Women's Views on Health, Peace and Development
July 2000
Banner photo: ©SEKAI BUNKA PHOTO
SGI Statement on Human Rights
During the 56th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights held in Geneva on April 17, the SGI's representative, Catherine Mallet, called on the commission to take further steps in the area of human rights education. Stressing that human rights legislation and institutions may fail to root out the underlying causes of human rights violations unless they are backed up by education, Ms. Mallet explained the importance of human rights education in creating the conditions not only for the legal acceptance of human rights but also for the willingness of people to respect them.
She called for a global campaign to further encourage all governments to integrate human rights education in primary and secondary schools and to organize regular intergovernmental forums for human rights education. She pointed out that only a few governments have taken the necessary steps to do so and that efforts to raise consciousness about the importance of human rights are still very limited. Ms. Mallet also called for support of the UN human rights education program through additional allocation of human and financial resources which, hopefully, will continue beyond the end of the Decade for Human Rights Education four years from now.
Emphasizing the importance of educational tools other than written texts, such as sound, voice, photos and paintings, as human rights education methodologies, Ms. Mallet mentioned that the SGI's "World Boys and Girls Art Exhibition" has been an effective tool of human rights education both for children and adults. She explained how children's artistic expression helps adults better understand the difficulties, challenges and hopes that are part of children's lives.
