices relevant to China's system of penitentiary detention.

Cooperating Agency: Ministry of Public Security

Judicial ADR Seminar

Mediation is widely practiced in various legal and quasi-legal settings in China. It includes the system of “people's mediation”, which involves government officials and lay people appointed to assist people resolve minor civil disputes outside the formal court system. The seminar will strengthen the capacity of China's peak judicial training institution to contribute to reforms involving the development of specialist mediation units within Chinese courts.

Cooperating Agency: National Judges College

Model United Nations

The fourth Model UN will be convened under the HRTC Program. A Model United Nations Human Rights Council consists of the authentic simulation of the debates and deliberations of UN bodies such as the General Assembly, Security Council, Human Rights Council and other multilateral organs. Member states of the UN are represented in role-play by small teams of students. It is intended to impart a detailed knowledge of the functions and proceedings of the United Nations; to promote interest in and knowledge of international issues, with specific reference to the importance of human rights; and to foster a spirit of international dialogue and cooperation.

Cooperating Agency: United Nations Association of China

Model UN (Australian participation)

A small team of Australian university students from an Australian university with experience in the conduct of Model UNs will participate in the Model UN Human Rights Council. They will participate in the simulated Human Rights Council as delegates on the same basis as the Chinese students. A senior representative of the participating Australian university will also attend the Model UN and have an advisory role in respect of the Australian students and the activity as a whole.

Cooperating Agency: United Nations Association of China

Human Rights Knowledge Competition

As part of a broader human rights public education program implemented by the United Nations Association of China, this activity will build on the experience gained in the conduct of a two previous Human Rights Knowledge Competitions. It involves inviting public responses to three articles and a related questionnaire published in the China Youth Daily and on its website.

Cooperating Agency: United Nations Association of China

Legal Aid Study Visit

The provision of competent legal assistance and social support to protect and advance the rights of rural migrant workers, and their families, is a major human rights need in China The Beijing Legal Aid Office for Rural Migrants (BLAORM) estimates that there are currently about 120,000 practising lawyers in China, approximately 5 of whom advocate specifically on behalf of migrant workers. The study visit will involve a small team of lawyers from BLAORM, a grassroots legal aid organisation dealing with the rights of migrant workers, undertaking a one week visit to Australia to enable them to identify relevant Australian experience and expertise to inform the development of future cooperation activities under HRTC.

Cooperating Agency: The Beijing Legal Aid Office for Rural Migrants

Restorative Justice Study Visit

In recent years Chinese authorities have displayed a cautious openness to alternative methodologies for the administration of criminal justice, with less emphasis on punishment and more on rehabilitation and reparation. Interest in these alternative approaches is particularly strong in the area of juvenile justice. The study visit will provide seven officials of the Ministry of Justice with responsibilities relevant to restorative justice though policy development or program implementation with a detailed knowledge of Australian laws, policies and programs based on principles of restorative justice.

Cooperating Agency: The Ministry of Justice

HRTC Small Activities Scheme

A range of activities will be jointly selected by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Australia's Embassy in Beijing to target poor people in two counties in Yunnan Province. They will include training for rural medical workers on the health needs of women and infants, training on the law for community members and continuing support for improved water supply, construction of medical clinics and other infrastructure development.

Cooperating Agency: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Women's Labour Rights Workshop

The Chinese Government has relied heavily on NGOs to take an active role in the enforcement of the Labour Law. The All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) has been pre-eminent in this role. In 2002 a system of law supervisors of labour security was jointly developed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and ACWF. This workshop will support the development and strengthening of the law supervisor system.

Cooperating Agency: All-China Women's Federation

Women's Law Workshop

This will be the second activity in the HRTC program dealing with this subject. The workshop will involve 4 Australian experts and approximately 80 Chinese participants representing the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) and member organisations of coordination groups at national and provincial level. It aims to develop the capacity of these groups to coordinate the safeguarding of women and children's rights at the national level and in all provinces and autonomous regions of China.

Cooperating Agency: All-China Women's Federation

Human Rights and Family Planning Training Study Visit

The majority of family planning officials in China at provincial, city and lower levels lack understanding of human rights, especially reproductive health rights, and continue to employ administrative methods characteristic of past policy. The study visit will expose family planning officials from six pilot counties to knowledge of Australian experience, expertise and methodologies relating to human rights protection in the delivery of family planning and reproductive health services.

Cooperating Agency: National Population and Family Planning Commission

Restorative Justice Study Visit

This study visit will provide a Tibetan Autonomous Region legal agency with detailed knowledge of Australian laws, policies and programs based on principles of restorative justice. It will be implemented in conjunction with a Restorative Justice Study Visit undertaken with China's Ministry of Justice.

Cooperating Agency: Tibetan Autonomous Region Department of Justice

23 August 2007