New Course on Democracy and Human Rights Introduced in Secondary Schools

 The Ministry of Education has designated a model course on democracy and human rights designed experimentally by the BDU as the curriculum for a new Grade XII course in civic education. The course was created by the Project's pedagogical working group to test methods for teaching civic education. It will use a textbook called “Civic Education: The Fundamentals of Democracy” which was published in in February, 2010

Documentary film for Canadian TV will feature the Project’s work

The project's work in Ukraine will be featured in a documentary film being shot for Canadian television.  The film, conceived and produced by film-maker Donald Duchene of Nexus Media, Nova Scotia, explores the question, "Can democracy be exported?" It looks at international assistance projects in Tanzania, Indonesia, and Ukraine examining a different aspect of the question in each country. The final segment of the film, in Ukraine, looks at the “connection between the power of education and the forces of change.”

“ In the end,” Duchene says, “the film is a statement about what democracy means outside our borders and is a reflection on the idea that all democracies, ours included, are works in progress.”

Duchene made two visits to Ukraine to shoot film about the Project’s activities. His film looks at the nature and impact of its work from multiple perspectives: students who have taken Project courses, authors of texts, participants in Project research conferences, leaders of the Ukrainian educational system, and NGOs.

"Exporting Democracy" was broadcast first on Vision TV in June, 2011, and will be broadcast again on iChannel and SCN TV later this year.

New course for militia officers on democracy and human rights

 The project has published four new books to support training on democracy and human rights for internal security personnel. One deals with general issues of the responsibilities of police in a democracy, two with curbing racism, and one with policing gender-related crimes.

The new books will be used in a compulsory course in the universities that train new officers for  the Ministry of Internal Affairs.