A United Nations world-wide programme
of human rights education from 2005
Letter n°13, April 2004

A resolution proposed by Costa Rica, recommending the adoption of a worldwide programme on human rights education, was approved last 21 April by the member states of the Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva. The Commission “recommends that the Economic Council, at the opening session of 2004, recommend to the Assembly General (of the United Nations) a world-wide programme in the area of human rights, which will begin 1 January 2005 and contain several stages, in order to implement educational programmes in the area of human rights in all sectors.”

Supported by a coalition of NGO’s, including EIP, the proposition presented to the Commission by the Ambassador of Costa Rica was deemed indispensable by several members in light of the slight success achieved by the Decade of human rights education that came to its end this year.

This worldwide programme should come into being with the adoption by the General Assembly of an action plan whose first phase, lasting three years as from 2005, will be centred on primary and secondary school teaching. The Costa Rican resolution indicates that the elaboration of the action plan will be conferred on The United Nations High Commission on Human Rights in collaboration with UNESCO and " other state actors or competent non-governmental organisations ". This action plan would be financed by means of voluntary contributions even though an " appropriate " portion from the UN will be able to be used in the development of the " national capital " of the state members. The plan foresees the expenditure of money to support activities undertaken in particular by non-governmental organisations. Nevertheless the resolution does not specify the range or limit of these expenditures.

These promising developments demand the means and political will to guarantee their realisation on the ground. Let us remember the engagement of countries, during the Jomtien Conference organized by UNESCO in 1990, to assure basic education for all as of the year 2000. One well knows that this promise was not kept, so that the Dakar Forum ten years later had to push back the deadline until 2015.

Human rights education for all presents a substantial challenge. This type of education was one of the principle reasons for founding EIP, in 1967. With other NGO’s, EIP was there at the beginning of the Decade – which was an idea resulting from the UNESCO Malta Conference on Teaching, Information and Documentation regarding human rights. It is therefore particularly concerned by this question.
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References

(UN) Economic and Social Council. Human Rights Commission. “Follow-up of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education”. E/CN.4/2004/L.109
http://193.194.138.190/huricane/huricane.nsf/newsroom

UN (2004). Human Rights Commission http://www.ohchr.org/news/

The Website of the Decade on Human Rights: http://www.unhchr.ch/education/main.htm

 

Image :Page couverture de la Déclaration et cadre d’action intégré concernant l’éducation pour la Paix, les droits de l’homme (1995), from the Website de l'Unesco

http://www.unesco.org/