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Human Rights and Education

By Elena Ippoliti
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[UN Photo]

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), proclaimed in Paris on December 10, 1948, represented a unifying foundation for humanity. It was the first occasion on which the community of nations, organized under the newly formed United Nations organization (UN), agreed on the "inalienable rights of all members of the human family" and codified them in the Declaration as "a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations."

At that time, the UN was composed of 58 states with different philosophical, cultural and political traditions. The Declaration therefore was a reflection of these various perspectives; it represented the meeting point of different conceptions of human beings and society. The UDHR developed the human rights provisions included in the 1945 United Nations Charter, which resolved in its preamble "to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small."

Knowledge and Skills

After its proclamation, UDHR principles inspired the anticolonial struggle and were inserted in the constitutions of the newly independent countries. The UDHR also prompted the development of the vast body of international human rights law which exists today, including both legal instruments and mechanisms for human rights protection, and served as the basis and inspiration for all regional human rights systems.

When proclaiming the Declaration, the UN General Assembly affirmed in the preamble: "every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms."

Human rights education is vital to building a universal culture of human rights. In order to contribute to this goal, education needs to address not only knowledge of human rights standards and the mechanisms for their protection, but also the skills necessary for people to apply human rights principles in daily life; it must develop values and reinforce attitudes which uphold them, so as to prompt action to defend and promote human rights. Human rights education is therefore an action-oriented process.

Today, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) contributes to global human rights education by facilitating information-sharing and networking among all those involved in human rights education globally, through, for instance, a web-based Database on Human Rights Education and Training, accessible through OHCHR's website, and a special Resource Collection on Human Rights Education and Training in the OHCHR Library; and by developing and disseminating selected materials. To support UN system-wide coordination, OHCHR bolsters the Secretariat of the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on Human Rights Education in the School System; it also assists UN member states and others with technical cooperation and expert advice, as well as grassroots initiatives through the Assisting Communities Together (ACT) Project, a joint initiative with the United Nations Development Programme providing small grants to national and local nongovernmental organizations.

In recent years human rights education has become more and more present on the international agenda, and programs as well as partnerships among various national and international actors have increased; however, there are still challenges ahead. One of these is a lack of political will to undertake comprehensive and sustainable programming; another is a lack of national and international monitoring and evaluation systems for human rights education. There is a need for further collaboration between governmental and nongovernmental actors, and the need to develop appropriate methodologies, including research on impact. Major contextual problems facing human rights education include poverty, political instability, illiteracy and cultural traditions in contrast with human rights standards.

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Elena Ippoliti works in the Methodology, Education and Training Unit of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva). More information on OHCHR's human rights education activities is available on its website at: www2.ohchr.org/.

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