Canal Caribe.- The Palomas Project, an audiovisual production house for social activism, today received the Oscar Arnulfo Romero Human Rights Education Award granted by the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture in collaboration with the Cuban Association of the United Nations. At the event, other experiences that, like Palomas, contribute to education in values and defend and promote these rights in Cuba were also recognized.
Presentation ceremony of the V Ibero-American Prize for Education in Human Rights “Óscar Arnulfo Romero” in Cuba
OEI
The Pigeons Project. Audiovisual Production House for Social Activism obtains the “Óscar Arnulfo Romero” Human Rights Education Award in Cuba. Another 4 projects of great community impact were recognized for their contribution to human rights education.
The Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), with the collaboration of the Cuban Association of the United Nations (ACNU) and the Ministry of Education, held the award ceremony for the V edition of the Ibero-American Prize for Education in Human Rights “Óscar Arnulfo Romero”. The “Doves” Project. Audiovisual Production House for Social Activism” won the award.
This was revealed in an emotional ceremony that took place at the José Martí Memorial in Havana, the largest monument built in memory of the National Hero “José Matí”, a faithful defender of human rights and where the highest geographical point in the city is referenced. , as explained by Kenelma Carvajal, director of the emblematic historical site.
The director of the office of the Organization of Ibero-American States in the country, Iosmara Fernández, highlighted the collaboration of the ACNU and other institutions in the organization of the contest. He highlighted the participation of around twenty projects, of which those with the greatest impact were awarded, in line with the purpose of the award established in 2015. He highlighted the commitment of the OEI to human rights through the implementation of the Ibero-American Human Rights program, Democracy and Equality, which constitutes the cooperation mechanism of the OEI to promote the civic and democratic values of citizens.
The jury that evaluated the proposals was made up of Marlen Triana Mederos, general director of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education; Norma Goicochea Estenoz, president of the Cuban Association of the United Nations; Alejandro Redondo Ramos, National Director of Defense of the Ministry of Justice; Rita Machín Reyes, Deputy Director of Social Prevention of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, and Iosmara L. Fernández Silva, director of the OEI office in Cuba. The jury considered the delivery of another 4 mentions for the projects: Granjita Feliz, Vida, Red Barrial Afrodescendiente and Cuba against racism and discrimination based on skin color and cultural diversity, two social scientific axes of pedagogical thinking in Higher Education.
Another important moment came from the intervention of the professor from the University of Havana, Dr. C. Yuri Pérez Martínez, who addressed matters related to the constitutional support of human rights in Cuba, a topic that has had a look in previous legal documents and that It was strengthened in the constitution approved in 2019.
The resident coordinator of the United Nations System in Cuba, Mr. Francisco Pichón, who was in charge of the closing remarks of the event, highlighted the dedication of the OEI to promote the 2023 agenda with its human rights focus. He noted that “the United Nations system attaches great importance to the most transformative education, which strives to establish the character of opinions, debate as a source of thought, wills as a source of action, and which contributes to converting human beings into free people, into men and women committed to their social environment, into citizens ready to actively participate in the construction of a better world, and this is what this award recognizes.”
The project that won the Prize in Cuba, goes to the Ibero-American final of the contest and will be representing at the V Ibero-American Meeting on Human Rights Education, which will be held in the city of Rio de Janeiro, at the same time that it will become part of the Community of winners of the Ibero-American Prize for Human Rights Education. The project that will represent Cuba in the fifth Ibero-American edition, is well known on the island for its activism that transcends more than 80 audiovisuals, which address social issues from an educational, constructive and resilient perspective, revealing the most pressing problems of the reality in the country.
