IN THIS ISSUE

FROM THE HREA STAFF: GENDER PARITY IN SCHOOLS LAGGING BEHIND


Dear Colleagues and Friends,

A World Summit took place at UN Headquarters in New York in September, with the world leaders of 191 countries present. Important progress was made in strengthening the UN human rights machinery, including an agreement on the prevention of genocide and a doubling of the UN human rights budget. Nonetheless, some disappointment remains.

More than 100 million children are still out of school and 57% of these are girls. Figures released by UNESCO and the Global Campaign for Education showed that 94 countries – rather than the anticipated 71 – have missed the gender parity target. Gender parity, getting as many girls as boys into school, is the first target of the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the General Assembly in 2000.

Achieving universal primary education by 2015 is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals that 181 countries have set for themselves. The Millennium Development Goals call for the elimination of school fees for primary education, a major barrier for children attending school in some countries.

Unfortunately, the World Summit did not include a review of progress towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals, as had been the original goal of the meeting. We must continue to be vigilant in our demands that the human right to education is not overlooked or set aside.

In solidarity,

Felisa Tibbitts
Executive Director

MOROCCAN JUDGES PARTICIPATE IN ROUNDTABLE ON NEW FAMILY CODE


HREA conducted a national roundtable for judges on the Moudawana, the new Family Code of Morocco. Twenty five family judges participated in the roundtable in Rabat on 14-16 September. The event, executed in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and the Institut de Magistrats, involved presentations and interactive discussions among the judges who are intimately involved in the implementation of the Moudawana.

Twenty family judges and five prosecutors attended the roundtable. Each day focused on a core theme related to the Moudawana, the revised Family Code, which is based on international standards regarding non-discrimination and women's human rights. These themes were: the act of marriage (legal conditions for marriage); married life (the rights and duties of spouses); mediation (alternative dispute resolution); and the dissolution of marriage (divorce). Four regional trainings will take place in the upcoming months.

Learn more about HREA's activities in Morocco.

SERVICE LEARNING AND HUMAN RIGHTS

HREA and Amnesty International-USA will soon publish a manual on human rights and service learning. The manual was introduced to twenty high school and university educators and community activists during a workshop in Boston on 24 September. Service learning combines classroom learning with active participation in a project that is conducted in the community. Participating agencies can include a middle school, a high school, an institution of higher education and/or community-based organisations. Service learning fosters civic responsibility and is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the learners.

The manual contains lessons and suggested service-learning projects. The five human rights topics explored are: environment, poverty, discrimination, children's rights to education and health, and law and justice. To learn more about service learning, download sample lesson plans, or to subscribe to our new "human rights and service learning" listserv - visit HREA's website on service learning.

LESSON ACTIVITY ON HURRICANE KATRINA

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, HREA Programme Associate Jessamyn Waldman developed a current events lesson plan for middle and high school students at The School for Human Rights in Brooklyn (New York, USA). The lesson includes an article for students to read and speaking points for teachers that touch on pertinent human rights issues. A copy of the teacher's speaking points is included below.

Hurricane Katrina and Human Rights

Natural disaster makes humans more vulnerable to violations of their rights. When we discuss the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with our students, it is important to point out how it has made people vulnerable to violations and that certain groups of people are more vulnerable to violations than others.

With our students, we want to focus on what we can do to make sure that all steps are taken to ensure that dignity and security are restored to all people that lived in affected areas, especially the most vulnerable.

Here are some ideas that you may want to share with students:

The people who are most vulnerable in the aftermath of Katrina are poor, mostly minority, residents who could not or did not evacuate affected areas in time.

However, poverty is a human-created, not a natural, disaster.

Despite the knowledge of the impending storm, government authorities failed to make adequate plans for evacuation and relief that would protect life and human dignity for all, especially the city's poorest residents.

Although the media refers to evacuees as refugees, the legal designation is "internally displaced persons" (IDPs). There are provisions in international law to protect IDPs.

Some of the things that are guaranteed to IDPs are:

- right to security and life,
- family reunification,
- medical services,
- essential food and potable water,
- basic shelter and housing,
- education,
- appropriate clothing,
- and essential medical services and sanitation.

Government authorities must make sure that internally displaced persons are able to voluntarily, in safety and with dignity, return to their homes, or to resettle voluntarily in another part of the country.

As the citizens of the United States unite to send money and materials to help people affected by the crisis, it is crucial that this humanitarian assistance must be distributed without discrimination and that the most vulnerable, and those with the most need, receive assistance first.

Additional resource:

Amnesty International press release:
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engamr511402005

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Learn more about The School for Human Rights.

E-learning courses in 2006

The registration process is now open for all HREA distance learning courses offered in 2006. Courses include our annual courses on human rights advocacy; the United Nations human rights system; human rights-based programming; project development & management in the NGO sector; and human rights monitoring. New courses will be offered on the Inter-American human rights system and (in German) introduction to human rights education. Find out more about these and other upcoming e-learning opportunities.

HREA receives funding for guide on war crimes

HREA has received funding from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) to develop teaching materials for the highly acclaimed book Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know. Read further.

On-line Global Forum

From 29 September-5 November 2005 an On-line Global Forum on the relation between human rights education and other "educations" is taking place on the Global Human Rights Listserv. The Global Human Rights Education listserv is an on-line community on which over 3500 human rights defenders and educators from 160 countries share new resources, methodologies, strategies and lessons learned. Participate in the discussion.

DARE conference "National Experiences - European Challenges"

DARE, the Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe Network, will organise a conference in the framework of the European Year of Citizenship through Education in Berlin on 2-4 December. HREA representative Anne-Marie Eekhout will be moderating a workshop on national experiences in Belgium, Finland, Italy and Turkey. Register here!.

Pre-conference on Human Rights Education

HREA will convene a meeting for human rights defenders and educators during the bi-annual US Human Rights Network Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on 11 November. Register now!.

How You Can Help

HREA supports human rights and educational institutions in transitional democracies to develop human rights curricula and training materials. With your donations we can continue to assist our colleagues in their important work. Find out how you can contribute.

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