Gwangju International Center

Gwangju International Center Selected for KOICA's Fellowship Program (CIAT)

Gwangju International Center (GIC) has been selected as a training institution for the 'Capacity Building for Local Governments on Human Rights Administration' project in the selection of government-proposed projects under the 2024 Fellowship Program by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and will conduct a three-year training program, from 2024 to 2026, for government officials from five Asian countries.

KOICA’s Fellowship Program (CIAT: Capacity Improvement & Advancement for Tomorrow) is a human resource development (HRD) training program for government officials, engineers, researchers, and policymakers from developing countries with the aim of strengthening the capacity of talented individuals who will lead the economic and social growth of developing countries by sharing the unique experiences of Korea’s development process and technology.

This year’s training is aimed at high-level officials from Asia (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan) who are in charge of the departments dealing with human rights administration or vulnerable groups. It will provide various training opportunities to deepen the trainees’ understanding of human rights and build a human rights-friendly organizational culture within their institutions.

Over the course of two weeks, through various activities such as human rights education, field trips, and extracurricular activities, the program will provide a variety of learning and experiences to complement the theoretical lectures. These include examining the cases of human rights administration in Gwangju, visiting the historical sites of the Gwangju May 18 Democratization Movement, and visiting ministries and organizations related to human rights in Gwangju.

The training is expected to enhance the trainees' understanding and academic performance through a combination of online pre-training and face-to-face training by inviting them to Gwangju. Furthermore, it is expected that cooperation with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) will further enhance the professional aspect of the project.

The program will provide an opportunity to establish mid- and long-term goals and guidelines for strengthening human rights administration capacities through feedback and revisions of the action plan that is to be implemented in practice.

Gwangju International Center was selected for the same project in 2020 and successfully conducted the 'Human Rights Education Training Program for Sustainable and Inclusive Communities' with Kenyan government officials by the year 2022. The project was highly evaluated by KOICA for its 'excellent preparation and operation of the training program, academic achievements, and high level ofsatisfaction about the training'.