IN THIS ISSUE

FROM THE HREA STAFF: CONCLUDING THE DECADE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION


Dear Colleagues and Friends,

This year's Human Rights Day will mark the conclusion of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004). Although the high expectations for the Decade have not always been met, much progress has been made in promoting human rights education (HRE) around the world. Compared to ten years ago a wealth of learning and training materials is currently available for use in classrooms, workshops and in-service training. In various countries HRE has become part of the official curriculum in high schools and pre-service training of law enforcement officials and other professional groups. More governments and funders acknowledge the plausible impact of HRE in post-conflict situations. The number of human rights courses offered by higher education institutions around the worked has grown exponentially. Finally, there now is also a large, global movement of individuals and organisations that are dedicated to HRE. And these are but a few examples.

In order to keep HRE high on the agenda it is expected that the UN General Assembly today will adopt a Plan of Action for the first phase of the new World Programme for Human Rights Education. The first phase will take place from 2005-2007 and calls for governments to focus on integrating HRE into primary and secondary schools. This Plan of Action includes realistic actions to be undertaken by all those involved in the process of creating a human rights culture in the formal education sector, as well as benchmarks for monitoring progress.

Today is a day to look back and celebrate our achievements as human rights educators. Today is also a day to look ahead and face the challenges that lay ahead of us. We hope that all of us are ready to take on these challenges.

With warm wishes from the entire HREA Board and staff,

Felisa Tibbitts
Executive Director

ANNUAL APPEAL 2005


HREA needs your help! You can support HREA's trainings of educators and human rights activists. Your donation or volunteer work can make a difference in our efforts to bring about a global culture of human rights.

Financial contributions directly support invaluable activities like operating the Global Human Rights Education listserv, a unique on-line community of activists and educators around the world. Through your financial support HREA can provide scholarships to human rights activists who would like to participate in our distance learning programme. HREA's multilingual website (currently available in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, Russian and Spanish) was made possible largely through the invaluable contributions from volunteers around the world who developed and translated learning materials.

HREA also supports human rights and educational institutions in transitional democracies in developing staff capacity, human rights curricula and training materials. There are many ways in your support of HREA, which helps us to assist our colleagues in their HRE work. Visit our website to see how you can help, and thank you for your support!

HUMAN RIGHTS SCHOOL IN NEW YORK OPENS DOORS


HREA has partnered with The School for Human Rights in New York, which opened its doors in September. The mission of the school is to develop the academic and social capacity of all students, regardless of identity and ability. A combined middle and high school, The School for Human Rights offers an integrated academic and social skills-based curriculum to challenge its students to think critically and become compassionate, socially engaged young adults committed to the practice of equity, dignity and social consciousness. "Having a school built around human rights means that teachers and students are learning together about human rights in the classroom. It also means that the human rights values of dignity, respect and responsibility are woven throughout the fabric of the school," explains principal Kevin Dotson.

The school is funded in part by a grant by New Visions for Public Schools, an education reform organisation dedicated to improving the quality of education in New York City's public schools. HREA is The School for Human Rights' lead partner and will support teachers and other staff with resources and professional development. A full-time HREA staff member will be based at the school.

HREA ESTABLISHES OFFICE IN MOROCCO


In September HREA opened an office in Casablanca, Morocco. Staff members of HREA-Morocco are Mustapha Kak (Programme Associate), Abderrahim Sabir (Senior Programme Associate for the Middle East and North Africa, in the picture right) and Chifaka Tofaili (Programme Assistant, left). The team will be responsible for a national training programme for the judiciary, a gender review of textbooks in Moroccan secondary schools and e-learning courses for human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa. A first teacher training and a national training for family judges are scheduled for January and February 2005.

Upcoming distance learning courses in 2005

HREA is offering ten distance learning courses in 2005, including new courses on the Inter-American human rights system, international humanitarian law for journalists, and courses on human rights advocacy, human rights monitoring and human rights education in Arabic and German. Find out more about these and other upcoming e-learning opportunities.

Annual Report 2003 now online

Our annual report for 2003 is now available in electronic format and can be downloaded in PDF format.

HREA organises conference on impact of UN Decade in Europe

On 3 and 4 December, HREA organised a conference on the impact of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education in Europe. At the conference, which was part of the activities of the "Democracy and Human Rights Education in Europe" (DARE) Network, participants from over 30 European states took stock of the accomplishments during the Decade (1995-2004) and identified challenges and possibilities for HRE for the coming years. Read further.

Network of human rights and ICT practitioners established

HREA organised an international colloquium Effective Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Defending and Promoting Human Rights in Boston (USA) from 5-7 November 2004. Human rights defenders from around the world shared lessons learned and established an informal network to enhance capacity in using ICTs for advocacy, information & documentation, security and privacy protection, and education and training.

HREA launches Global Human Rights Education Database

On Human Rights Day, HREA will launch the Global Human Rights Education Database. The Database includes a directory of organisations involved in human rights education, a listing of human rights courses and programmes offered worldwide, an annotated bibliography of human rights education materials, a listing of funders that support human rights education, and a global directory of human rights educators.

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