The SYDHR Regional Forum is part of a project sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of State and managed by Willamette University, International Debate Education Association (IDEA) and Association for Creative Communication and Debate in Serbia called the Serbian Youth Debate Human Rights (SYDHR) Project.

The aim of the SYDHR Regional Forum is to encourage youth throughout the former Yugoslavia to learn about different cultural perspectives, to take a leadership role in their communities, and to exchange discussion and ideas regarding the role of human rights in a global community.

The SYDHR Youth Forum will bring together teachers and secondary school students from throughout Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Slovenia for a week-long event that will include workshops on debate and human rights, social activities, forum discussions, and a debate tournament on the topic, “Multinational businesses should be bound by international human rights law.”

For the debate tournament, debate teams will be “mixed” and will include participants from at least two countries on each team. Teachers attending the SYDHR Regional Forum will be participating in workshops and leading mixed debate teams. The SYDHR Forum will take place near Belgrade, Serbia August 16th-23rd, 2008.