Human Rights Education (HRE) is generally undertaken with the objective of developing an acceptable human rights culture that will be of benefit to everyone, irrespective of color, caste or creed. Analysts believe that HRE is one way of empowering people so that they can create skills and behavior that would promote dignity and equality within the community and society. It is consequently believed that every human being has the right to receive both religious and worldly education from the various institutions of, education and guidance, including the family, the school, the university and the media in an integrated and balanced manner so that it can help to develop one’s personality, strengthen one’s faith in God and promote one’s respect for and defense of both rights and obligations.
What is happening in Yemen, Syria and several other countries in Africa, Latin America and Myanmar underlines the importance of the subject.
It may be recalled that history was made in Paris, France on 10 December 1948, when the newly created United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. Forty-six years later, the General Assembly, in its Resolution 49/184 of 23 December 1994, declared 1995-2004 as the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education. These two declarations not only stressed the need for the protection of basic human rights but also underlined that one of the ways of achieving this was through education. The 1994 Declaration also encouraged Member States of the United Nations to include the issue under discussion in the syllabus of their schools.
This effort, initiated in 1994, was acclaimed over the next ten years. Consequently, the United Nations General Assembly, by Resolution 59/113A, made another proclamation on this subject on 10 December 2004, titled “World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005–ongoing)”. This programme is seeking to expand the scope of the 1994 Resolution and “promote a common understanding of the basic principles and methodologies of human rights education, to provide a concrete framework for action, and to strengthen partnerships and cooperation from the international level down to the grass roots”.
The United Nations High Commissioner for the Promotion and Protection of all Human Rights functions as coordinator of the UN Education and Public Information Programs in the area of human rights. It is pertinent to recognize at this juncture; the constructive role being played by some international institutions with regard to imparting Human Rights Education. They include-
(i) The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) which has a direct responsibility to promote Human Rights Education attempts to promote the issue through: (a) development of the national and local capacities, via its cooperation in development projects and programmes at national and sub-regional levels, (b) elaboration of learning materials and publications and their translation and adaptation in national and local languages, and (c) advocacy and networking activities.
(ii) Amnesty International and Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) are also promoting human rights education with their programmes. This is being done on the understanding “that learning about human rights is the first step toward respecting, promoting and defending those rights”’;
(iii) International organizations such as The European Union Ombudsman and The United Nations Human Rights Council also endeavor to live up to expectations by investigating claims of violations of human rights, holding abusers accountable of their actions and drawing the attention of governments to make sure that they are using their powers to end abusive practices efficiently.
Human Rights Education is also being taught in different educational institutions in various parts of the world by including this aspect in the syllabus of Social Science meant to be taught at the Secondary and Higher secondary levels. In Europe several schools offer human rights education as part of their curriculum, linked to subjects like History, Politics and Citizenship.
In general, the courses approach the subject of HRE through three different models-
(a) the Values and Awareness Model- focuses on transmitting “basic knowledge of human rights issues and tries to foster its integration into public values” based on its philosophical- historical approach. This model has as its target audience the general public and focuses on global human rights and more culturally based matters.
(b) the Accountability Model- is associated with the legal and political approach to human rights. This model is incorporated by means of training and networking, covering topics such as court cases, codes of ethics and how to deal with the media.
(c) the Transformational Model- focuses on the psychological and sociological aspects of human rights pertaining particularly to women and minorities. The model aims to empower those who have been victims of abuse and trauma and is also geared towards preventing these abuses.
It is generally agreed by human rights activists that the benefits of HRE are as follows:
(i) It is the first step towards respecting, promoting and defending human rights,
(ii) It strengthens respect for universal commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms,
(iii) It enables one with the knowledge to be familiar with his/her rights and to not only avoid being abused, but also holds the abusers accountable for their actions,
(iv) It promotes respect for human dignity and equality, regardless of race, religion, nationality, ethnicity and language as well as tolerance.
(v) It encourages participation in democratic decision making,
(vi) It teaches the skills of negotiations, mediation and consensus building, and
(vii) It combats extremism, terrorism and violence based on race or religion.
Consequently, it is generally agreed that Human Rights Education should be studied by everyone- particularly- law enforcement personnel, lawyers, the armed forces, police and prison officials.
This awareness about the need for Human Rights Education playing an important role in advancing human rights among Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has recently led the OIC- Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (OIC-IPHRC) to urge all Members to actively pursue this process of HRE. This has been undertaken to stress that the basic element of the message of Islam to humanity is to emphasize compassion and social justice.
(Muhammad Zamir, a former Ambassador, is an analyst specialized in foreign affairs, right to information and good governance, can be reached at <muhammadzamir0@gmail.com>)
