From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:19:07 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KJ7F61719 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:19:07 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022019.h02KJ7F61719@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 17:43:20 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] On-line Forum on the follow-up to the UN Decade for HRE (18 November-8 December 2002) Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear members, As already publicised in the past weeks, as of Monday, 18 November a moderated forum discussion for non-governmental organisations and other civil society actors will be organised on the Global HRE List. The objective of this forum is to discuss ideas and strategies to strengthen HRE at the national, regional and international levels as a follow-up to the Decade for HRE (1995-2004), including mobilisation strategies/mechanisms which could be proposed for consideration to the United Nations. The Forum will build on the recommendations made by many actors, including this list's members, within the mid-term evaluation of the Decade (2000; full report available at ) The forum will have the following agenda: 18-24 November Follow-up to the Decade at the local and national levels 25 November-1 December Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level 2 - 8 December Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Every Monday we will send out a "facilitation" message with questions regarding that week's topic. At the end of each week, HREA will summarise the week's discussion and will share the summary with all listserv members. The summaries will be the basis for a report, prepared by HREA, to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, for the preparation of a study requested by the UN Commission on Human Rights (the full text of the relevant CHR resolution is available at: ) On Monday you will receive a first message with the topic and questions for discussion for the first week of the Forum. We look forward to an interesting and exciting dialogue and encourage all list members to share their experiences. We also encourage you to let others -- who are not subscribed to the listserv -- know about this On-line Forum, in order to get as many contributions and ideas as possible. As always, we welcome contributions in any language, although the main working language of the list is English. For the occasion of this unique forum, we will translate messages from French, Russian and Spanish into English. Best wishes, Frank Elbers List moderator Deputy Director, HREA --- BACKGROUND For more information on initiatives undertaken in the framework of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004), please visit OHCHR's website at: http://www.unhchr.ch/education/main.htm En español: http://www.unhchr.ch/spanish/html/menu6/1/edudec_sp.htm En français: http://www.unhchr.ch/french/html/menu6/1/edudec_fr.htm ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:31:23 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KVNh64585 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:31:23 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022031.h02KVNh64585@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Mon, 18 Nov 2002 02:23:42 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear members, As you know from previous messages, over the next three weeks the Global HRE List will host an On-line Forum on possible follow-up to the UN Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004). As the first topic of the Forum, we have chosen follow-up at the local and national levels. We cannot be sure yet about the overall effectiveness of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004) and the use of it made for mobilisation purposes by all actors, but it certainly has created more awareness about the need to educate about and for human rights. The Decade also has prompted, with major differences from country to country, the development of some human rights education (HRE) activities and strategies. Once the Decade for HRE is over, how can we ensure that human rights education is continuously encouraged and promoted globally? The following questions can guide our discussion in the first week of the Forum: - How can governments be encouraged to meet their obligations to develop formal and non-formal human rights education programmes for children, youth and adults? Are you aware of successful efforts that could serve as an example in other countries? How can the United Nations support non-governmental organisation's (NGO) efforts in this area? - If your government has adopted a national plan for HRE (or an overall human rights or related plan with a HRE component), within the Decade, was it a useful undertaking? Why? If no such plan was developed, would this still be a meaningful course of action for the national and international community to pursue? Why? - How can HRE activities of your government be better monitored by national, regional and international organisations/mechanisms? - Could you share some good partnership efforts at the national level between governments, NGOs and other actors, which could inspire other countries? What were the "facilitating" factors for such partnership to be established? - How can efforts at the local and national levels be better coordinated in order to ensure the maximum use of existing initiatives, materials and resources at all levels? - What could the United Nations do to enhance HRE in your country, both at the national and local level? What would also be specifically useful for NGOs working at the national and local levels? These are some of the questions that could serve as starting points for discussion. You may address any issue that you think is relevant to Decade's follow-up initiatives at the local and national level. Sharing your ideas and suggestions will give all of us the opportunity to voice our opinion to the UN Commission on Human Rights, and lobby for human rights education to be high on the agenda of policy makers. Best wishes, Frank Elbers List moderator ---- BACKGROUND The full text of the report on the mid-term evaluation to the United Nations General Assembly is available on the web site of the OHCHR at: . En español: En français: The full text of the resolution adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights is available at: En español: En français: ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:32:51 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KWpt64921 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:32:51 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022032.h02KWpt64921@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 12:45:15 +1100 From: Michael Curtotti To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues, For the purpose of sparking discussion and hearing your views - from which we would greatly benefit - the following are my personal perspectives on local and national issues relating to the UN Decade for Human Rights Education. The comments are in the context of work of the National Committee on Human Rights Education Inc. in Australia. I haven't addressed all the issues raised. The National Committee on Human Rights Education is a civil society organisation established for the purpose of promoting the aims and plan of action for the UN Decade for Human Rights Education. It has had some success in promoting awareness of human rights education in Australia through the establishment of a national network of 'provincial' level human rights education associations, through hosting/association with an international and national conference, through fostering links with China, and through fostering the establishment of a cooperative forum bringing together government and civil society agencies sharing an interest in human rights education. The conference we held in August entitled "Dignity, Democracy, Equality" was a particular highlight for us and we hope that it may assist in highlighting both the state of play of human rights education in Australia and identify key ideas for further pursuit of human rights education. We are currently working on a post-conference publication with these aims in mind. Where we have faced considerable challenges is in the attraction of sufficient funding to enable us to undertake the kinds of key initiatives that are implicit in the Guidelines for the Decade. Thus far some funding has been given to us by the Australian government and by private sector. However, we have not, for instance, been able to fund the position of a full time staff person, thus our work is essentially carried out on a voluntary/community contribution basis. This has the effect of greatly slowing down the kind of progress we would like to make. It also prevents us from undertaking a base line study of human rights education in Australia. Nonetheless in the process of human rights education advocacy during the past years we have developed a good sense of the lack of systematic and comprehensive measures of human rights education in Australia. This is not to dismiss the innumerable excellent endeavours carried out by civil society and government agencies in wide variety of fields in Australia. What appears to be lacking is a sense of collective vision and planning towards clearly enunciated human rights education goals. It is this that the UN Decade seems to provide. As to the role the UN could play in greater support of NGOs. Firstly the catalytic role of the UN needs to be acknowledged, as well as the many fine resources that have been made available and which we have been able to use within Australia (for instance the Mid-term Review of the UN Decade - which highlighted that human rights education is at its beginnings in many ways in terms of response to the Decade - and its call for cooperation between governments and civil society). The UN could assist by giving clearer definition to the level of contribution that should be made by governments to enable progress against the aims of the UN Decade. I believe that a national plan of action would be a meaningful contribution to human rights education within Australia. Currently the Australian government is drafting a 2nd National Human Rights Plan that would include a chapter on human rights education. Advocating for either a specific plan or such chapters would seem to be valuable. The approach of the National Committee has been to work as much as possible at fostering a partnership approach. Thus although we are a civil society agency ourselves, we maintain a forum known as the "Programs and Policy Reference Group", which aims to bring together government and non-government agencies in discussing human rights education issues. Also this approach has undoubtedly attracted a supportive response from the government, which is favourably disposed to human rights education, although of course more can and should be done. In particular our Attorney-General and Attorney-General's department have made significant contributions assisting the National Committee (including assisting us in obtaining tax deductible status for our work). Recently we have also begun working with Australia's Parliamentary Human Rights Sub-committee which has taken up an interest in human rights education by launching a parliamentary inquiry on the theme "Human Rights and Good Governance Education". This inquiry will undoubtedly have a strong educational effect on issues around human rights education, including at 'state/territory' level within the Australian Federal system. Recently the National Committee undertook a visit to China to explore some of the human rights education work in that country. One of the things that was striking was the positive impact of the work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights with the Ministry of Education which was pursuing the development of policies and programs for human rights education in the schooling system as a result of discussions with the Office. It would be of benefit in Australia (and possibly also other developed countries) for such programs of international assistance or advocacy to be considered. In other words it cannot be assumed that because a country is developed and well resourced that it will necessarily be able to take initiatives in pursuit of human rights education implicit in the Decade. A variety of institutional barriers can operate to prevent progress. For instance while there is a well developed human rights community in Australia - a human rights education constituency is still in its embryonic stages of development. There are many changes and developments required for the effective pursuit of such a constituency - this is particularly true in regard of inclusion within human rights education work of key institutions active in the education sector. This also is at its beginnings in Australia. Funding opportunities for NGOs in developed countries would be valuable in the case of Australia. The entire human rights movement in Australia suffers from chronic funding shortage. I look forward to discussion this week on this forum. warm regards Michael Curtotti National Committee on Human Rights Education Inc. Australia E-mail: curtotti@ozemail.com.au ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:34:01 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KY1r65090 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:34:01 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022034.h02KY1r65090@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 13:35:46 -0500 From: "H. Victor Conde" To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Can anyone tell me authoritatively what efforts have been made by an branch of the US government regarding human rights education, whether or not responsive to the UN Decade resolution? I ran a successful teacher training institute last August here in California ("Human Rights For Educators") and we will have another one next summer and possibly a few mini seminars for teachers between now and then. We are trying to get California to comply with the Education Code provision requiring human rights in grades 7-12 of public schools. Prof. H. Victor Conde Trinity Law School E-mail: HvcHumnRts@aol.com ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:34:39 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KYdG65200 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:34:39 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022034.h02KYdG65200@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 11:33:20 +0100 From: Alex Sutter Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org [***This message has been translated from German into English. The original message follows the English translation, Mod.***] Dear colleagues, Switzerland has not created a national organisation for human rights education. Setting up a national human rights institute is currently being discussed in the political arena; human rights education would be one of the tasks of such an institute. However, there is still long way to go before this institute will be realised. In Switzerland there is no systematic promotion of human rights education, except for a Fund that concentrates on combatting racism, and which was only established for the period 2001-2005. There aren't many positive experiences to report from Switzerland in the area of human rights education. A two-day course for police officers is organised annually, which also involves NGOs. The existing courses for teachers are just not going well. Our organisation Human Rights Switzerland MERS has focused its resources on distributing information via the www.humanrights.ch Web site and also a newsletter. Due to financial constraints we have a hard time expanding our activities. Best regards, Alex Sutter Human Rights Switzerland MERS E-mail: info@humanrights.ch ------------- Die Schweiz hat keine Nationale Institution für Menschenrechtsbildung geschaffen. Im Moment ist die Schaffung einer allgemeinen nationalen Menschenrechts-Institution in der politischen Diskussion; eine Teilaufgabe dieser Institution wäre die Menschenrechtsbildung. Aber der Weg zur Realisierung ist noch weit. Es gibt keine systematische Förderung von Menschenrechtsbildung in der Schweiz, abgesehen von einem Fonds, der sich auf die Rassismusbekämpfung konzentriert, und der nur für die Jahre 2001-2005 eingerichtet wurde. Aus der Schweiz gibt es nicht viele positive Erfahrungen in Bezug auf Menschenrechtsbildung zu berichten. Jährlich gibt es einen zweitägigen Kurs für Polizeikader, bei dem auch NGO einbezogen sind. Die bestehenden Kursangebote für Lehrkräfte laufen schlecht. Unsere Organisation MERS hat die Kräfte auf die Informationsplattform www.humanrights.ch sowie ein Infobulletin konzentriert. Wir haben Mühe, unsere Aktivitäten auszudehnen, wegen fehlender finanzieller Mittel. Mit besten Grüssen Alex Sutter, MERS ------------------------------------------------ Menschenrechte Schweiz MERS Gesellschaftsstr. 45 CH-3012 Bern Tel. ++41 31 302 01 61 Fax ++41 31 302 00 62 info@humanrights.ch www.humanrights.ch ------------------------------------------------ ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:35:44 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KZi865548 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:35:44 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022035.h02KZi865548@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 14:57:19 +0100 From: Michael Seberich Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear all, Here are my personal impressions on the realization of the Decade of Human Rights Education in Germany so far: 1. Human Rights Reality in Germany An analysis of the Amnesty International Report 2002 shows that in Germany most human rights violations fall into the category of police ill-treatment, conditions of detention and abusive restraints. Besides this "classical" field of human rights, it is necessary to look at criminal offences with a proven or assumed right wing origin. Racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism within certain groups of the German society are the other human rights reality of Germany. 2. Human Rights Education Reality in Germany Human Rights Education is specified as one of the supreme educational objectives in all federal states (Note: In Germany education is the responsibility of the states.). The ideas has always been to introduce human rights on a cross curricula basis. Human Rights are addressed in most civic education and history books. Repeatedly NGOs, the government have organized public awareness campaigns on human rights issues. From my point of view the Decade of Human Rights Education has not really created a new focus on the the realization of human rights as a fundamental topic in education. Some schools, especially the UNESCO schools, have used the decade to focus their work on human rights but there have not been major government initiatives on the meaning of human rights in education. One notable change has been the establishment of a UNESCO Chair of HRE at the University of Magdeburg. It looks like this chair will be the base for some activities in this area. The chair has already organized conferences for teachers on HRE. Besides this the German Institute for Human Rights was set up the German government during the last couple of years. This institute has also identified human rights education as one focus of its work. The German Foreign Office has also supported several efforts in the field of HRE as part of decade. The International NGO Network "Education for Democracy, Human Rights and Tolerance" of the Bertelsmann Foundation can be seen as a civil society project that supports the vision of the Decade of HRE. The other "classic" HRE initiative in Germany is the establishment of the city of Nuremberg as a human rights city. The city also received two years ago the UNESCO prize for HRE. The fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, considering it as part of a wider meaning of HRE, allows a very different picture. In this area NGOs, the different levels of government, academia and civil society are very active. the federal government, the states and many cities have set up special programs to promote cultural diversity and to fight racism. The federal programs XENOS, CIVITAS and ENTIMON have allowed the establishment of many new civil society projects to fight right-wing extremism and racism. Many NGOs and academics have also developed programs. For sure, also in this area things could be done better. This is underlined by an intensive discussion in Germany on the evaluation of such educational programs. In brief, I have the impression that some institutions/organizations are aware of the Decade of HRE and have pursued certain activities as part of it. The Decade has not been the motor for a new awareness of human rights in education. Nevertheless human rights are a topic as part of an ongoing fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. What needs to happen after the Decade? a. I think it would be useful to establish a roundtable with the different parties involved in the field of human rights education. Especially in Germany, with its state responsibility for education, this is the one way to establish a better base for human rights education. This roundtable should include the different levels of government and civil society organizations, NGOs. In addition a national campaign on the meaning of human rights for students could be of interest. It would be important to focus it on the direct use of human rights for German students and not somewhere in a development country or in a war situation. b. The UN could show that we need a discussion on the chances of human rights also in such areas as racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. People need to realize that human rights are the rights that allow equality and justice. They are also human rights that are important in a country of economic wealth, they do also have a meaning in this context. The UN should even more clearly state the importance of HRE in processes of transformation and as a base of democracy. The UN needs to do this on the government levels so that HRE can enter an open school system. This would means that the UN also analyses the National Action Plans, the results of the Durban Conference, in regards to HRE. It would also be notable if more institutions of higher education offer specific courses on HRE in schools. Yours michael Michael Seberich Project Manager Demokratie & Bürgergesellschaft / Democracy & Civil Society Bertelsmann Stiftung Carl-Bertelsmann-Str. 256 D-33311 Gütersloh Phone: ++ 49 (0) 5241.81.8 12 66 UMS/Fax: ++ 49 (0) 5241.81.68 1 267 E-Mail: Michael.Seberich@bertelsmann.de URL: www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:37:22 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KbMd65776 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:37:22 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022037.h02KbMd65776@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 15:44:00 +0100 From: Jeroen Bron Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org The Netherlands has a national core curriculum and national exams that schools (and publishers) use to determine the contents of education in the formal education sector. Human rights are not integrated in this. Though there are a few anchor points for human rights education, depending on how one interprets certain objectives. We have tried to make HRE one of anchor points in the national curriculum yet, unlike our colleagues in Belgium, have not been successful at this. The curricula as they exist in the Netherlands are regarded as overloaded by different stakeholders. Also the schools are tired of reforms. For that reason the coming revisions of the national curriculum will be focusing on a strong reduction of the core objectives. The only positive remark that must be made in this perspective is that schools will be getting more autonomy and responsibilities towards their school curriculum. The percentage of time covered by the national core curriculum will be lowered. As a result HRE remains extracurricular that depends on the often personal commitment of teachers and school managers and of course the hard work of NGO's. Inspired by the Decade a national committee, the "Platform human rights education", was established in which over ten organisations (NGO's and GO's) participate. Activities of the Platform included exchange of initiatives, setting up of a web site with info on human rights issues for pupils and teachers and working on a core curriculum document outlining what HRE currently is and what the Platform organisations think HRE in the Netherlands should be. Unfortunately, the Platform has become less active over time, and especially GO's have not participated. Also NGO's still put their own interests first and cooperation in order to strengthen human rights comes later. Given the new situation with more freedom on the curriculum for schools, the Platform is in the process of developing a document for school managers that makes a relation between human rights and school policies. This will lead to quality indicators based on human rights articles. This exercise certainly seems promising and adds a whole new perspective on HRE. What is missing is commitment and support from the government, including financial means to set up collaborative projects that can stimulate the position of HRE, produce articles and hopefully get a place in the core curriculum. The government should support HRE in all aspects (stimulation, involvement, money, communication, dissemination, implementation). In other words: the Decade as well as HRE should be taken serious. Jeroen Bron National Institute for Curriculum Development (SLO) Enschede, the Netherlands E-mail: J.Bron@slo.nl ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:38:14 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KcEu65911 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:38:14 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022038.h02KcEu65911@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 17:30:15 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear members, Last week we discussed local and national level activities that might follow-up to the Decade for Human Rights Education. Interesting observations and recommendations were made by members from Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the USA. Within the next days you will receive a summary message with the highlights of this discussion. This week the discussion will concentrate on what can be done at the sub-regional (for example in South East Asia or Central Europe) and regional (for example in Africa) levels. The following questions are intended to initiate our dialogue: - What can be done at the sub-regional and regional levels to get governments more active in HRE nationally? - What can be done at the sub-regional and regional levels to maximize the participation of various national actors (governmental and non-governmental) in national HRE programmes, as well as national coalition-building? - Which kind of activities (meetings, training of trainers, online networking, sharing of region-specific materials and practices, others) are a priority for HRE at the sub-regional level? Which for the regional level? Which for the international level? Why? - Is it a major priority to ensure wider distribution of HRE materials subregionally? Regionally? Internationally? If so, what strategies could be developed to this end? - Which specific sub-/regional partners (mass media, education-related organisations, social development and other groups) should be encouraged to include human rights in their training programmes and other work? - How could existing regional intergovernmental organisations (such as the African Union, ASEAN, Organization of American States or Council of Europe) be encouraged to integrate more HRE into their programmes and to allocate additional resources for that purpose? What should be their specific focus vis-à-vis the work of international organisations like the UN? Members are strongly encouraged to share their views on follow-up at the regional level. Contributions concerning follow-up at the national and local levels will continue to be posted as well. Best wishes, Frank Elbers List moderator ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:41:48 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KfmU66645 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:41:48 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022041.h02KfmU66645@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 08:44:21 -0300 From: Abraham Magendzo To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Queridos todos y todas, I am not blaming anybody but ourselves, the fact is that in the last week discussion on local and national level activities that might follow-up to the Decade for Human Rights Education no observations and recommendations were made by members from Latin America. In addition, when the moderators challenge us to discuss this week on what can be done at the sub-regional, the examples that are given are from South East Asia or Central Europe. No mention of Latin America. What should be done in this part of the world, that as a matter of fact was one of the first to start in the eighties programs on HRE, inspired by Paolo Freire's popular education concept, is first of all to strengthen our Latin American network and build an American coalition. We should not forget that we belong to the same continent. A few years ago I presented to the Ford Foundation a plan to create an American Association on HRE. I wasn't successful. We should try again. Let me say that much is been done in the region on HRE in each country in Latin America, however, in my opinion, we are weak on three different but complementary aspects: - Governments should be more active and committed to HRE. I have the feeling that there are other priorities or the governments are "afraid" to introduce HRE as a central part of the curriculum. - Our Latin American and International networks should became much more organic. We are isolated from the rest of the world (it can be language barriers). - We are lacking resources. Poverty is our common and permanent situation. The money that exists is distributed very badly. Inequity and injustice prevail. Abraham Magendzo K Santiago, Chile E-mail: abrahamm@manquehue.net ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:44:11 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KiBw66991 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:44:11 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022044.h02KiBw66991@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 06:02:09 +0800 From: Hanneman Samuel To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues, It is a well known fact that HRE is underdeveloped in Southeast Asia. Little progress has been made to develop and implement HRE in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and many other countries in the region. Exception cases are the Philippines and Thailand: One does not have to be an expert of Southeast Asian societies to feel their struggle to develop HRE. What should be done to develop HRE in Southeast Asia? I sincerely believe venues for HRE in the region should be complementary built around formal, non-formal, and informal education. Around school, training & workshops, and the media. Who should take part to implement HRE in Southeast Asia? NGOs are undoubtedly crucial for HRE. Nonetheless, the problems are too huge for them to solve singlehandedly. Alliances and collaborations among human rights workers are a necessity in this part of the world. And our cultures have taught us to value cooperations. Filipinos have their belief in 'sama-sama'; Indonesians, Malaysians, Singapore, and Brunei in 'musyawarah'. Those local expressions point to the same concept -- consultations. Following this, it is important for HRE to address the importance of strategic collaborations among civil society actors to develop HRE -- NGOs, people's organisations, (university and independent) intellectuals, religious communities, the media, and business community. Those actors have their own shares in promoting HRE through formal, non-formal, and informal education -- in a participatory way. It is worth emphasising that the collaborations should be at national, regional, as well as international levels. This is an effective way to push governments in the region and ASEAN to address human dignity and to develop it around HRE. With best regards, Hanneman Samuel Indonesia E-mail: hssamuel@cbn.net.id ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . 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From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:45:02 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02Kj2w67298 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:45:02 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022045.h02Kj2w67298@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 23:08:52 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels (Draft Summary) Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear members, Below you will find the draft summary of the recommendations for activities at the local and national levels to follow-up the Decade for HRE. We encourage you to read this summary and make corrections or additions based on your experiences. These notes will be included in the final report to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. --------------------------------------------- FOLLOW-UP AT LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS TO DECADE FOR HRE Participants summarized achievements and obstacles in promoting HRE over the course of the Decade. The comments from participants suggest that it is hard to maintain the involvement and interests of those whose mission is not directly related to human rights education, when this area is not sanctioned or internalized by formal human rights or education channels, and when monies are not forthcoming. This appears to be the situation at both the governmental and non-governmental levels. In most but not all cases, temporary HRE structures established by governments have not resulted in many concrete activities, excepting when NGOs working with the committees carried out HRE on their own initiative. At the same time, there are now new platforms for promoting HRE in some countries, and HRE continues to exist in an embryonic stage. HRE has moved forward within the education sector when it has been associated with a related high-agenda issue such as racism. Many recommendations were made for future actions that might be taken by national governments, NGOs and civil society, and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in order to help forward the HRE agenda in countries. Most of these recommendations are dependent upon a combination of political will and resources. AREAS OF GAINS, INSPIRED BY THE DECADE FOR HRE Structural/Policy: National Committees on Human Rights Education (e.g. Australia) and Platforms Human Rights Education (Netherlands) were established to promote HRE nationally. These are usually coalitions/coordinating bodies of NGOs and government agencies. In Australia a national network of 'provincial' level HRE associations was created. In Germany human rights education was specified as one of the supreme educational objectives in all federal states, to be introduced on a cross-curricular basis. Human rights are addressed in most civic and history textbooks there. Human rights is now included as a topic included in the state (sub-national) curricular program for students of ages 12-18 in California (USA). In Australia, NGO and governmental partnership were fostered through an NGO-sponsored "Programs and Policy Reference Group" which brings together non-governmental and governmental agencies in discussing human rights education issues. In Germany and Switzerland, HRE was linked with local and national efforts to fight racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and the extreme right. HRE efforts in Germany have also been linked with newly established institutions -- the German Institute for Human Rights, Nuremberg-Human Rights City, and UNESCO Human Rights Chair. Activities: NGOs and the government have organized public awareness campaigns on human rights issues (e.g. Germany). In Australia, a national HRE conference was organised and in the Netherlands the national "Platform" resulted in the development of policy documents, the setting up of an informational website, and the exchanging of initiatives. The Parliamentary Human Rights Sub-Committee in Australia has become interested in human rights education and has asked advice from human rights educators. Local HRE trainings for teachers and law enforcement officials were organised in various countries. AREAS OF LIMITATIONS There is a human rights education community, but it has not succeeded in becoming included within key institutions active in the education sector (Australia) or having human rights education clearly included in the national curricula (Netherlands). HRE remains an extracurricular activity in schools that depends upon the personal commitment of teachers and school administrators and the hard work of NGOs (Netherlands). In Germany, the ongoing fight against racism, rather than the Decade for HRE, has largely been the motor for the HRE activities that have been carried out. Lack of funding limits the total number of HRE activities that can be carried out (Netherlands, Switzerland) and means that HRE activities are not carried out systematically and comprehensively at the national level. There is a lack of collective vision and planning. (Australia) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE HRE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL NGOs: The main barriers are financial. National governments: Governments could organize roundtables at the national level including different levels of government and NGOs in order to bring HRE more to the core of education activities. Government should support HRE in all aspects (stimulation, involvement, money, communication, dissemination, implementation). Institutions of higher education could offer specific courses on HRE in schools. Another recommendation was that governments, in conjunction with NGOs, organize a national campaign on the meaning of human rights for students. It would be important to focus on the direct use of human rights for the students and not only in a developing country or a country in a situation of conflict. United Nations: The Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights has played, and should continue to play, a "catalytic" role in forwarding HRE. The mid-term review, for example, highlighted that human rights education was in its beginnings and required a cooperation between governments and civil society. The UN should assist "by giving clearer definition to the level of contribution that should be made by governments to enable progress towards the aim of the UN Decade." One example is details on what might be included in a national plan of action for HRE. It was recommended that the Office of the High Commissioner work directly with Ministries of Education, as it did in China, in promoting human rights education in the schooling systems. The U.N. could try to link HRE within efforts to combat racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism, under the framework of equality and justice. Human rights are also important for those countries that have wealth. Human rights education should be recognized as part of the processes of transformation into democratic forms of governance. Finally, the Office for the High Commissioner could encourage governments to include a human rights education component in their National Human Rights plans. ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:45:35 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KjZr67387 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:45:35 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022045.h02KjZr67387@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 05:40:08 +0300 From: Monim Elgak To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues, I want to thank Abraham for moving beyond the examples proposed by moderators to discuss what can be done at regional level, and I would like to indicate some points from the Arab region that might help in the follow-up to the UN HRE Decade. First of all I would like to address an important political point to indicate that HRE in the regional levels does not response the same concerns it addresses at national and international levels. This might refer to uncertainty of representation of the regional NGOs that work on HRE. The representation, which I refer to, clearly manifests itself in the lack of the actual support of official national and international bodies. HRE at regional levels does mostly target the structural aspects of the prevalent culture that reflect the diversity of the common culture of what we call regional levels. Building on this structural and political reflection, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), as a regional institute working on human rights dissemination in the Arab world, adopts an approach that seeks to address such problematic. The CIHRS approach seeks to reconcile the Arab prevalent culture with human rights principles and values. The CIHRS' point of departure is that human rights values and principles are universal since they are the outcome of interaction between major cultures, including the Arab culture. All cultures, including the Western culture, should make their best to settle their own contradictions to be consistent with the universal values of human rights. This approach has become a beacon for HRE in the Arab region, as it was adopted by the Arab human rights movement in its second international conference held in Cairo. This conference examined several aspects of human rights education (please see the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights Education & Dissemination: A 21st Century Agenda at http://www.cihrs.org/activities/Conference/Conference2.htm) Still there are a lot of aspects and important work needs to be concentrated on the structural and political arenas for HRE in the Arab regional level. Needless to mention that such work could not be done without the actual and the direct support of the formal national and international bodies. In this regard, following are some points that might help on the follow-up of the UN HRE decade at the regional levels. - To a large extent, HRE represents a political enterprise that linked with the politics of the every day life of people in their endeavor to achieve dignity, justice and equality. In the Arab world, this opens the door to the importance of integrating HRE as a crucial dimension in the projects of political and constitutional reform. This point is directly associated with the processes of democratic transformations. - Although cultural and popular aspects consider vital channels for disseminating human rights culture, it also represents actual obstacles that impede HRE. Innovative and attractive approaches are needed to create in this regard. These approaches, in addition to the need of international support, have to create diverse means for breaking the state monopoly of the cultural and popular arenas. - Paying special attention to the role of the arts and letters may play in human rights education and dissemination, given their special capacity to address and inspire human consciousness. Special attention should also be given to knowledge of living reality as point of departure, in addition to developing non-traditional educational materials (such as movies/documentaries and plays). - The cultural aspects in HRE is also need special attention, especially to the role of religion in disseminating human rights culture. This requires more encouragement for the Arab intellectuals, politicians and religious scholars to abstain from entangling religion in a confrontation with human rights, to consider those rights provided by the international human rights law as a minimum to build upon not to be reduced in the name of cultural specificity or any other pretext, and to work towards the entrenchment of human rights values in the Arab cultural traditions. - Another point that is linked to the religious aspect is calling upon academics, researchers and religious scholars to work for highlighting the roots of human rights in the Arab culture, to underscore the contribution of the Islamic and Christian civilizations in establishing human rights values, and to dismantle that artificial contradiction between a number of human rights principles and some obsolete fundamentalist interpretations. Monim Elgak Coordinator of HREP Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) Egypt E-mail: cihrs@soficom.com.eg ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:46:14 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KkEI67469 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:46:14 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022046.h02KkEI67469@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Fri, 29 Nov 2002 11:13:33 +0200 From: David Mcquoid-Mason Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Human rights education (HRE) has been included in the curriculum on a cross-curricular basis at all grade levels in South African schools but has not yet been implemented because of lack of appropriate teacher training. HRE has been included in the national school curricula at primary and secondary level, but as a cross-curricular rather than a dedicated course. Lack of training and capacity to teach of teachers; lack of teaching materials (so far materials for grades 7 and 8 in the human and social science programs have only been produced); the focus by some schools on "hard core" academic courses rather than perceived "soft courses" like human and social sciences and life skills that traditionally incorporate human rights education; lack of adequate time in the school curriculum and resistance by some school principal -- have resulted in human rights education usually being provided by NGOs during school career guidance and counselling classes rather than in the regular classes. NGOs are working with government to overcome these obstacles. In South Africa, the Human Rights Commission and NGOs in the Human Rights Education Forum meet provincially on a monthly basis to discuss and plan human rights education projects. Human rights public awareness programs occur throughout the year but particularly on the National Human Rights Day on 21 March spearheaded by the government in partnership with NGOs, and on International Human Rights Day on 10 December, spearheaded by the NGOs. At some universities, law students in service school teachers are trained through the Street Law program to go into high schools and teach about law, human rights and democracy. Student school teachers are also being trained to teach about human rights and democracy in some university faculties of education. At a recent conference of the community of democracies non-governmental forum in Seoul (Korea, from 10-12 November 2002) it was suggested by the participating NGOs that human rights could be strengthened if the Decade for Human Rights Education were to be followed by a decade of democracy education. This suggestion was put to the community of democracies governmental meeting attended by nearly 100 foreign ministers for their consideration. Regards David David McQuiod-Mason Durban, South Africa E-mail: MCQUOIDM@nu.ac.za ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:46:30 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KkUF67512 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:46:30 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022046.h02KkUF67512@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Valerie Hrytsuk Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 09:27:58 -0800 (PST) Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues, Greetings from Minsk, Belarus. There is a non-democratic basis of authority in Belarus. There is a non-legitimate president. The programme for HRE for all within national education has no foundation. There exist no handbooks, information, or teachers trained in HRE, only official (formal) documents for HRE. In general, one can observe a low political and legal culture at this moment in Belarus. There are many violations of human rights. The OSCE and the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly have pressured the government to promote democratic values and human rights for all members of the population. The first steps must begin with preschool, primary and secondary education, using real lessons. In summary, after acknowledging the vital importance of adopting human rights educational programmes, it is necessary to acknowledge its weak points in Belarus. In the framework of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education we published various education materials and information about the UN system, which soon will also available at a web-site. I think we must have very big activity for creating new steps at the international level to strengthen action on HRE worldwide. Thus I think the Decade for HRE needs to be followed by a second Decade for HRE, as has been the case with the Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination. I believe this is the TIME of HUMAN RIGHTS; creating a global human rights culture should be the goal for the XXI century. >- Should the dissemination of human rights education materials (easily >accessible -- i.e., on-line, distributed free of charge and translated into >local languages) be a priority of international organisations? Information dissemination is still one of the major concerns in Belarus. Reaching out to secondary schools teachers will be of critical importance. Facilitating Internet access for all secondary schools will help achieve this goal. >- How could non-state actors --including the business community, as well as >development, trade and financial organisations-- better support HRE? Our efforts must focus more on partnerships with the mass-media. Best wishes to my fellow human rights educators, Dr.Valery Hrytsuk President Human Rights Educational Centre, NGO Belarus ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:47:46 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02Klk567720 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:47:46 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022047.h02Klk567720@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org From: José Grenard Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 16:47:30 -0600 Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org [***The English translation of this message follows after the Spanish original, Mod.***] Me alegra saludarte desde Panamá donde laboro en la Dirección Nacional de Perfeccionamiento Docente del Ministerio de Educación. Tengo a mi cargo la coordinación de capacitación de docentes, directores y supervisores para esducar en derechos humanos (EDH). A partir del año 1995 se logró modificar la legislación escolar para incluir los derechos humanos como un tema trasversal en la Educ. Basica General y Media. Este año todas las escuelas del país recibieron los nuevos programas curriculares con esta innovación. Ahora estamos trabajando en la creación de una Red Nacional de docentes promotores de EDH cuya iniciativa cuenta con el apoyo del Convenio Ministerio de Educación-Instituto interamericano de Derechos Humanos (IIDH). Se capacita en cascada o sea a deleggados de regiones educativas para que luego ellos lo multipliquen en sus escuelas. Pienso que nos puede ayudar mucho si se logra intercambiar experiencias con otros paises con procesos similares ya que pensamos lograr instalar en cada región educativa un comite regional de desarrollo profesional para la sistematización de experiencias exitosas. Hasta pronto. José Grenard Panamá Correo electrónico: jagrenard@hotmail.com ----- Greetings from Panama where I work in the National Directorate of Educational Improvement at the Ministry of Education. One of my responsibilities is the coordination of qualification of teachers, headmasters and inspectors in human rights education (HRE). Since 1995 we have tried to change the education law to include human rights as a cross-curricular subject at the primary and secondary levels. This year all schools in the country received this innovative curriculum. Now we are working to create a National Network of educators who promote HRE, an initiative that is supported by an agreement between the Ministry of Education and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (IIDH). By training respresentatives of school districts that subsequently train teachers in their schools, we hope to achieve a mulitiplier effect. I think that it can help us much if countries with similar approaches can exchange experiences with others, as we hope to manage to establish in each school district a regional comittee for professional development in order to systematise successful experiences. José Grenard Panamá E-mail: jagrenard@hotmail.com ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:48:22 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KmM467811 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:48:22 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022048.h02KmM467811@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Thu, 5 Dec 2002 10:28:31 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level (Draft Summary) Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear members, Below you will find the draft summary of the recommendations for activities at the sub-regional (for example, Southeast Asia) and regional (for example, Latin America) levels to follow-up the Decade for HRE. We have also included separately recommendations for activities at the national and local levels, which were submitted in the recent week. We encourage you to read these summaries and add your comments as soon as possible, as the Forum will conclude on Friday, 13 December. --------------------------------------------- FOLLOW-UP AT SUB-REGIONAL AND REGIONAL LEVELS TO DECADE FOR HRE List members commented on strategies and needs for Latin America/the Americas, the Arab region, and Southeast Asia. These strategies were linked with the status of HRE at the national level in their respective regions. HRE at the national level is strong in Latin America, and has been carried out since the 1980s. There are active networks for those involved in human rights and human rights education. These national efforts and networks are largely taking place in the non-governmental sector. By contrast, a member from Southeast Asia felt that the HRE effort for the region was generally very weak, with the exception of the work being carried out in the Philippines and Thailand. List members recognised both the particular challenges and opportunities for HRE within their regions. Based on these observations, they proposed differing solutions for enhancing the position of HRE. The regional HRE effort in Latin America could be strengthened by creating stronger links between Latin America networks and international/North American ones -- a solution that might involve overcoming a language barrier. It was also suggested that governments should become more involved in supporting HRE, introducing it into the central curriculum. Finally, structural problems --including poverty, inequity and injustice-- were mentioned as prevailing conditions that had to be faced on a daily basis. A participant pointed to a lack of "structural" governmental support for HRE, among both national and international bodies in the Arab World. The strategy adopted by his regional HRE group has been cultural in nature: to demonstrate how Arab culture is consistent with human rights principles and values. "All cultures, including the Western cultures, should make their best effort to settle their own internal contradictions to be consistent with the universal values of human rights." Regional conferences have been organised to help develop this common understanding among Arab representatives, and resulted in the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights Education and Dissemination. Other strategies proposed to help reduce cultural barriers to the human rights value system in the Arabic region are: (i) recognising that HRE is a crucial dimension in political and constitutional reform; (ii) creating innovative and attractive approaches to HRE --including use of the visual arts, theatre and the humanities --to inspire human consciousness and to relate to everyday life; (iii) seeking shared points between human rights values and Arab cultural and religious traditions. The last point will involve the leadership of intellectuals and religious scholars. It was recommended that in Southeast Asia civil society actors already --or potentially-- active in HRE form strategic coalitions and alliances to promote HRE through formal, nonformal and informal educational approaches. "Our cultures have taught us to value cooperation," according to a participant from Southeast Asia. Civil society organisations mentioned included not only NGOs, but also people's organisations, intellectuals, religious communities, the media and the business community. ***************** FOLLOW-UP TO DECADE FOR HRE AT LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS - ADDENDUM AREAS OF GAINS, INSPIRED BY THE DECADE FOR HRE Structural/Policy: Through an agreement between the Ministry of Education and a regional HRE organisation, a national network of human rights educators was created in Panama. In South Africa, the Human Rights Commission and NGOs in the Human Rights Education Forum meet provincially on a monthly basis to discuss and plan HRE projects. Human rights education there is included as a cross-curricular subject for primary and secondary schools. Activities: In South Africa, NGOs and the government have repeatedly organised public awareness campaigns on human rights issues, especially on National Human Rights Day (21 March) and International Human Rights Day (10 December). At some universities, law students train teachers and/or secondary students to teach about law, human rights and democracy. In Panama a training of trainers program will be organised using newly created national network of human rights educators. In Belarus there has been some publication of educational materials and information about the U.N. system, with plans to post on a website. AREAS OF LIMITATIONS A lack of government-supported teaching materials and training opportunities for teachers, along with an overcrowded curriculum and administrator resistance, has limited the implementation of HRE as a cross-curricular subject within the central curriculum in many counties (South Africa was mentioned as an example). In Belarus no handbooks or opportunities to train teachers in HRE exist. Another barrier to HRE are non-democratic government, and a generally low legal and political culture (e.g. Belarus). RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE HRE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL NGOs: Information dissemination, including partnerships with mass media. Reaching out to teachers. (Belarus) National government: Governments could facilitating Internet access for all secondary schools to increase access to information, facilitate global exchanges, and promote a global human rights culture. United Nations: It was suggested that the Decade should be followed by another Decade for Human Rights Education. "Creating a global human rights culture should be the goal for the XXI century." Another list member wrote that at a recent regional seminar it was proposed that the Decade for Human Rights Education be followed by a Decade for Democracy Education. ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Thu Jan 2 20:48:43 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h02KmhU67879 for a44156794; Thu, 2 Jan 2003 20:48:43 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301022048.h02KmhU67879@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 08:19:42 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Äîïîëíèòåëüíûå äàííûå î ðåçóëüòàòàõ äåñÿòèëåòíåé äåÿòåëüíîñòè íà ìåñòíîì è íàöèîíàëüíîì óðîâíå (ïðîåêò èíôîðìàöèîííîãî äîêëàäà) Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org [***Moderators' note: Below you will find a Russian translation of the draft summary of the follow-up to the HRE Decade at the local and national levels. A Spanish translation will be posted shortly. For the English version, please see: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/msg01061.html ***] Óâàæàåìûå ó÷àñòíèêè, Íèæå ïðèâîäèòñÿ ïðîåêò èíôîðìàöèîííîãî äîêëàäà î ðåêîìåíäàöèÿõ îòíîñèòåëüíî áóäóùåé ðàáîòû, ñ ó÷åòîì ðåçóëüòàòîâ äåñÿòèëåòíåé äåÿòåëüíîñòè HREA. Ìû ïðîñèì âàñ îçíàêîìèòüñÿ ñ ýòèì ìàòåðèàëîì è ïðåäëîæèòü èñïðàâëåíèÿ èëè äîïîëíåíèÿ íà îñíîâàíèè âàøåãî îïûòà. Âàøè çàìå÷àíèÿ áóäóò âêëþ÷åíû â îêîí÷àòåëüíûé âàðèàíò äîêëàäà, êîòîðûé áóäåò ïðåäñòàâëåí â Îôèñ Âåðõîâíîãî êîìèññàðà ÎÎÍ ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà. --------------------------------------------- Äîïîëíèòåëüíûå äàííûå î ðåçóëüòàòàõ äåñÿòèëåòíåé äåÿòåëüíîñòè íà ìåñòíîì è íàöèîíàëüíîì óðîâíå â ñôåðå îáðàçîâàíèÿ ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà (HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION - HRE) Ó÷àñòíèêè îáîáùèëè äîñòèæåíèÿ è ïðåïÿòñòâèÿ â ñôåðå HRE, õàðàêòåðèçîâàâøèå äåñÿòèëåòèå äåÿòåëüíîñòè â ýòîì íàïðàâëåíèè.  êîììåíòàðèÿõ ó÷àñòíèêîâ âûñêàçûâàëèñü ìíåíèÿ î òîì, ÷òî òðóäíî ïîääåðæèâàòü âîâëå÷åííîñòü è èíòåðåñ òåõ ëèö è îðãàíèçàöèé, ìèññèÿ êîòîðûõ íå èìååò ïðÿìîé ñâÿçè ñ îáðàçîâàíèåì â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà, êîãäà ýòà ñôåðà äåÿòåëüíîñòè íå ñàíêöèîíèðîâàíà èëè íå îïðåäåëåíà ïî ôîðìàëüíûì îáðàçîâàòåëüíûì èëè ïðàâîçàùèòíûì êàíàëàì, è êîãäà íå ïðåäïîëàãàåòñÿ ïîñòóïëåíèå äåíåæíûõ ñóìì. Òàêàÿ ñèòóàöèÿ, ïî-âèäèìîìó, íàáëþäàåòñÿ êàê íà ïðàâèòåëüñòâåííîì, òàê è íà íåïðàâèòåëüñòâåííîì óðîâíÿõ.  áîëüøèíñòâå, íî íå âî âñåõ ñëó÷àÿõ, âðåìåííûå ñòðóêòóðû HRE, ñîçäàííûå ïðàâèòåëüñòâàìè, íå ïðèâåëè ê êîíêðåòíîé äåÿòåëüíîñòè, çà èñêëþ÷åíèåì ñëó÷àåâ, êîãäà ÍÏÎ, ðàáîòàþùèå ñîâìåñòíî ñ êîìèòåòàìè, âûïîëíÿëè ðàáîòó ïî îáðàçîâàíèþ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà ïî ñîáñòâåííîé èíèöèàòèâå.  òî æå âðåìÿ, ñåé÷àñ ïîÿâèëèñü íîâûå ïëàòôîðìû äëÿ ñîäåéñòâèÿ HRE â íåêîòîðûõ ñòðàíàõ, è HRE ïðîäîëæàåò ñóùåñòâîâàòü íà ñòàäèè çàðîæäåíèÿ. Îáðàçîâàíèå â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà ïðîäâèãàåòñÿ â ðàìêàõ îáðàçîâàòåëüíîãî ñåêòîðà, êîãäà îíî ñâÿçàíî ñ òàêèìè àêòóàëüíûìè âîïðîñàìè, ñòîÿùèìè íà ïîâåñòêå äíÿ, êàê ðàñèçì. Óæå âûñêàçûâàëîñü ìíîãî ðåêîìåíäàöèé îòíîñèòåëüíî áóäóùèõ äåéñòâèé, êîòîðûå ìîãóò ïðåäïðèíèìàòü íàöèîíàëüíûå ïðàâèòåëüñòâà, ÍÏÎ è ãðàæäàíñêîå îáùåñòâî, à òàêæå Âåðõîâíûé êîìèññàð ÎÎÍ ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà, äëÿ òîãî, ÷òîáû âîïðîñàì îáðàçîâàíèÿ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà óäåëÿëîñü äîëæíîå âíèìàíèå âî âñåõ ñòðàíàõ. Áîëüøèíñòâî òàêèõ ðåêîìåíäàöèé íàïðÿìóþ çàâèñÿò îò íàëè÷èÿ ïîëèòè÷åñêîé âîëè è ðåñóðñîâ. ÑÔÅÐÛ,  ÊÎÒÎÐÛÕ ÍÀÁËÞÄÀÞÒÑß ÄÎÑÒÈÆÅÍÈß, ÁËÀÃÎÄÀÐß ÎÁÚßÂËÅÍÍÎÌÓ ÎÎÍ ÄÅÑßÒÈËÅÒÈÞ HRE Ñòðóêòóðíàÿ/ïîëèòè÷åñêàÿ ñôåðà: Äëÿ ñîäåéñòâèÿ ðàçâèòèþ HRE â íàöèîíàëüíîì ìàñøòàáå áûëè ñîçäàíû íàöèîíàëüíûå êîìèòåòû ïî îáðàçîâàíèþ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà (íàïðèìåð, â Àâñòðàëèè) è ïëàòôîðìû ïî îáðàçîâàíèþ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà (Ãîëëàíäèÿ). Ýòî îáû÷íî êîàëèöèè (êîîðäèíàöèîííûå ñîâåòû) ñ ó÷àñòèåì ÍÏÎ è ãîñóäàðñòâåííûõ îðãàíîâ.  Àâñòðàëèè áûëà ñîçäàíà íàöèîíàëüíàÿ ñåòü àññîöèàöèé HRE íà óðîâíå ïðîâèíöèé.  Ãåðìàíèè îáðàçîâàíèå â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà, êîòîðîå äîëæíî ââîäèòüñÿ íà ìåæäèñöèïëèíàðíîé îñíîâå, áûëî îïðåäåëåíî êàê îäíà èç ãëàâíûõ çàäà÷ îáðàçîâàíèÿ âî âñåõ ôåäåðàëüíûõ çåìëÿõ.  áîëüøèíñòâå ó÷åáíèêîâ ïî îáùåîáðàçîâàòåëüíûì ïðåäìåòàì è ïî èñòîðèè èìåþòñÿ ðàçäåëû ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà.  íàñòîÿùåå âðåìÿ ïðàâà ÷åëîâåêà âêëþ÷åíû êàê îòäåëüíàÿ òåìà â ó÷åáíóþ ïðîãðàììó äëÿ ó÷àùèõñÿ â âîçðàñòå îò 12 äî 18 ëåò íà óðîâíå øòàòà (ñóá-íàöèîíàëüíûé óðîâåíü) â Êàëèôîðíèè (ÑØÀ).  Àâñòðàëèè ðàçâèòèþ ïàðòíåðñêèõ îòíîøåíèé ìåæäó ÍÏÎ è ïðàâèòåëüñòâîì ñïîñîáñòâîâàëà ñïîíñèðóåìàÿ ÍÏÎ ãðóïïà «Programs and Policy Reference Group», êîòîðàÿ îáúåäèíèëà ïðåäñòàâèòåëåé íåïðàâèòåëüñòâåííîãî ñåêòîðà è ïðàâèòåëüñòâåííûõ îðãàíîâ äëÿ îáñóæäåíèÿ âîïðîñîâ, ñâÿçàííûõ ñ îáðàçîâàíèåì â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà.  Ãåðìàíèè è Øâåéöàðèè îáðàçîâàíèå â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà áûëî ñâÿçàíî ñ ìåñòíûìè è íàöèîíàëüíûìè óñèëèÿìè, íàïðàâëåííûìè íà áîðüáó ñ ðàñèçìîì, êñåíîôîáèåé, àíòèñåìèòèçìîì è ýêñòðåìèçìîì. Äåÿòåëüíîñòü HRE â Ãåðìàíèè òàêæå áûëà ñâÿçàíà ñ ðàáîòîé íåäàâíî ñîçäàííûõ îðãàíèçàöèé Ãåðìàíñêîãî èíñòèòóòà ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà, îðãàíèçàöèè «Íþðíáåðã ãîðîä ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà» è Ñîâåòà ÞÍÅÑÊÎ ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà. Äåÿòåëüíîñòü: ÍÏÎ è ïðàâèòåëüñòâà âûñòóïàëè îðãàíèçàòîðàìè êàìïàíèé ïî ïîâûøåíèþ îáùåñòâåííîé àêòèâíîñòè â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà (íàïðèìåð, â Ãåðìàíèè).  Àâñòðàëèè áûëà îðãàíèçîâàíà íàöèîíàëüíàÿ êîíôåðåíöèÿ ïî îáðàçîâàíèþ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà, à â Ãîëëàíäèè íàöèîíàëüíàÿ «Ïëàòôîðìà» ïðèâåëà ê ðàçðàáîòêå ïîëèòè÷åñêèõ äîêóìåíòîâ, ê ñîçäàíèþ èíôîðìàöèîííîãî âåá-ñàéòà è ê àêòèâíîìó îáìåíó èäåÿìè è èíèöèàòèâàìè.  Àâñòðàëèè ïàðëàìåíòñêèé Ïîäêîìèòåò ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà çàèíòåðåñîâàëñÿ âîïðîñàìè îáðàçîâàíèÿ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà è îáðàòèëñÿ ê ïðåïîäàâàòåëÿì â ýòîé îáëàñòè çà ðåêîìåíäàöèÿìè è êîíñóëüòàöèÿìè. Âî ìíîãèõ ñòðàíàõ áûëè îðãàíèçîâàíû ìåñòíûå òðåíèíãè äëÿ ïðåïîäàâàòåëåé è ïðåäñòàâèòåëåé ïðàâîîõðàíèòåëüíûõ îðãàíîâ ïî âîïðîñàì îáðàçîâàíèÿ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà. ÃÐÀÍÈÖÛ ÄÅßÒÅËÜÍÎÑÒÈ Ñóùåñòâóåò ñîîáùåñòâî, çàíèìàþùååñÿ îáðàçîâàíèåì â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà, íî îíî íå ñìîãëî ñòàòü îäíèì èç êëþ÷åâûõ èíñòèòóòîâ â ñôåðå îáðàçîâàíèÿ (Àâñòðàëèÿ) èëè íå äîáèëîñü òîãî, ÷òîáû îáðàçîâàíèå â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà áûëî îäíîçíà÷íî âêëþ÷åíî â íàöèîíàëüíóþ ïðîãðàììó îáó÷åíèÿ (Ãîëëàíäèÿ). HRE îñòàåòñÿ âíåïðîãðàììíîé äåÿòåëüíîñòüþ â øêîëàõ, çàâèñÿùåé îò ëè÷íîé ïðèâåðæåííîñòè ó÷èòåëåé è àäìèíèñòðàöèè øêîë è îò àêòèâíîé ðàáîòû ÍÏÎ (Ãîëëàíäèÿ).  Ãåðìàíèè ïðîäîëæàþùàÿñÿ áîðüáà ñ ðàñèçìîì â áîëüøåé ñòåïåíè, ÷åì Äåñÿòèëåòèå îáðàçîâàíèÿ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà, ñòàëà äâèæóùåé ñèëîé äåÿòåëüíîñòè â ñôåðå HRE. Íåäîñòàòîê ôèíàíñèðîâàíèÿ îãðàíè÷èâàåò âîçìîæíîñòè îñóùåñòâëåíèÿ äåÿòåëüíîñòè HRE (Ãîëëàíäèÿ, Øâåéöàðèÿ), è ïðèâîäèò ê òîìó, ÷òî äåÿòåëüíîñòü HRE íà íàöèîíàëüíîì óðîâíå íå íîñèò ñèñòåìàòè÷åñêîãî è âñåîáúåìëþùåãî õàðàêòåðà. Íàáëþäàåòñÿ íåäîñòàòîê êîëëåêòèâíîãî âèäåíèÿ è ïëàíèðîâàíèÿ (Àâñòðàëèÿ). ÐÅÊÎÌÅÍÄÀÖÈÈ Â ÎÒÍÎØÅÍÈÈ ÁÓÄÓÙÅÉ ÄÅßÒÅËÜÍÎÑÒÈ ÄËß ÑÎÄÅÉÑÒÂÈß HRE ÍÀ ÍÀÖÈÎÍÀËÜÍÎÌ ÓÐÎÂÍÅ ÍÏÎ: Ãëàâíûìè ïðåïÿòñòâèÿìè ÿâëÿþòñÿ ôèíàíñîâûå ïðîáëåìû. Íàöèîíàëüíûå ïðàâèòåëüñòâà: Ïðàâèòåëüñòâà ìîãóò îðãàíèçîâûâàòü êðóãëûå ñòîëû íà íàöèîíàëüíîì óðîâíå ñ ó÷àñòèåì ïðåäñòàâèòåëåé ðàçëè÷íûõ óðîâíåé ãîñóäàðñòâåííûõ ñòðóêòóð è ÍÏÎ äëÿ òîãî, ÷òîáû ïðèáëèçèòü HRE ê îáðàçîâàòåëüíîé äåÿòåëüíîñòè. Ïðàâèòåëüñòâî äîëæíî îêàçûâàòü ïîääåðæêó HRE âî âñåõ àñïåêòàõ (ñòèìóëèðîâàíèå, ó÷àñòèå, ôèíàíñèðîâàíèå, êîììóíèêàöèè, ðàñïðîñòðàíåíèå, ðåàëèçàöèÿ). Âûñøèå ó÷åáíûå çàâåäåíèÿ ìîãóò ïðåäëàãàòü ñïåöèàëüíûå êóðñû ïî HRE â øêîëàõ. Åùå îäíà ðåêîìåíäàöèÿ çàêëþ÷àëàñü â òîì, ÷òîáû ïðàâèòåëüñòâà, ñîâìåñòíî ñ ÍÏÎ, îðãàíèçîâûâàëè íàöèîíàëüíûå êàìïàíèè ïî ðàçúÿñíåíèþ âîïðîñîâ, ñâÿçàííûõ ñ ïðàâàìè ÷åëîâåêà, ñòóäåíòàì. Áûëî áû âàæíî îáðàòèòü âíèìàíèå ñòóäåíòîâ íà ïðÿìîå èñïîëüçîâàíèå ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà, è íå òîëüêî â ðàçâèâàþùèõñÿ ñòðàíàõ èëè ñòðàíàõ, â êîòîðûõ ñóùåñòâóþò êîíôëèêòû. Îðãàíèçàöèÿ Îáúåäèíåííûõ Íàöèé: Îôèñ Âåðõîâíîãî êîìèññàðà ÎÎÍ ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà èãðàåò è äîëæåí ïðîäîëæàòü èãðàòü ðîëü «êàòàëèçàòîðà» â äåëå ðàçâèòèÿ HRE. Íàïðèìåð, ïî äàííûì ïðîâåäåííîãî ïðîìåæóòî÷íîãî èññëåäîâàíèÿ, îáðàçîâàíèå â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà íàõîäèòñÿ â ñàìîì íà÷àëå ñâîåãî ðàçâèòèÿ è òðåáóåò ñîòðóäíè÷åñòâà ìåæäó ïðàâèòåëüñòâàìè è ãðàæäàíñêèì îáùåñòâîì. ÎÎÍ äîëæíà îêàçûâàòü ïîìîùü, «äàâàÿ áîëåå ÷åòêîå îïðåäåëåíèå óðîâíþ âêëàäà, êîòîðûé íåîáõîäèì ñî ñòîðîíû ïðàâèòåëüñòâ, ÷òîáû íàáëþäàëñÿ ïðîãðåññ â äåëå äîñòèæåíèÿ öåëè Äåñÿòèëåòèÿ ÎÎÍ». Ïðèìåðîì òàêîé ïîìîùè ìîæåò ñëóæèòü ïîäðîáíàÿ èíôîðìàöèÿ î òîì, ÷òî ñëåäîâàëî áû âêëþ÷èòü â íàöèîíàëüíûé ïëàí äåéñòâèé â ñôåðå HRE. Áûëà âûñêàçàíà ðåêîìåíäàöèÿ î òîì, ÷òî Îôèñó Âåðõîâíîãî êîìèññàðà ÎÎÍ ñëåäóåò ðàáîòàòü íåïîñðåäñòâåííî ñ ìèíèñòåðñòâàìè îáðàçîâàíèÿ, êàê ýòî áûëî ñäåëàíî â Êèòàå, ÷òîáû ñïîñîáñòâîâàòü èíòåãðàöèè îáðàçîâàíèÿ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà â øêîëüíûå ñèñòåìû. ÎÎÍ ìîæåò îáúåäèíÿòü äåÿòåëüíîñòü â ñôåðå HRE ñ óñèëèÿìè ïî áîðüáå ñ ðàñèçìîì, êñåíîôîáèåé è àíòèñåìèòèçìîì, â ðàìêàõ äåéñòâèé, íàïðàâëåííûõ íà äîñòèæåíèå ðàâåíñòâà è ñïðàâåäëèâîñòè. Ïðàâà ÷åëîâåêà âàæíû è äëÿ áîãàòûõ ñòðàí. Îáðàçîâàíèå â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà äîëæíî ïðèçíàâàòüñÿ êàê ÷àñòü ïðîöåññîâ ïåðåõîäà ê äåìîêðàòè÷åñêèì ôîðìàì ïðàâëåíèÿ. È, íàêîíåö, Îôèñ Âåðõîâíîãî êîìèññàðà ÎÎÍ ìîæåò ñïîñîáñòâîâàòü òîìó, ÷òîáû ïðàâèòåëüñòâà âêëþ÷àëè îáðàçîâàíèå â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà â êà÷åñòâå êîìïîíåíòà â ñâîè íàöèîíàëüíûå ïëàíû ïî çàùèòå ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà. ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:19:40 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033JeA33139 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:19:40 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030319.h033JeA33139@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 10:09:43 -1000 From: George Kent To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org HRE Friends -- I would like to offer a few observations on the December 3 email from the moderators ("Follow-up to the Decade at the international level"), together with their draft summary of December 5. In these discussions, there is considerable emphasis on what the international agencies might do. Given the meager resources available to OHCHR and other agencies for human rights work, they really look to the NGOs for support and to extend their reach. They would rather hear more about what we could do for them. NGOs are doing great work on human rights education, but we need to think about how that work can be strengthened. One major issue, of course, is funding. Can we find new and better ways to fund the work? How can the support level be raised to a higher level, and how can it be made more systematic? One approach would be to seek more grants. Another approach might be to think about what we can offer on a fee-for-service basis, such as teaching, or perhaps working with "clients" in addressing their particular human rights issues. In this context, I would like to see serious discussion of when and how business enterprises should, or should not, be viewed as potential funding resources. The ethical dilemmas are very serious. However, I think that when we "just say no", we evade, rather than address, those dilemmas. We might contemplate partnerships with business enterprises for purposes beyond just reaching into their deep pockets. To illustrate, I think human rights work should be closely allied with anti-corruption work. Many progressive businesses see it as being in their own interest to fight corruption, and many might see that they need partners for that work. (This interest on the part of businesses is clearly demonstrated in their support for the NGO, Transparency International.) In other words, we should approach businesses not only to ask what they could do for us, but also to ask what we could do for them. Also, we could do more with the meager resources that are now available for HRE. For example, we could do more networking, for more sharing of ideas and teaching/learning materials and techniques. Perhaps we could do more with web sites for sharing information. Would it make sense to move toward professionalizing human rights educators, with organizations, annual meetings, journals, and all that stuff? Sometimes recognition can be as important as material resources for keeping human rights educators going. In fall 2003 I plan to once again offer my on-line course on the human right to adequate food. It will be available to anyone in the world with good access to the Internet, and about $500 for registration. I am exploring the possibility of operating the course together with people (anywhere) who would like to have partners in addressing the human right to adequate food in their locations. This would not be a client-consultant relationship, but rather a mutual learning situation, with everyone involved having much to teach and much to learn. If this approach to joint problem solving could also be developed by others who are teaching courses, we could expand our reach considerably. I am intrigued by the moderators' question: "Should the function of monitoring governments' compliance with HRE commitments made at the international level be a main task of the United Nations (such as OHCHR or UNESCO) and other international organisations?" Of course it should. But I think this is one of those cases in which the agencies will follow, not lead. NGOs could take the initiative on this, based on the clearly articulated obligation of states to provide human rights education. (See Gudmundur Alfredsson, "The Right to Human Rights Education", in Asbjorn Eide, Catarina Krause, and Allan Rosas, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Second Edition, Martinus Nijhoff, 2001.) The basic premise is that if people don't know their rights, they really don't have effective rights. The kind of exercise we are doing now to review the HRE situation in different regions could, in future iterations, be turned into a formal report to OHCHR. Then OHCHR would have something concrete to act on, in the treaty bodies and in other contexts. This work could also include systematic elaboration of the obligations, and reports on "best practices". Did you see the recent news articles about the study done by geographers that showed how little people knew about where different countries, including their own, are located on the map? One interesting way to demonstrate the need for HRE would be to survey ordinary people about what they currently know about their rights. A properly functioning human rights system requires not only that people know their rights, but also that the duty bearers know their obligations. Some of you may know about the systematic studies carried out by South Africa's Human Rights Commission to assess the knowledge of the people in the relevant ministries about their obligations. They knew very little. Clearly, South Africa's rights system was not working properly. To what extent have HRE people taken up the task of providing HRE for government people, as duty bearers, as distinguished from private citizens as rights holders? Perhaps HRE for government people should be done more systematically. What would it take to get governments to actually seek it out and pay for such services? We have to get governments to see that they have definite obligations under national and international law, and we can help them to understand those obligations better. I'd welcome your reactions to these random thoughts. Aloha, George ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ George Kent Professor Department of Political Science University of Hawai'i Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822 U.S.A. Cell: 1 (808) 389-9422 Fax: 1 (808) 956-6877 Email: kent@hawaii.edu Website: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kent ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:20:47 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033KlC33420 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:20:47 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030320.h033KlC33420@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2002 20:23:36 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Década para EDH: Recomendaciones de actividades, tanto a nivel local como nacional (Resumen) Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org [***Moderators' note: Below you will find a Spanish translation of the draft summary of the follow-up to the HRE Decade at the local and national levels. Many thanks to Gerardo Sanchez of IIDH for correcting a preliminary version of the translation. A Russian version of this summary was posted earlier today. For the English version, please see: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/msg01061.html ***] Estimados miembros, Más abajo encontrarán el resumen de las recomendaciones de actividades, tanto a nivel local como nacional, como parte del seguimiento a la Década para la Educación en Derechos Humanos (EDH). Los instamos a que lo lean para que nos hagan llegar cualquier sugerencia de acuerdo a sus experiencias. Estas notas serán incluidas en el informe final para la Oficina del Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos. ----------------- SEGUIMIENTO DE LA DÉCADA PARA LA EDH A NIVEL LOCAL Y NACIONAL Los participantes resumieron los logros alcanzados y los obstículos enfrentados al promover la EDH a lo largo de la Década. Sus comentarios sugieren que es difícil mantener el compromiso y el interés de aquellos cuya misión no está directamente relacionada con la educación en derechos humanos, cuando esta área no está sancionada o asumida por canales formales de educación o de derechos humanos o cuando no se cuenta con fondos para su implementación. Tal parece ser la situación tanto a nivel gubernamental como no gubernamental. Aunque no en todos, en muchos casos las estructuras temporales de EDH establecidas por los gobiernos no han dado como resultado una amplia gama de actividades concretas, salvo cuando ONG´s, en conjunto con los comités, han llevado adelante la educación en derechos humanos por iniciativa propia. Al mismo tiempo, hay ahora nuevas plataformas para promover la EDH en algunos países, y ésta continúa en una etapa embrionaria. La EDH ha logrado avanzar dentro del ámbito de la educación cuando se ha asociado con asuntos urgentes como el racismo. Se hicieron muchas recomendaciones que podrían ser tomadas por gobiernos nacionales, ONG's y la sociedad civil, y el Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Derechos Humanos para la agenda de la EDH en ditintos países. La mayor parte de las mismas requieren de una mezcla de voluntad política y recursos. AVANCES, INSPIRADOS POR LA DÉCADA PARA EDH Estructura y Políticas Se establecieron Comités Nacionales de Educación en Derechos Humanos (e.g. Australia) y Plataformas de Educación en Derechos Humanos (Países Bajos) para promover la EDH a nivel nacional. Éstos son generalmente coaliciones o cuerpos de coordinación formados por ONG's y agencias de gobierno. En Australia se creó una red nacional de asociaciones 'provinciales' de EDH. En Alemania se definio a la EDH como un objetivo educativo supremo en todos los estados federales, que sería introducida a través del todo el plan de estudios. Ahí, los derechos humanos se tratan en la mayoría de los libros de texto sobre cívica e historia. Los derechos humanos se incluyen ahora como un tema del programa curricular estatal (subnacional) para estudiantes de 12 a 18 años en California (EE UU). En Australia, la asociación entre ONG´s y el gobierno fue fomentada por medio del "Grupo de Referencia de Programas y Política" patrocinados por ONG´s, el cual reúne a agencias gubernamentales y no gubernamentales para asuntos de educación en derechos humanos. En Alemania y Suiza, la EDH fue ligada a esfuerzos locales y nacionales para luchar contra el racismo, la xenofobia, el antisemitismo y la extrema derecha. En Alemania esos esfuerzos han estado ligados a instituciones recientemente establecidas -- el Instituto Alemán para los Derechos Humanos, Ciudad de Derechos Humanos - Nuremberg, y la Cátedra UNESCO de Derechos Humanos. Actividades Los ONG's y el gobierno han organizado campañas de concienciación sobre asuntos de derechos humanos (e.g. Alemania). En Australia, se organizó una conferencia nacional de EDH y en los Países Bajos la "Plataforma" nacional dio lugar al desarrollo de documentos de política, a la creación de un sitio electrónico informativo y al intercambio de iniciativas. El Subcomité Parlamentario de los Derechos Humanos de Australia se interesó en la educación en derechos humanos y pidió asesoría a los educadores en los derechos humanos. En varios países se organizaron capacitaciones locales en EDH para profesores y oficiales de la ley. LIMITACIONES Hay una comunidad de la educación en derechos humanos, pero no ha logrado entrar dentro de instituciones clave del sector de la educación (Australia) o incluir a la educación en derechos humanos dentro de los planes nacionales de estudio (Países Bajos). La EDH sigue siendo una actividad extracurricular en las escuelas que depende del compromiso personal de profesores y administradores de escuelas y del trabajo duro de las ONG's (Países Bajos). En Alemania, el motor para las actividades desarrolladas de EDH ha sido la lucha contra el racismo, más que la celebración de la Decada para la EDH. La falta de fondos limita el número de actividades de EDH que pueden ser realizadas (Países Bajos, Suiza) lo que significa que las actividades de EDH no se realizan a nivel nacional de forma sistemática y global. Hay falta de planeación y visión colectiva (Australia). RECOMENDACIONES DE ACTIVIDADES PARA PROMOVER LA EDH A NIVEL NACIONAL ONG's Las barreras principales son de tipo financiero. Gobiernos nacionales Los gobiernos pueden organizar mesas redondas a nivel nacional con la presencia de representantes de gobierno y de ONG's llevar la EDH al centro del ámbito de la educación. El gobierno debe apoyar a la EDH en todos los aspectos (estímulo, compromiso, fondos, comunicación, difusión, implementación). Las instituciones de educación superior pueden ofrecer cursos de EDH en las escuelas. Otra recomendación es que los gobiernos, conjuntamente con las ONG's, organicen una campaña nacional sobre el significado de los derechos humanos para los estudiantes. Sería en importante centrarse en el uso directo de los derechos humanos para los estudiantes y no solamente para países en vías de desarrollo o países en una situación del conflicto. Naciones Unidas La Oficina del Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos ha jugado, y continuará jugando, un papel catalizador en el avance de la EDH. La evaluación a la mitad de la Década para EDH, por ejemplo, mostró que la educación en derechos humanos estaba en sus comienzos y requería de cooperación entre los gobiernos y la sociedad civil. La O.N.U debe apoyar "dando una definición más clara del grado de ayuda que deben ofrecer los gobiernos para acercarse a la meta de la Década de las Naciones Unidas." Por ejemplo, detallando qué se puede incluir en un plan de acción nacional para la EDH. Se recomendó que la Oficina del Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos trabajase directamente con los Ministerios de Educación, como hizo en China, promoviendo la educación en derechos humanos en los sistemas escolares. El O.N.U. podría tratar de ligar la EDH a otros esfuerzos, como los que se hacen para combatir racismo, la xenofobia y el antisemitismo, bajo un marco de igualdad y justicia. Los derechos humanos también son importantes para los países de gran riqueza. Se debe reconocer a la educación en derechos humanos como parte de los procesos que llevan hacia formas democráticas de gobierno. Finalmente, la Oficina del Alto Comisionado para los Derechos Humanos podría instar a los gobiernos a incluir un componente de educación en derechos humanos en sus planes nacionales de derechos humanos. ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:21:43 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033Lh933538 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:21:43 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030321.h033Lh933538@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Sat, 7 Dec 2002 14:17:48 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Äîïîëíèòåëüíûå äàííûå î ðåçóëüòàòàõ äåñÿòèëåòíåé äåÿòåëüíîñòè íà ðåãèîíàëüíîì óðîâíå (ïðîåêò èíôîðìàöèîííîãî äîêëàäà) Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org [***Moderators' note: Below you will find a Russian translation of the draft summary of the follow-up to the HRE Decade at the regional level. A Spanish translation will be posted shortly. For the English summary, please see: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/msg01072.html ***] Óâàæàåìûå ó÷àñòíèêè! Íèæå ïðèâîäèòñÿ ïðîåêò èíôîðìàöèîííîãî äîêëàäà î ðåêîìåíäàöèÿõ îòíîñèòåëüíî áóäóùåé ðàáîòû íà ñóáðåãèîíàëüíîì (íàïðèìåð, Þãî-Âîñòî÷íàÿ Àçèÿ) è ðåãèîíàëüíîì (íàïðèìåð, Ëàòèíñêàÿ Àìåðèêà) óðîâíÿõ, ñ ó÷åòîì ðåçóëüòàòîâ äåñÿòèëåòíåé äåÿòåëüíîñòè â ñôåðå îáðàçîâàíèÿ ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà (Human Rights Education HRE). Ìû òàêæå âêëþ÷èëè îòäåëüíûå ðåêîìåíäàöèè îòíîñèòåëüíî áóäóùåé ðàáîòû íà íàöèîíàëüíîì è ìåñòíîì óðîâíÿõ, êîòîðûå áûëè ïðåäñòàâëåíû íà ïðîøëîé íåäåëå. Ìû ïðîñèì âàñ îçíàêîìèòüñÿ ñ ýòèìè ìàòåðèàëàìè è ïðåäëîæèòü ñâîè êîììåíòàðèè êàê ìîæíî ñêîðåå, òàê êàê Ôîðóì çàâåðøàåò ðàáîòó â ïÿòíèöó 13 äåêàáðÿ. --------------------------------------------- ÄÎÏÎËÍÈÒÅËÜÍÛÅ ÄÀÍÍÛÅ Î ÐÅÇÓËÜÒÀÒÀÕ ÄÅÑßÒÈËÅÒÍÅÉ ÄÅßÒÅËÜÍÎÑÒÈ ÍÀ ÑÓÁÐÅÃÈÎÍÀËÜÍÎÌ È ÐÅÃÈÎÍÀËÜÍÎÌ ÓÐÎÂÍÅ Â ÑÔÅÐÅ ÎÁÐÀÇÎÂÀÍÈß ÏÎ ÏÐÀÂÀÌ ×ÅËÎÂÅÊÀ Ó÷àñòíèêè ïîäïèñêè âûñêàçûâàëè ñâîè êîììåíòàðèè îòíîñèòåëüíî ñòðàòåãèé è ïîòðåáíîñòåé â ñòðàíàõ Ëàòèíñêîé Àìåðèêè/Àìåðèêè, Àðàáñêîãî ðåãèîíà è Þãî-Âîñòî÷íîé Àçèè. Ýòè ñòðàòåãèè áûëè ñâÿçàíû ñî ñòàòóñîì HRE íà íàöèîíàëüíîì óðîâíå â ñîîòâåòñòâóþùèõ ðåãèîíàõ. Íà íàöèîíàëüíîì óðîâíå HRE èìååò ñèëüíîå ïîëîæåíèå â Ëàòèíñêîé Àìåðèêå, ãäå îíî îñóùåñòâëÿåòñÿ ñ 1980-õ ãã. Òàì ñóùåñòâóþò àêòèâíî ðàáîòàþùèå ñåòè äëÿ ëèö, çàíèìàþùèõñÿ âîïðîñàìè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà è îáðàçîâàíèÿ â ýòîé îáëàñòè. Òàêèå ñåòè è äåÿòåëüíîñòü, â îñíîâíîì, ñóùåñòâóþò è ïðîâîäÿòñÿ â íåãîñóäàðñòâåííîì ñåêòîðå.  ïðîòèâîïîëîæíîñòü, ó÷àñòíèê èç Þãî-Âîñòî÷íîé Àçèè âûñêàçàë ìíåíèå, ÷òî â ýòîì ðåãèîíå äåÿòåëüíîñòü HRE î÷åíü ñëàáàÿ, çà èñêëþ÷åíèåì ðàáîòû, êîòîðàÿ ïðîâîäèòñÿ íà Ôèëèïïèíàõ è â Òàèëàíäå. Ó÷àñòíèêè ïîäïèñêè ïðèçíàëè, ÷òî HRE â èõ ðåãèîíàõ ñòàëêèâàåòñÿ ñ îñîáûìè òðóäíîñòÿìè, íî, â òî æå âðåìÿ, äëÿ ðàçâèòèÿ HRE èìåþòñÿ è îñîáûå âîçìîæíîñòè. Íà îñíîâå ñâîèõ íàáëþäåíèé îíè ïðåäëîæèëè ðàçëè÷íûå âàðèàíòû ðåøåíèé äëÿ óêðåïëåíèÿ ïîçèöèè HRE. Ðåãèîíàëüíóþ äåÿòåëüíîñòü HRE â ñòðàíàõ Ëàòèíñêîé Àìåðèêè ìîæíî óêðåïèòü, óñòàíàâëèâàÿ áîëåå òåñíûå ñâÿçè ìåæäó ëàòèíîàìåðèêàíñêèìè ñåòÿìè è ïîäîáíûìè ìåæäóíàðîäíûìè (ñåâåðîàìåðèêàíñêèìè) ñåòÿìè òàêîå ðåøåíèå ìîæåò áûòü ñâÿçàíî ñ íåîáõîäèìîñòüþ ïðåîäîëåíèÿ ÿçûêîâîãî áàðüåðà. Òàêæå âûñêàçûâàëîñü ïðåäëîæåíèå î òîì, ÷òî ïðàâèòåëüñòâàì ñëåäóåò áîëåå àêòèâíî ïîääåðæèâàòü HRE, âêëþ÷àÿ åãî â öåíòðàëèçîâàííóþ ïðîãðàììó îáó÷åíèÿ. È, íàêîíåö, óïîìèíàëèñü ñòðóêòóðíûå ïðîáëåìû âêëþ÷àÿ áåäíîñòü, íåðàâåíñòâî è íåñïðàâåäëèâîñòü êîòîðûå ÿâëÿþòñÿ ïðåâàëèðóþùèìè óñëîâèÿìè, õàðàêòåðèçóþùèìè ïîâñåäíåâíóþ ðàáîòó. Îäèí ó÷àñòíèê îòìå÷àë îòñóòñòâèå «ñòðóêòóðíîé» ãîñóäàðñòâåííîé ïîääåðæêè HRE êàê ñî ñòîðîíû íàöèîíàëüíûõ, òàê è ìåæäóíàðîäíûõ îðãàíîâ â àðàáñêîì ìèðå. Ñòðàòåãèÿ, ïðèíÿòàÿ åãî ðåãèîíàëüíîé ãðóïïîé HRE, áûëà ïî ñâîåé ïðèðîäå êóëüòóðíîé: ïðîäåìîíñòðèðîâàòü, êàê àðàáñêàÿ êóëüòóðà ñîîòíîñèòñÿ ñ ïðèíöèïàìè è öåííîñòÿìè â ñôåðå çàùèòû ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà. «Âñå êóëüòóðû, âêëþ÷àÿ êóëüòóðû çàïàäíûõ ñòðàí, äîëæíû ïðèëîæèòü ìàêñèìóì óñèëèé äëÿ òîãî, ÷òîáû óðåãóëèðîâàòü ñâîè âíóòðåííèå ïðîòèâîðå÷èÿ, è ïðèâåñòè ñâîè êóëüòóðû â ñîîòâåòñòâèå ñ óíèâåðñàëüíûìè öåííîñòÿìè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà». Áûëè îðãàíèçîâàíû êîíôåðåíöèè íà ðåãèîíàëüíîì óðîâíå, ÷òîáû ïîìî÷ü ïðåäñòàâèòåëÿì àðàáñêèõ ñòðàí ðàçðàáîòàòü îáùåå ïîíèìàíèå ïðîáëåì, ðåçóëüòàòîì ýòîé äåÿòåëüíîñòè ñòàëà Êàèðñêàÿ äåêëàðàöèÿ î ïðàâàõ ÷åëîâåêà â èñëàìå, â êîòîðîé îñîáîå âíèìàíèå óäåëÿëîñü îáðàçîâàíèþ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà è ðàñïðîñòðàíåíèþ ïðèíöèïîâ ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà. Äðóãèìè ñòðàòåãèÿìè, ïðåäëîæåííûìè äëÿ ñîêðàùåíèÿ êóëüòóðíûõ áàðüåðîâ â ñèñòåìå öåííîñòåé ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà â àðàáñêîì ðåãèîíå, ÿâëÿþòñÿ ñëåäóþùèå: (i) ïðèçíàíèå òîãî ôàêòà, ÷òî HRE ÿâëÿåòñÿ æèçíåííî âàæíûì àñïåêòîì ïðè ïðîâåäåíèè ïîëèòè÷åñêèõ è êîíñòèòóöèîííûõ ðåôîðì; (ii) ðàçðàáîòêà íîâàòîðñêèõ è ïðèâëåêàòåëüíûõ ïîäõîäîâ ê âîïðîñàì HRE âêëþ÷àÿ èñïîëüçîâàíèå ïðîèçâåäåíèé èñêóññòâà, òåàòðà è ãóìàíèòàðíóþ äåÿòåëüíîñòü äëÿ âîçäåéñòâèÿ íà ÷åëîâå÷åñêîå ñàìîñîçíàíèå è äëÿ âêëþ÷åíèÿ HRE â ïîâñåäíåâíóþ æèçíü; (iii) ïîèñê îáùèõ òî÷åê ñîïðèêîñíîâåíèÿ ìåæäó öåííîñòÿìè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà è àðàáñêèìè êóëüòóðíûìè è ðåëèãèîçíûìè òðàäèöèÿìè. Äëÿ ðåàëèçàöèè ïîñëåäíåãî ïóíêòà íåîáõîäèìî ó÷àñòèå è ðóêîâîäñòâî ïðåäñòàâèòåëåé èíòåëëåêòóàëüíîé ýëèòû è ðåëèãèîçíûõ äåÿòåëåé. Âûñêàçûâàëàñü ðåêîìåíäàöèÿ îòíîñèòåëüíî òîãî, ÷òî â ñòðàíàõ Þãî-Âîñòî÷íîé Àçèè ïðåäñòàâèòåëÿì ãðàæäàíñêîãî îáùåñòâà óæå àêòèâíî äåéñòâóþùèì èëè ïîòåíöèàëüíî àêòèâíûì â ñôåðå HRE ñëåäóåò îáðàçîâûâàòü ñòðàòåãè÷åñêèå êîàëèöèè è ñîþçû äëÿ ñîäåéñòâèÿ HRE ñ èñïîëüçîâàíèåì êàê ôîðìàëüíûõ, òàê è íåôîðìàëüíûõ ïîäõîäîâ ê îáðàçîâàíèþ. " íàøèõ êóëüòóðàõ íàñ ó÷àò öåíèòü ñîòðóäíè÷åñòâî" ýòî ñëîâà ó÷àñòíèêà èç Þãî-Âîñòî÷íîé Àçèè. Ê óïîìèíàâøèìñÿ îðãàíèçàöèÿì ãðàæäàíñêîãî îáùåñòâà îòíîñÿòñÿ íå òîëüêî ÍÏÎ, íî òàêæå íàðîäíûå îðãàíèçàöèè, èíòåëëåêòóàëüíûå êðóãè, ðåëèãèîçíûå ñîîáùåñòâà, ïðåäñòàâèòåëè ñðåäñòâ ìàññîâîé èíôîðìàöèè è áèçíåñà. ***************** ÄÎÏÎËÍÈÒÅËÜÍÛÅ ÄÀÍÍÛÅ Î ÐÅÇÓËÜÒÀÒÀÕ ÄÅÑßÒÈËÅÒÍÅÉ ÄÅßÒÅËÜÍÎÑÒÈ ÍÀ ÌÅÑÒÍÎÌ È ÍÀÖÈÎÍÀËÜÍÎÌ ÓÐÎÂÍÅ Â ÑÔÅÐÅ ÎÁÐÀÇÎÂÀÍÈß ÏÎ ÏÐÀÂÀÌ ×ÅËÎÂÅÊÀ ÄÎÏÎËÍÅÍÈÅ ÑÔÅÐÛ,  ÊÎÒÎÐÛÕ ÍÀÁËÞÄÀÞÒÑß ÄÎÑÒÈÆÅÍÈß, ÁËÀÃÎÄÀÐß ÎÁÚßÂËÅÍÍÎÌÓ ÎÎÍ ÄÅÑßÒÈËÅÒÈÞ HRE Ñòðóêòóðíàÿ/ïîëèòè÷åñêàÿ ñôåðà:  Ïàíàìå áûëà ñîçäàíà íàöèîíàëüíàÿ ñåòü ïðåïîäàâàòåëåé â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà â ðàìêàõ ñîãëàøåíèÿ ìåæäó Ìèíèñòåðñòâîì îáðàçîâàíèÿ è ðåãèîíàëüíîé îðãàíèçàöèåé HRE.  Þæíîé Àôðèêå åæåìåñÿ÷íî ïðîâîäÿòñÿ ôîðóìû ïðåäñòàâèòåëåé Êîìèññèè ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà è ÍÏÎ ïî îáðàçîâàíèþ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà, äëÿ îáñóæäåíèÿ è ïëàíèðîâàíèÿ ïðîåêòîâ â ñôåðå HRE.  Þæíîé Àôðèêå îáðàçîâàíèå â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà âêëþ÷åíî êàê ìåæäèñöèïëèíàðíûé ïðåäìåò â ó÷åáíûå ïëàíû íà÷àëüíîé è ñðåäíåé øêîëû. Äåÿòåëüíîñòü:  Þæíîé Àôðèêå ÍÏÎ è ïðàâèòåëüñòâî ïîñòîÿííî îðãàíèçîâûâàþò êàìïàíèè ïî ïîâûøåíèþ îáùåñòâåííîãî ñîçíàíèÿ â âîïðîñàõ çàùèòû ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà, îñîáåííî â Íàöèîíàëüíûé äåíü ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà (21 ìàðòà) è â Ìåæäóíàðîäíûé äåíü çàùèòû ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà (10 äåêàáðÿ).  íåêîòîðûõ óíèâåðñèòåòàõ ñòóäåíòû-þðèñòû ïðîâîäÿò çàíÿòèÿ ñ ó÷èòåëÿìè øêîë è (èëè) ó÷åíèêàìè ñòàðøèõ êëàññîâ ïî ïðàâàì ÷åëîâåêà, äåìîêðàòèè è çàêîííîñòè.  Ïàíàìå áóäåò îðãàíèçîâàíà ïðîãðàììà îáó÷åíèÿ ïðåïîäàâàòåëåé ñ èñïîëüçîâàíèåì ñîçäàâàåìîé íàöèîíàëüíîé ñåòè ïðåïîäàâàòåëåé â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà.  Áåëîðóññèè áûëè îïóáëèêîâàíû íåêîòîðûå ó÷åáíûå ìàòåðèàëû è èíôîðìàöèÿ î ñèñòåìå ÎÎÍ, êîòîðûå ïëàíèðóåòñÿ ðàçìåñòèòü íà âåá-ñàéòå â Èíòåðíåòå. ÃÐÀÍÈÖÛ ÄÅßÒÅËÜÍÎÑÒÈ Îòñóòñòâèå ó÷åáíûõ ìàòåðèàëîâ, ðàçðàáîòàííûõ ïðè ãîñóäàðñòâåííîé ïîääåðæêå, è îòñóòñòâèå âîçìîæíîñòåé ïîâûøåíèÿ êâàëèôèêàöèè ïðåïîäàâàòåëåé, ÷òî ñîïðîâîæäàåòñÿ ïåðåãðóæåííûìè ó÷åáíûìè ïëàíàìè è ñîïðîòèâëåíèåì ñî ñòîðîíû àäìèíèñòðàöèè, ïðåïÿòñòâóåò âíåäðåíèþ HRE â êà÷åñòâå ìåæäèñöèïëèíàðíîãî ïðåäìåòà â ãîñóäàðñòâåííóþ ó÷åáíóþ ïðîãðàììó (ó÷åáíûé ïëàí) âî ìíîãèõ ñòðàíàõ ìèðà (â êà÷åñòâå ïðèìåðà óïîìèíàëàñü Þæíàÿ Àôðèêà).  Áåëîðóññèè íåò ó÷åáíèêîâ è íå ñóùåñòâóåò âîçìîæíîñòåé ïðîâîäèòü îáó÷åíèå ïðåïîäàâàòåëåé ïî âîïðîñàì HRE. Åùå îäíèì ïðåïÿòñòâèåì ÿâëÿåòñÿ íåäåìîêðàòè÷åñêîå ïðàâèòåëüñòâî, è îáùèé íèçêèé óðîâåíü ïðàâîâîé è ïîëèòè÷åñêîé êóëüòóðû (íàïðèìåð, â Áåëîðóññèè). ÐÅÊÎÌÅÍÄÀÖÈÈ Â ÎÒÍÎØÅÍÈÈ ÁÓÄÓÙÅÉ ÄÅßÒÅËÜÍÎÑÒÜ ÄËß ÑÎÄÅÉÑÒÂÈß HRE ÍÀ ÍÀÖÈÎÍÀËÜÍÎÌ ÓÐÎÂÍÅ ÍÏÎ: Ðàñïðîñòðàíåíèå èíôîðìàöèè, âêëþ÷àÿ ïàðòíåðñêèå îòíîøåíèÿ ñî ñðåäñòâàìè ìàññîâîé èíôîðìàöèè. Ðàáîòà ñ ó÷èòåëÿìè (Áåëîðóññèÿ). Íàöèîíàëüíûå ïðàâèòåëüñòâà: Ïðàâèòåëüñòâà ìîãóò ñïîñîáñòâîâàòü òîìó, ÷òîáû âî âñåõ ñðåäíèõ øêîëàõ èìåëñÿ äîñòóï ê Èíòåðíåòó, äëÿ ðàñøèðåíèÿ äîñòóïà ê èíôîðìàöèè, ñîäåéñòâèÿ ãëîáàëüíîìó îáìåíó ìíåíèÿìè è ïîâûøåíèþ êóëüòóðû â ñôåðå çàùèòû ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà. Îðãàíèçàöèÿ Îáúåäèíåííûõ Íàöèé: Áûëî âûñêàçàíî ïðåäëîæåíèå, ÷òî âñëåä çà ïðîøåäøèì Äåñÿòèëåòèåì ÎÎÍ, ñëåäóåò îáúÿâèòü åùå îäíî Äåñÿòèëåòèå îáðàçîâàíèÿ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà. «Ñîçäàíèå ãëîáàëüíîé êóëüòóðû çàùèòû ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà äîëæíî ñòàòü öåëüþ 21 âåêà». Åùå îäèí ó÷àñòíèê ïîäïèñêè íàïèñàë, ÷òî íà íåäàâíî ïðîøåäøåì ðåãèîíàëüíîì ñåìèíàðå áûëî âûñêàçàíî ïðåäëîæåíèå, ÷òî âñëåä çà Äåñÿòèëåòèåì îáðàçîâàíèÿ â îáëàñòè ïðàâ ÷åëîâåêà ñëåäóåò îáúÿâèòü Äåñÿòèëåòèå äåìîêðàòè÷åñêîãî îáðàçîâàíèÿ (îáó÷åíèÿ äåìîêðàòèè). ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:22:19 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033MJk33586 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:22:19 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030322.h033MJk33586@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Mon, 09 Dec 2002 09:06:19 +0300 From: Roselyn Mungai To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear George and other colleagues, I wish to react to the final part of George Kent's message, regarding the participation of governments as duty bearers in human rights education. In Kenya here, it has seemed unreasonable to expect the government to fund human rights education, especially since they have failed so dismally in providing basic rights - food shelter, infrastructure etc. However, members of civil society are now finding a great strength in involving sectors of government in planning, brainstorming about topics, schedules, strategies etc, and then also involving the government officials in facilitating sessions. They are also often invited as participants and trainees in human rights courses and it is working! Seeking partnerships with government can also take the form of creating such rapport that the government can second their staff to sit in NGOs and donor agency interventions and thus learn from doing! To sit back and wait for our governments to take part (fund) human rights education may be a long long wait. Roselyn _____________________________________________________ Roselyn Mungai-Mwatha P.O.Box 77448 Nairobi, Kenya Cell Phone: 0733 785856 ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:22:52 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033Mqh33637 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:22:52 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030322.h033Mqh33637@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 16:13:14 +0200 From: Sergey Naumkin Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues! At present, the Kaliningrad region is developing as a Russian semi-enclave in Europe. To reach the mother country, it is necessary to cross the territories of two independent states (Lithuania and Latvia or Lithuania and Belorussia) and travel 600-700 kilometers. While all post-communist countries in the Baltic region are facing radical changes and struggle to join the rest of Europe, Kaliningrad region seems to stand aside. It is obvious, that Kaliningrad can nether be completely integrated nor separated from Europe -- that calls for a reasonable compromise. The legal base in the national legislation for application of international norms, including European legislation at the territory of Russia has already been created. The constitution has established, that «both the conventional principles and norms of international law and the international agreements of Russian Federation are a component of its legal system. If the international agreement of Russian Federation establishes another rules, than are stipulated by the law, the rules of the international agreement are applied part.4, item 15». Ratified by Russia on 30 March 1998, the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms human rights law now applies and Russian citizens can now appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. To speed up this process it is necessary to educate society and authorities about European human rights norms and standards. Few educational human right programs aimed at application of universal or European human rights norms exist in the Kaliningrad region. Most educational programs preparing lawyers do not pay sufficient attention to human right and related documents. A general problem in Kaliningrad is that legal professionals lack knowledge of basic international documents and standards of human rights protection. A survey, carried out by our organization, has shown, that in the bodies of militia 100 % of the respondents are not aware of these standards. In courts, prosecutors offices and lawyers in the region, not more than 3 % of the surveyed were (somewhat) familiar with human rights documents. This situation, on the eve of the geopolitical joining of the Kaliningrad region to the European Union zone, is highly disturbing. Today politics decide the future political and economic models of our region and EU cooperation. But there is no engagement in the questions of democratic and civil rights and freedom, except maybe only in some declarative politics statements. My organization "Advocates Without Borders", in cooperation with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute (Sweden), is trying to launch a program to carry out four educational seminars in Kaliningrad -- for militia officers, courts, the prosecutors office and lawyers -- on European standards of human rights. In addition, an exchange program with Sweden is envisioned, to familiarise legal professionals from Kaliningrad with the practical application of norms in European human rights law. We are currently looking for funding for this program. I have been working in the area of human rights in Kaliningrad since 1995. At the time there existed no programs dedicated to human rights education and promotion. The first educational program for third sector came to Kaliningrad in 1997: professional trainings for trade union activists. In 1998 an educational program of Charities Aid Foundation for NGOs workers started; part of these seminars were dedicated to legal questions of NGO activity. This program still exists and every NGO worker can participate, needing only to pay to travel to Moscow. Various NGO capacity-building programs have been established since, with support from NGOs from Poland, in the framework of regional cooperation. Seminars specifically addressing human rights have recently been organised by the Lithuanian Center for Human Rights, Malmo University, Council of Europe, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, Regional Duma, Transparency International, Kaliningrad State University and EU bodies connected with rights of Kaliningrad region citizens in the process of EU enlargement. This is why at the regional level what is needed is: * educational programs in human rights aimed at European norms of human rights, education in this area, not only for NGOs members but also authorities and businesses. * establishment of a regional foundation for realization of educational human right education programs. * capacity building programs for NGO workers (possibly at Kaliningrad State University foreign language training, with English as first priority). It should be intensified and made available to anybody who wishes. * foreign organizations should offer assistance (including training) to cooperation projects in human right education. * regional authorities need to be more attentive cases involving a human rights violation, and organize round tables and discussions on more controversial questions. * federal authorities have to adjust educational plans of educational institutions and include the subject of human rights. Sincerely, Sergey Naumkin Advocates Without Borders Kaliningrad / Russian Federation E-mail: asf-klg@mail.ru ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:23:32 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033NWw33706 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:23:32 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030323.h033NWw33706@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Mon, 9 Dec 2002 17:35:27 +0100 From: Cristina Sganga To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear All, Sorry I will deal below with not only the international level, sometimes it is impossible to totally isolate them from each other. I want to follow on what George said in his message. I think that those engaged in HRE are not giving enough emphasis to government officials - how do we pretend that officials of the Ministry of Education or Interior or a chief of the police, etc want to work towards having their staff respect human rights and disseminate knowledge about these if often in most countries even judges, lawyers, paralegals and other individuals who have studied law have no idea about what human rights are and the mechanisms for their protection. I think we need to admit that in many of our countries there is great ignorance about what human rights are, in all sectors of society (government, politicians and the general public) - also in Western European countries, North America and other wealthier countries. We need to transcend that limited view of education and HRE only pertaining to children and young people. We need HRE projects for professionals and adults, especially for key sectors who have the responsibility to protect human rights like the security forces, law makers. I would also add the media, but I would not want to make a long list, just prioritise these three sectors - which is already a lot of work. I agree that OHCHR or UNESCO don't have enough resources and they have very little support political support or/and will from national governments. I also agree that NGOs are the ones doing most of the work in this field, but I also think that NGOs are not using enough the opportunities offered by the OHCHR in terms of entry points to engage with national governments to push for reforms, which include more systematic HRE programmes and the governmental budgets required for these. In my years of work in HRE I have often got the feeling that we, the HRE community, work in isolation; that we don't dare stick our necks as far as we really could. We need to engage government officials and develop joint programmes. The OHCHR, I believe, gives a very useful support in this matter, and we should come forward with more concrete proposals at the national and regional levels asking the High Commissioner's help. And I don't mean grandiose plans, but concrete actions. For example, once when I was working for Amnesty International a government was in the process of passing laws, which would have made very difficult for NGOs to work in schools. We solicited the support of the OHCHR and those reforms were stopped. Yes, another field that I think we need to explore is funding. I strongly believe that we need to look at donor agencies, which give millions to governments in developing countries, as well as agencies like the IMF and World Bank and lobby them at the national level asking them what funds are they giving to HRE and human rights reform, present viable programmes for implementation and offer our expertise to implement such work. Many of these agencies have regional offices, sometimes national offices. Accepting funding from companies and multinationals, I believe, is an individual choice depending on the country, the situation and the company or multinational. We certainly should charge more for the training we provide to government officials or employees, including teachers. My last point is that we should not forget our need to continue to improve our knowledge and skills and to train fellow educators and activists in human rights and organisational skills. The OHCHR and UNESCO should offer more support and opportunities for this. In solidarity Cristina Cristina Sganga The Netherlands E-mail: quilombo@xs4all.nl ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:24:34 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033OYp33775 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:24:34 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030324.h033OYp33775@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f From: Abraham Magendzo To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 07:53:19 -0300 Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear George, Roselyn, Cristina and other colleagues, I wish also to react to George Kent's message, regarding government's participation in HRE. During the dictatorial regimes in Latin America, the NGOs started the work on HRE. Obviously, the governments, that were the main violators of human rights, didn't participate in HRE. HRE was forbidden and dangerous. With the recovering of democracy almost all the countries have introduce HRE in the formal curriculum. NGOs, in spite of financial problems were continuing doing important work. However, I have the feeling that governments are scared or devoted to other objectives and are not fully committed to HRE. It has always been my opinion that without the full participation of the governments in HRE, we, the NGOs will not be able to reach all the teachers and students. My question is why the Ministries of Education are fully responsible to advance language, mathematics and science and not human rights? With love Abraham Magendzo abrahamm@manquehue.net On Fri, 6 Dec 2002 10:09:43 -1000, George Kent wrote: > >NGOs are doing great work on human rights education, but we need to think >about how that work can be strengthened. One major issue, of course, is >funding. Can we find new and better ways to fund the work? How can the >support level be raised to a higher level, and how can it be made more >systematic? One approach would be to seek more grants. Another approach >might be to think about what we can offer on a fee-for-service basis, such >as teaching, or perhaps working with "clients" in addressing their >particular human rights issues. > >In this context, I would like to see serious discussion of when and how >business enterprises should, or should not, be viewed as potential >funding resources. The ethical dilemmas are very serious. However, >I think that when we "just say no", we evade, rather than address, >those dilemmas. > ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:24:53 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033Orx33801 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:24:53 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030324.h033Orx33801@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 13:53:52 +0100 From: Wim Taelman Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org How to get HRE at a higher speed, at the national, regional and international levels? The initiative, in 2000, to start up our organisation for HRE (VORMEN) has been taken by members of civil society in the Flemish community in Belgium, as there did not yet exist any body or NGO with HRE as its main mission until then. The initiative was morally supported by a broad range of individuals and of academic and NGO actors in the human rights and educational areas. Obviously, in the process of establishing the NGO the framework of the Decade was frequently used. We believe that one of the main tasks of the authorities of Western European countries with respect to HRE is the integration of HRE in the curricula of the education system as well as in the training of civil servants and other persons who, in the context of their duties, have a special responsibility for human rights (police, prison guards,...). And, as the media are key players in the opinion-making of people, provisions must also been made for the media which guarantee that they also contribute to this aim. Another major task for the state is to enable the civil society to set up expertise and capacity in the HRE area, which also can function as a watchdog. A third task, which is rarely mentioned, could be to provide for funding of international cooperation and partnerships in the area of HRE and for funding of initiatives/NGOs for HRE in poorer countries. In the Flemish (Dutch speaking) community of our country human rights are integrated now in the core curriculum of compulsory education: in this area we have made a good step forward. With the issue of funding for HRE, VORMEN has mixed experiences. Though we are glad with the project-based support that we, until now, have received from different authorities (at federal level, and at the level of the Flemish Community), it remains difficult to get the resources needed for a long-term, stable functioning of the organisation. Several factors are hindering this: 1) The complexity of our state structure (federal level, community level,...). 2) The lack of a minister with explicit overall authority over human rights education. In practice, human rights education falls under the authority of a series of ministers: Minister of Education, Minister of Justice, Minister of Youth and Culture, State Secretary of Development Cooperation,... 3) The nature of the existing funding frameworks. Most of these frameworks are target-group oriented: youth organisations can be funded, organisations for adult education can be funded, ... No structural funding opportunity for a HRE NGO exists in the Belgian Flemish education system. Funding for thematic education exists for development education purposes, but it is not really clear that this framework will allow for the funding of the range of activities that a NGO for HRE would want to deploy. The access to structural funding for development education is only allowed for NGOs which can prove a rather high level of activities during the last three years. Moreover, some additional conditions of rather administrative nature are hampering access to funding for new organisations. 4) The lack of political will. This means: nobody is against, but nobody tries to overcome the difficulties mentioned above. We would like to make two remarks that apply to the regional European level. A) As far as we know, the Council of Europe, which has both human rights and education in its brief, did not take major initiatives to stimulate or coordinate the implementation of the Decade in its countries. Recently, its Committee of Ministers announced a European Year of Citizenship through Education (see http://www.coe.int/T/e/Cultural%5FCo%2Doperation/education/E%2ED%2EC/ What%27s%5Fnew/recommendation.asp), to be prepared by the member states (it is said that this year possibly will take place in 2005). Though human rights are mentioned in its texts, we recommend to make it a major sub-theme of this European year, and to explicitly include the decades objectives in it. B) If the European institutions (EU and Council of Europe) are serious about human rights education, they need to offer substantial funding opportunities that are explicitly open for this area of activities. Special funding possibilities for that purpose could contribute to European networking, to more expertise in the HRE NGOs, to commonly developed educational materials, etcetera. On the international level now... A second decade could be helpful, on condition that the international community recognizes that the majority of countries have still to take the necessary initiatives. It should aim at giving HRE permanently the place it deserves. A regular UN reporting system, where states have to report extensively on HRE, and get UN comments on their report, can be a good long-term strategy. One could think of a system that is similar to the children s rights convention system, which already partly also covers HRE. Reports and comments should be made public as well, which could facilitate public discussion of the issue. And why the HRE NGOs could not take the initiative to, in a coordinated effort, publish regularly regional or international reports on HRE, as a tool of pressure on their governments and on the existing regional and international structures? This is a naming and shaming strategy, that proves to be successful in other human rights areas! -- Wim Taelman, co-ordinator VORMEN vzw (Vlaamse Organisatie voor Mensenrechteneducatie) (= Flemish Organisation for Human Rights Education) Address: Lange Gasthuisstraat 29, B-2000 Antwerp (Belgium) E-mail: wim.taelman@vormen.org URL: http://www.vormen.org (or http://vormen.org) Tel.: + 32 3 293 82 15 ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:26:00 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033Q0i34071 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:26:00 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030326.h033Q0i34071@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2002 11:00:08 -0500 To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Jerry Bosworth Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org I am writing to you from the USA as a human rights advocate rather than as a representative of an organization. My perspective comes from relevant graduate and post-graduate education as well as decades of professional and volunteer accomplishments in such roles as human rights advocate; counselor; case manager; fundraiser; mentor; executive manager of business, government, and NGO organizations; and consultant. George and Cristina, thank you for your suggestions! They are wonderfully more specific, innovative, and aware of the political economy of funding for human rights education than any other suggestions I've received as a member of this listserv. The main suggestion I would add is for us to define and disseminate what consensus we have, e.g., what we mean by "human rights" and "human rights education." Such clarification would be immensely helpful to us. It would dramatically boost our capacity for meaningful cooperation both to promote what we agree upon and to organize ourselves to more efficiently, and therefore more effectively, pursue the research & development and dialogue. These are required to broaden our consensus and, consequently, broaden consensus in the world. I read the summary of the discussion of human rights and HRE on the list earlier this year (see http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/msg00884.html). I see that, taken as a whole, it does not contain a complete definition of either human rights or HRE by any of the discussants; that some of the views expressed appear to contradict or fundamentally disagree with others expressed; none of the key terms of reference were defined in measurable or operational terms; and the summary failed to reveal a consensus even in abstract terms. Does that mean that, until some other statement is adopted by this forum as its foundational definition of human rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is to be assumed as the definition of human rights for purposes of this forum's recommendations? Jerry Bosworth USA E-mail: jbos-d@earthlink.net On Mon, 9 Dec 2002 17:35:27 +0100, Cristina Sganga wrote: > >Yes, another field that I think we need to explore is funding. I strongly >believe that we need to look at donor agencies, which give millions to >governments in developing countries, as well as agencies like the IMF and >World Bank and lobby them at the national level asking them what funds are >they giving to HRE and human rights reform, present viable programmes for >implementation and offer our expertise to implement such work. Many of >these agencies have regional offices, sometimes national offices. > >Accepting funding from companies and multinationals, I believe, is an >individual choice depending on the country, the situation and the company >or multinational. We certainly should charge more for the training we >provide to government officials or employees, including teachers. > ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:26:37 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033Qbi34133 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:26:37 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030326.h033Qbi34133@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f From: Shulamith Koenig To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Tue 10 Dec 2002 12:14:16 -0500 Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear Friends, Human Rights Educators. With all humility, having been traveling extensively, I was not able to write until now. Being the person who --practically single handed-- had authored the Decade of Human Rights Education and urged the UN through several countries (Costa Rica, Slovenia, Philippines, Norway and Namibia) to declare such a Decade already before the 1993 Vienna Human Rights Conference -- I cannot refrain from sharing my thoughts of happiness for what we have all achieved and also of sadness that we have achieved so little. I remember the night we got a call form Ibrahima Fall's office (at the time Director of the Human Rights Center in Geneva) -- asking us to prepare a plan of action for the Decade before the conference in Vienna. He, as others, were worried that the Conference would fall apart because of the unresolved debate on "Universality". He wanted to present to the conference a plan of action for the HRE Decade as a failsafe. Steve Marks, Tara Krause and I worked the whole night and in the morning sent a plan of action that became the blueprint to which many have later contributed after the declaration of the Decade became a reality. Furthermore, many of us took a leap of faith and contributed in bits and pieces to HRE in the last eight years. We should be all congratulated that we did so in spite of all the obstacles. The vision of the Decade that PDHRE --now the Movement for Human Rights Education-- had, was: a world whose six billion inhabitants know and claim and fulfill their human rights; a world where women, men, youth and children learn, reflect and act to achieve civil, cultural, economic, political and social human rights for all -- assuming responsibility to eradicate poverty, violence and marginalization. The mission of the Decade as we saw it was: (i) to formulate and convey the holistic human rights framework in a way meaningful to people's daily lives and make it known to, and understood by, all people as a powerful tool for action. (ii) to enable women and men alike to participate as equals and without discrimination in the decisions that determine their lives, and with their elected authorities, to join in planning and implementing human, social and economic development guided by the human rights framework. (iii) to develop cadres of human rights educators for social and economic transformation who will work in grassroots communities and develop written and visual learning materials, strategic pedagogies and methodologies, which are culturally relevant including a gender perspective to service the facilitation of programs in the communities that join to become agents of change. We spoke of breaking through the vicious cycle of humiliation that brought us to understand that human rights learning can indeed "horizontalize" the world. We also believed that we need to always speak of "human rights" and not of "rights", as rights can be given and taken; human rights have a higher legal and moral value and can not be tampered with. In the fourteen years since we started our work in the field, PDHRE has engaged people in more than 100 countries in one form or another to bring up to par the knowledge about economic, social and cultural human rights and developed an in-depth learning about women and human rights with an analysis about patriarchy as a cause for human rights violations. For that purpose we developed a variety of training programs and pedagogical materials for learning about the human rights of women with community-based women's organizations. We never engaged in HRE in schools as we felt that many are doing so. Moreover, we felt that having human rights introduced as a subject stays in the realm of information and does not create the reformative process we all seek to develop. What we have stressed the most is that human rights is about people's lives and thus human rights education and learning is about the future of all people. We have also stressed the importance of trusting the learners who and wherever they are as being able to engage in critical thinking and in systemic analysis using their experiences, narratives, and historical memory of struggle for justice as a source of inspiration and action within the human rights framework. We believe that HRE needs to be taking place at all levels of society in order to contribute to sustained social transformation. The argument that "something is better then nothing" is not satisfactory at all. In my opinion it is an irresponsible statement. I ask: Better for whom? What we have to transmit to the learners is that human rights is a way of life protected by International law. It is about morality and politics and about the law -- all tied together. Thus, human rights education is the process through which each individual passes to become --in the words of Nelson Mandela-- part of a "new political culture based on human rights". Each needs to learn to use the human rights framework as a guideline for achieving economic and social justice for all. Is this too big a vision and mission? Indeed it is -- but there is no other purpose for human rights education. Thus, HRE needs to be attended to by law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, the media the various governing bodies -- all stake holders, including schools. (As the Director of the Academy of the Police in Rosario Argentina said to me after holding an intensive workshop on human rights with the cadets: "there is no other option but human rights!" He indeed learned it well.) Many of us have developed various pedagogies, methodologies and forms of transmitting information and knowledge about human rights. However, it is too sporadic and sartorial and often too legal. We all have a long way to go to overcome both the obstacles society puts in front of us and our inadequacies which we must be very honest about. For us to learn more and include as much knowledge as possible available from all of you and from our experience too, PDHRE is developing human rights cities and regional learning institutions for human rights education. The practice is: Using the city and its institutions as a microcosm of all the problems that exist in the world today and as a complex social economic and political entity to become a model for citizen's participation in their development. In human rights cites, learning through all sectors of society takes effect resulting in an ongoing dialogue, and examination of the relevance of the human rights framework to the inhabitants concerns. This process leads to the mapping and analysis of causes of violations and the designing of ways to achieve the fulfillment of human rights in their city. Each a monitor and a mentor. Appropriate conflict resolution is an inevitable consequence of the learning process as women and men work to secure social and economic transformation and the sustainability of their community as a viable, creative caring society. In the cities, in-depth learning about human rights plays a vital role in guiding the future of the community and as a powerful transformation tool. Strategies and methodologies are designed to have governing bodies, law enforcement agencies, public sector employees, religious groups, NGOs and community groups in the city, those working on the issues of women, children, workers, indigenous peoples, poverty, education, food, housing, healthcare, environment and conflict resolution, and all other non-affiliated inhabitants, join in learning and reflecting about human rights as significant to the decision-making process and the life of the city. The Human Rights Cities initiative seeks to expand, facilitate and institutionalize this process as a model for sustainability. A steering committee representing all sectors of society develops specific programs for various audiences. The plan includes the examination, with a gender perspective, of laws, policies, resource allocation and relationships that prevail in the city. For that purpose, they create a vertical and horizontal progressive learning process for all. Step by step, neighborhoods, schools, political, economic and social institutions, and NGOs, examine the human rights framework, relating it to their traditional beliefs, collective memory and aspirations with regard to environmental, economic and social justice issues and concerns. They learn to identify, mentor, monitor, and document the human rights needs of the people of the city. The laws of the city are scrutinized against the background of the Convention and covenants that their country has ratified. People examine and influence policies and power relations. A possible tool is to present yearly comprehensive alternative budgets to city authorities as an integral part of their participation in designing and implementing future development plans for their city. It is a question of moving power to human rights. Activities in the Human Right Cities are publicized throughout their country, expecting to radiate knowledge, increase the adoption of the human rights framework, and serve as a model for stabilizing democracy and building good governance. This process helps to overcome the fact that most people for whom human rights have been codified and ratified are not familiar with or know how to use them to fulfill their hopes and aspirations for a better life. Such human rights cities are already in development in Rosario (Argentina), Thies (Senegal), Nagpur (India), Kati (Mali), the Abra Indigenous Municipality (Philippines), Dinajpur (Bangladesh). Further detailed information of activities in the human rights cities can be found at: http://www.pdhre.org In addition, four Regional Learning Programs for Human Rights Education are being developed in Africa, Asia Pacific, South Asia and Latin America. The regional programs are dedicated to intensive training of community leaders so that they can initiate the further development of human rights cities. The training program will include supervised internships at existing human rights cities. In development are four Learning Programs for Human Rights Education in Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and South Asia. Ambitious, yes, but it is already ongoing. Besides, the ongoing activities in the existing human rights cites, the first six-week regional Learning program for Human Rights education is being held in Mumbai, India in February 2003 in the South Asia Learning Institute for Human Rights Education. We hope in three years to have trained 750 human rights educators from amongst community leaders from the four regions. These steps lead to building communities which honor international human rights instruments, leading to a commitment by governments and local authorities, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, regulators and community leaders to implement and enforce civil, cultural, economic, political and social human rights for every woman, man, youth and child. We hope that the 30 human rights cities to be developed in the coming three years will become a source of light that will radiate hope and convince us all that human rights education can indeed change the world. Shula Koenig Israel/USA The People's Movement for Human Rights Education (PDHRE) / NY Office Shulamith Koenig / Executive Director 526 West 111th Street, New York, NY 10025, USA tel: +1 212.749-3156; fax: +1 212.666-6325 e-mail: pdhre@igc.apc.org ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . 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From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:27:42 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033RgH34228 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:27:42 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030327.h033RgH34228@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 09:38:21 -0600 From: Ana María Rodino Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues, Yesterday, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (IIDH) published a report on the legal and policy framework of human rights education in 19 countries in Latin America/Caribbean. An English version of the report will be published soon. The report concludes that the process of strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law in Latin American has been accompanied by a favorable tendency to strengthen the right to human rights education (HRE). Within this legal and policy framework it will be possible to further strengthen HRE activities and increase the participation of civil society in promoting and defending human rights. Below are the recommendations from this report that IIDH would like to make to strengthen HRE during the remainder of the Decade and after in our region: * To urge States that have not done so to ratify the international and regional instruments that guarantee minimum standards relating to HRE (specifically the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights "Protocol of San Salvador", adopted in 1988), with the goal of promoting education and related policies in this area that will strengthen human rights integrally, without racial discrimination of any sort or nature, and considering policy measures in favor of indigenous and Afrodescendent communities, women, people and other vulnerable groups. * To continue the process of progressive enrichment of HRE by means of constitutional reforms that facilitate the processes of adjusting national legislation to incorporate international instruments, especially in regard to the incorporation of norms that require proactive measures that benefit underserved sectors of the population. * To progressively increase the incorporation of obligations and principles about HRE in special laws on education and other connected laws with that subject, in order to design or reformulate public policies to be implemented by means of national plans and budget allocation. In addition to such laws, other administrative norms, regulations and measures to develop programs aimed at recognizing and respecting diversity, bilingual and intercultural education. * To encourage States that not yet have approved laws of that nature to discuss such initiatives with the ample participation of civil society and concerned institutions. To review the contents and obligations of the existing laws for incorporation of measures to promote and protect human rights through education, and to allocate the necessary resources. * To reformulate public policies, programs and plans related to HRE so that there is better coordination between the different institutions that execute them, in order to avoid duplication and to improve the coordination of activities, products and objectives. Special programs within formal and non-formal education must improve to include an integrated vision of HRE. It is important to pursue and gradually consolidate the international consensus through public policies and other directives in accordance with international obligations that States have to adapt their internal legislation by means of administrative measures. * To initiate awareness campaigns and dissemination of information on the concepts and contents of HRE in order to reinforce the formal and informal cultural and educational practices that reinforce and reformulate cultural patterns. * These intentions can be enriched if efforts are complemented by an Inter-American approach, that is, a regional strategy to exchange experiences, to develop pedagogical tools and to delineate common principles for educational policies in human rights and democracy. Ana María Rodino Head, Pedagogical Unit Inter-American Institute of Human Rights / Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos (IIDH) San José, Costa Rica E-mail: rodino@iidh.ed.cr Web: http://www.iidh.ed.cr ------- Informe Interamericano de la Educación en Derechos Humanos. Un estudio en 19 Países. Parte I: Desarrollo Normativo. Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos. San José, diciembre 2002 Sección IV Recomendaciones Los procesos de fortalecimiento de instituciones democráticas y del estado de derecho en la región están acompañados de una tendencia favorable a fortalecer el derecho a la educación en derechos humanos, con puntos más altos en la adopción de normas legales y más bajos en consolidar políticas públicas. Esos procesos y esta tendencia crean un escenario en el cual sería posible esperar y promover progresos sostenidos en este campo para que, junto con el creciente proceso de participación de la sociedad civil en la promoción y defensa de los derechos humanos, se promueva la EDH como perspectiva transversal de esas dinámicas. El IIDH ofrece, al concluir este informe, algunas recomendaciones para acelerar y profundizar ese proceso: * Instar a los Estados que no lo hayan hecho, a que ratifiquen los instrumentos internacionales específicos que les hace falta para completar los estándares mínimos en materia de EDH en ellos dispuestos, con el fin de comprometer sus políticas educativas y conexas en ese campo, hacia el fortalecimiento de los derechos humanos en forma integral sin ningún tipo de discriminación racial, de género o de cualquier naturaleza, incluso fomentando acciones de tipo afirmativo a favor de pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes, mujeres, personas menores de edad y demás grupos que se encuentren en situación de vulnerabilidad y exclusión. * Continuar el proceso de enriquecimiento progresivo de la EDH mediante reformas constitucionales que impulsen los procesos de adecuación de la legislación interna a los instrumentos internacionales en la materia y, especialmente, respecto a la incorporación de normativa caracterizada por acciones de tipo afirmativo que favorezca a los sectores de la población comprendidos en las perspectivas transversales de este informe. * Aumentar progresivamente la incorporación de las obligaciones y principios que informan la EDH en las leyes especiales sobre educación y en otras leyes conexas con ese tema, con el fin de que luego puedan instrumentarse mediante el diseño o reformulación de políticas públicas, planes nacionales y apropiaciones presupuestarias adecuadas para que pasen de lo meramente declarativo a lo pragmático. A la par de ese tipo de leyes, deben formularse y reforzarse otras normativas, reglamentaciones y lineamientos administrativos que desarrollen y amplíen el reconocimiento y respeto alrededor de la diversidad, la educación bilingüe e intercultural, la perspectiva de género y la participación de todos los actores sociales vinculados con la política educativa, todo ello con una visión de integralidad que refuerce la promoción y protección de todos los derechos humanos en su esencia de indivisibilidad. * Para los Estados que aún no han aprobado algunas leyes de esa naturaleza, que se avoquen a debatir ese tipo de iniciativas con amplia participación de la sociedad civil y las instituciones involucradas. En relación con las leyes ya aprobadas, revisar sus contenidos y obligaciones para aumentar el nivel de acciones proactivas en la promoción y protección de los derechos humanos mediante actividades de educación y capacitación integral, así como de la dotación de recursos necesarios para que esos procesos tengan continuidad y actualización constante. * Reformular las políticas públicas, programas y planes con contenido en EDH para que haya mayor articulación entre sí y entre las distintas instituciones que las ejecutan para evitar duplicidad y mejorar la coordinación de actividades, productos y objetivos comunes. Fundamentalmente, deben mejorarse los contenidos de los programas especiales dentro de la educación formal e informal para perfilar una visión de EDH más integral e integradora. Es importante dar seguimiento y consolidación gradual de los consensos internacionales en la materia por medio de políticas públicas y otro tipo de directrices en atención a las obligaciones internacionales que tienen los Estados de adecuar su legislación interna mediante medidas administrativas o de otro carácter con esos propósitos. * Fomentar campañas de concienciación y divulgación de los alcances conceptuales y contenidos de la EDH para reforzar los procesos culturales y educativos formales e informales para incidir en el reforzamiento y reformulación de patrones culturales. * Estos propósitos pueden resultar enriquecidos si se juntan esfuerzos en el ámbito interamericano, promoviendo el intercambio de experiencias y la concertación de voluntades para pensar y llevar a cabo una estrategia regional, desarrollar las herramientas pedagógicas y delinear principios comunes para políticas de educación en los derechos humanos y la democracia. * El IIDH está dispuesto a prestar sus facilidades técnicas e institucionales para llevar adelante una idea de esta importancia. ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:28:14 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033SEv34275 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:28:14 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030328.h033SEv34275@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 06:33:35 -1000 From: George Kent To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org HRE Folks - Thanks to those of you who responded to my December 6 comments on this list. I'd like to add some thoughts, adapted from a recent conversation with one of the list members. When I said "the kind of exercise we are doing now to review the HRE could, in future iterations, be turned into a formal report to OHCHR." I was referring to the review being done by HREA on the status of human rights education around the world, in the context of the Decade for Human Rights Education. If resources could be made available for it, the project could be turned into a systematic review of the extent to which people actually know their human rights, combined with an assessment of the extent to which current HRE efforts are likely to close the knowledge gap. It is useful to think of rights generally as being about goals. Human rights work is about closing the gap between the current situation and the goal. My views on this derive in part from my work on the human right to adequate food. We have a reasonably clear idea of what constitutes adequacy in terms of food. Under the concept of progressive realization, the right means that we should expect to find that each national government has strategies and programs in place to close the gap between the current situation and the goal in a reasonable amount of time. Thus, one could imagine a global report to OHCHR on the current state of knowledge of human rights in different parts of the world, together with a report on actions being taken to close the gap between what that knowledge is and what it ought to be. This perspective can be applied to the planning of HRE in particular countries. Instead of simply putting on HRE programs here and there, one could instead start with the question: What constitutes an adequate baseline understanding of human rights for the people of that country? Similarly, one could ask: What constitutes an adequate baseline understanding of their obligations regarding human rights on the part of government officials? Thus, one could articulate goals of the form: everyone in my country should have a good understanding of their rights as articulated in both national and international law. Then one could set concrete targets to be achieved within particular time frames. One should press government to provide support for these programs, but plan to carry them out according to available capacities even if government does not actively support the effort. This approach is based on the premise that any society in which the rights holders do not know their rights or the duty bearers do not know their duties associated with those rights does not have a properly functioning human rights system. The foundation of this approach is that it is not simply nice for people to have human rights education; they have a right to it. This brings us to Jerry Bosworth's thought: "The main suggestion I would add is for us to define and disseminate what consensus we have, e.g., what we mean by "human rights" and "human rights education." Such clarification would be immensely helpful to us. It would dramatically boost our capacity for meaningful cooperation both to promote what we agree upon and to organize ourselves to more efficiently, and therefore more effectively, pursue the research & development and dialogue. These are required to broaden our consensus and, consequently, broaden consensus in the world." I would put the issue somewhat differently. Can we come to a consensus on guidelines for what constitutes the basic minimum understanding that rights holders should have of their rights, and that duty bearers should have of their duties? In exploring this, we should give some thought to how educators reach a consensus on what children should know about arithmetic, geography, or science. Can we get similar conversations going, nationally and internationally, on what it is that people need to know about human rights? The "we" who reach this consensus should include human rights educators working together with appropriate representatives of government. At the international level, we could perhaps think of this as an effort to rough draft a General Comment on the Human Right to Human Rights Education for one of the human rights treaty bodies at the UN. If we get into this, it should be with a good appreciation of how heavily political this enterprise would be. Human rights education can be highly empowering, especially for the weak. Not everyone wants the weak to be empowered. Government people often tend to resist serious human rights education because they don't want to be criticized and they don't want to be held accountable. It will be far more difficult to gain a broad consensus on what constitutes the basics of human rights knowledge than on what constitutes the basics of literacy or numeracy. Nevertheless, we should work toward the development of shared understandings of what constitutes a basic understanding of human rights. Through this work we will come to a shared understanding of the goals and purposes of human rights education. Aloha, George ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ George Kent Professor Department of Political Science University of Hawai'i Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822 U.S.A. Cell: 1 (808) 389-9422 Fax: 1 (808) 956-6877 Email: kent@hawaii.edu Website: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~kent ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . 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From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 03:28:46 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h033SkG34339 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 03:28:46 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301030328.h033SkG34339@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org From: HREteam@amnesty.org Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 17:53:24 +0000 Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear All, The following comments come from the HRE Team at the international headquarters of Amnesty International (AI) and are based on the experiences of the Team from working within different regions and talking with AI sections and structures from around the world over the past few years. There has not been sufficient time to initiate this particular discussion within the AI movement and these comments are therefore our own. They attempt to answer some of the questions by examining our own experience and also take up the issues raised by Cristina and Abraham. Regional / sub-regional issues On the regional level we have held HRE workshops in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. These workshops have included information and discussion on the Decade, sharing of ideas and activities, general information and debate on human rights education, some capacity building and skills to develop national AI strategies to assist sections and structures to clearly focus human rights education programs in order to maximise impact. The agenda for each workshop depends on the needs and situation of a particular region. In Asia, these workshops resulted in an increase in interest and activities in HRE and in the second workshop participants developed a clearer picture, with action plans, of how a regional structure and coordination might benefit individual countries. In Africa a series of workshops developed a core of key HRE activists who have remained within AI but have lacked the funds to continue HRE work in any depth. In the Middle East, AI organised a national HRE workshop in Lebanon in coordination with the government following a regional workshop. These workshops were internal to AI but have demonstrated the relevance of using regional workshops as a tool to initiate ideas and strategies on a national level. AI has not at this stage been involved in such activities with other NGOs mainly because of lack of funding. Joint regional or sub regional workshops with a range of NGOs could assist to initiate more active cooperation between NGOs on a national level, because in many countries this is often difficult. Participants have identified in the workshops that there is often a lack of skills within local AI structures and sections, especially those who depend on volunteers to implement HRE programs. Developing skills presents problems because capacity building is often a difficulty for AI on a national level where sections and structures are small. It is often not feasible to hold training workshops such as train-the-trainers because there are insufficient participants who will actually be able to use the skills directly after a training workshop (we try and take into account the fact that if people who are trained as trainers do not use the skills immediately, then they tend to loose them). A regional or sub-regional approach to capacity building would assist to rationalise resources and develop a pool of skilled, active trainers. AI has had many discussions and ideas regarding sharing of materials but it in spite of frequent recommendations it never actually takes place. In our experience sharing of materials only happens during meetings or workshops and it is difficult to initiate sharing electronically because of the expense and problems with access for many countries. All materials, unless developed specifically for a program, have to be adapted and people often lack the skills to be able to do this. Regional or sub-regional materials development workshops can overcome this problem as they can provide the skills to develop materials related to specific objectives and target groups and these same skills can be used to adapt materials at a national level. We have found that regional / sub-regional activities and workshops are an important means of sharing materials, developing ideas and providing capacity building but should always be aimed at stimulating national / local programs. They can also be used to develop approaches to governments or intergovernmental organisations. Regional strategies can be used to guide national strategies and assist NGOs to develop a more coordinated and strategic approach to developing programs and campaigns. International AI has found the UN Decade for Human Rights Education to be a useful tool for mobilisation because it has provided a framework that gives HRE a certain status and importance. As a result of this a number of our sections and structures have lobbied and worked with governments to include human rights within the curriculum. The Decade has provided a central focus and as a UN initiative is more likely to be taken seriously. We feel that the Decade does need to continue because HRE is a long term process. Concrete achievements and a general acceptance of it as a normal, everyday part of formal and informal education cannot be reached within such a short period of 10 years. AI promotes HRE as a long term process, emphasising the importance of evaluation and follow up and the need to develop the skills and capacity to implement programs that have an impact and can be measurable. If these issues are not promoted at an international level and the Decade finishes within such a short period of time - it will make it more difficult for NGOs at the local level to insist that governments and other institutions continue to implement, support and develop programs. HRE is a complex process dealing with attitudes and behavioural change - it cannot be used as a quick fix to improve human rights situations. If there is no follow up and extension to the Decade, it will be difficult to maintain the momentum that has been started. It appears from discussions that one of the major problems with HRE in the formal sector is the lack of training given to teachers within their normal teacher training programs to implement genuine HRE within classes. If this does not happen then introducing it into the curriculum is only a token gesture. In the informal sector there is a demonstrated lack of people trained as human rights educators. More than a short train-the-trainers course is needed - in a pilot course we conducted this year we included a range of skills, including needs analysis of the target group, workshop and session design, using activities that are appropriate for the needs of the target group and the outcomes of the workshop / training, developing appropriate materials etc. We are not the only NGO taking this approach but we believe that such an approach needs to be an integral component of any program. In order to fill these gaps there needs to be a proper commitment of funds at the international, regional and national level. HRE cannot become an accepted part of all forms of education without a funding commitment because the people that conduct the programs need proper training and the target groups need to be able to access the programs. There is also an acknowledged lack of quality evaluation of programs. How effective are HRE programs in the long term? How have peoples lives or school environments changed, are people able to behave and act differently - in the long term. Governments, government officials, non-state actors etc need to make a serious commitment with funding but they also need to contribute by putting human rights into practice in their own organisations and for their own employees. They need to be recipients of HRE before they become contributors. Human Rights Education Team Amnesty International-International Secretariat London, United Kingdom E-mail: HREteam@amnesty.org ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 16:56:03 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03Gu3149760 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 16:56:03 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031656.h03Gu3149760@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 08:31:47 -0300 From: Abraham Magendzo To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear members of AI London, Ana María and all my good friends, The problems that AI are facing in HRE are the same one that we have: if people do not use the skills immediately, then they tend to lose them; lack of funding; difficulties in sharing of materials etc. The question is what are the solutions. I fully agree that the Decade needs to continue because HRE is a long term process. However, in my opinion we should be much more precise on what we want to achieve in each region, in each country in the Second Decade. I have the felling that we need to define our goals in much more precise terms, for example: how many teachers we will reach, how many governmental officers we will train, how many workshops we will run, how many materials we are going to produce and what should be the quality of the materials. What are the performance standards, indicators that will tell us that we have been successful during the Second Decade. Am I very ambitious or unrealistic? In this sense the recommendations that IIDH would like to make to strengthen HRE during the remainder of the Decade, and that Ana María has pointed out, are excellent, superb and very important. However, I might ask of how many states we want to ratify the international and regional instruments during the Decade? What are minimum standards relating to HRE? Can we write in much more operational way the recommendations in order to know in a much precise way, what does it mean: "progressively increase"; "to reformulate public policies, programs and plans related to HRE"; "to initiate awareness" etc. I do not want to be mean or nasty, neither to be pretentious or unrealistic. I might sound very "modern" and "globalistic". However, we are competing in a world (that we want to change) that requires to fix precise outcomes, to define indicators, to write down standards. Cariños Abraham Magendzo Chile new email: abrahamm@manquehue.net ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 16:56:49 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03GunI49919 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 16:56:49 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031656.h03GunI49919@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Somen Chakraborty Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 17:02:21 +0530 Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear Members, There should not be a second thought to have one more decade for HRE. Especially when I look into the progress of HRE in India I find it has brought about both qualitative and quantitative difference. I have had the opportunity to closely scrutinize over fifteen sample curriculum of HRE introduced by different universities/institutions during this period; the study materials referred to, the faculty members and in certain cases the students too. Based on this exposure I would state that now we have more persons in India informed about the concepts of human rights, its far-reaching implications, various forms of manifestation of human rights violations and the normative support available both at the national and international levels to protect and promote human rights. Vibration of human rights discourse is being felt more intensely than before, challenges are more, materials are being produced in a larger volume than before with explicit reference to human rights. I receive information that many more institutional efforts are coming up to teach human rights, several news faces are seen around human rights debates and distinct human rights investigations are conducted by those who are conscientised about importance of this subject of study. I do believe that the support of the United Nations to this effort for another decade, armed with clear mission objective, would not only augment the formation of a world human rights community but would also bring about many new areas of concerns, that the international society need to intervene. As far as the basic theme is concerned, one agenda that comes immediately to mind is weaponisation. Huge stock of weaponry has been a living threat to peace, life and livelihood of the people. It would not be out of context to recall that the idea of the United Nations emerged through a collective quest for peace and security. Given the real life situation in the world today the efforts need to be continued to achieve this objective. If this agenda sounds too strong to be the central theme for HRE, I may propose the issue of "Discrimination" to be the focal point for HRE. Discrimination is manifested in diverse forms all over the world and their causes vary from society to society. Most of the human rights violations have linkages with the practice of discrimination. Everybody will agree that to make this mission effective the national governments need to comply with the UN thrust on HRE without scarifying their respective space of autonomy (even the universities/institutions located in a specific geographic region within a country) in designing HRE taking into consideration the micro needs of their region and the people. In regards to the suggestion of a special rapporteur on human rights education -- while it is a welcome proposal, I doubt whether it alone would fulfill the needs that we perceive. Human rights education is more a process of promoting a world human rights community than making a few million people familiar with certain standardised national and international norms and processes. There is a need for greater collective effort to estimate the merits and demerits of the entire exercise. Understanding and observation of human rights education and their impact on different stakeholders is both a structural and attitudinal issue. In that case, several others who are involved in HRE in various capacities and are equipped to make constructive analysis on the subject should also be involved in the process. There certainly is a need to take stock of global impact of HRE. Before going into this I see the need to work more to develop a framework to examine HRE experiments. This framework may need modifications/alterations to meet the local need to study HRE situation. Taking stock of the curriculum, study materials, mode of teaching is necessary when looking into the institutionalised efforts. Where HRE is an open ended exercise emerging through activism or social research the assessment criteria have to be different. Given this diversity of HRE it would not be wise at this stage to identify the experts and their tasks. This has to come through a careful policy making exercise. Let me be honest, there is a gap between the United Nations and the ground level initiatives in India. This is a case in funding too. When I say this I do not mean contributions of the UN in the field of HRE is less significant. What I mean is that the existence of this fund is not felt by several of those in India who are engaged in HRE in their own creative ways. There is a need of funding. More is the need to channel funds to ensure that they reach the right destination. There is room to improve on this further. To be frank, human rights educators in India do not feel the role of the United Nations agencies as deeply as they should. In a society like India, diversity of language, livelihood or life systems of the social groups are so large that even the enforcement mechanism of the State often fails to cover every unit of human settlement. But this has a positive effect too. This enables societies to keep their own culture and developmental processes operational simultaneously with the state initiatives. Any evaluation of HRE has to be carried out taking this very peculiar situational context. In this connection I would also argue that there is a genuine need of HRE materials. My personal position needs to be placed here to develop my argument further. I have experienced HRE from three distinct positions. First of all, as a researcher I have studied the basic international laws and the cases of human rights violations elsewhere in the world deeply and found that there are much more violations than what we see apparently. Secondly, as a teacher of human rights I have the opportunity to revisit many a number of the basic texts on which the international laws on human rights and domestic laws in India have developed. Teaching has been of enormous help to me to interact with new genre of human rights students and their understanding of societal and other forms of violence. An HRE course can further sharpen their perception, or may even distort it depending upon who is teaching, and how does he/she take human rights. Thirdly, I am associated with several campaign and advocacy networks taking up crucial national and international concerns. The people involved in these activities learn the basics of human rights from their life experiences. Many people involved in the field either do not have or have very limited knowledge of HRE. At the same time, their collective wisdom reveal extraordinary conceptual clarity about human rights and human dignity. Human rights materials need to include all that is contributory to accelerate human rights awareness. If HRE materials are there they should be available on-line. They must be distributed either freely or at low price. But then what are those materials we are talking about? Those materials which have international importance! But there are also vernacular materials focusing on local issues of human rights. These materials are to be valued equally. And then they have to be produced and distributed if necessary. The United Nations and donor agencies have lots to contribute to make this a reality. More and more the domestic laws of a country, which is party to the UN, are getting reformed to comply with the UDHR, various internationals laws and the agreements arrived at through international conferences/conventions. HRE is taking a comprehensive shape. In this situation every stream of national life is accountable to promote and protect human rights. The business community or trade/financial organisations are no difference. Their cooperation is needed. This should not be limited to support from outside only, in their operational aspects too, the human rights perspective must prevail. My optimism reminds me that the overall impact of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education is impressive. And the continuation of the Decade for another term should be accepted without a second thought. I like to end up with a hopeful note that members of this on-line forum will engineer their best effort to get this done. Thanks, Somen Chakraborty Human Rights Unit Indian Social Institute New Delhi, India E-mail: somen@unv.ernet.in ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 16:57:07 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03Gv7049997 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 16:57:07 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031657.h03Gv7049997@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 23:56:50 +0100 From: Jana Ondrácková Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear HRE adamants, We have now all come to the end of a vicious circle: to have human rights people have to know something about them, thus they need human rights education. They have the right to such education. However, not knowing their rights, they do not know about their right to HRE and not having HRE they do not know their rights. To expect governments, public servants, the education system, simply any authority to promote human rights, let alone human rights education, would be to expect the unnatural. This will never happen. The only institutions that will relentlessly, exhausted, stand (mostly alone) in the struggle to bring HRE into the curriculum, to the young generation in and out of school activities, will be the NGO's. Some, like Shula's, will go on fighting till the end of their days, others will retire or just drop dead. This is not being pessimistic, but realistic. Curricula, methodologies, programs and projects have been designed, published. There are thousands of printed pages dealing with the theory and practice of HRE. Yet the result is dismal. Very few governments have actually introduced HRE in the school curricula and they do this under pressure, for public appearance or election reasons, boosting their public image, etc. As for international organizations and institutions -- they operate on a shoestring and in global dimensions. The actual results of their decisions, deliberations, memos and the like, hardly ever find their way to the grassroots level. So what do we do? Quite frankly after twelve years in the service I am at a loss. Having published several manuals, dozens of pages of methodology, programs and projects and coordinated quite a few, taught children, students and teachers, I do not see much light at the end of the tunnel. I do not believe Decades, Centuries, Centenaries or any other memorials do much good. The only real achievements can be made slowly, against all odds, way down at base level: in the school, the family, the community, by enthusiasts, NGO's, their groupings, and best of all by young people who will spread the word: people actually do have human rights, should have them not only on paper but in everyday life. Governments should not only publish reports on how human rights are respected in other countries but also in their own, people should be able to hold their government to account. To do this may must know how, when and where! We have had wild demonstrations against globalization in this country on various occasions (like other countries). Why not use globalization for a good purpose, just for a change? Why not do HRE through the Internet where it is available in the schools and in youth organizations? Make HRE part of out-of school activities? In this country HRE is not part of the curriculum. The Ministry of Education is now trying a new curriculum for elementary schools, through its Education Research Institute (it has been functioning for ages). I, like other HRE activists, have no knowledge of the scheme and doubt I ever will. The results will probably come to us through official channels. There you go! I wish a public inquiry could be made to find out how many people in this country (and in yours) know anything about human rights and HRE and if so how much. I believe the results would be dismal. A Decade thought? Possibly. Wishing you all the best in 2003, Jana Ondrácková Czech Republic E-mail: ondra@ri.ipex.cz ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 16:57:45 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03GvjF50112 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 16:57:45 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031657.h03GvjF50112@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 09:45:15 +0300 From: Bohdan Volchko To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues, Thanks a lot for this conversation. I'm Bohdan Volchko - a lawyer, a representative of Helsinki '90, an active human rights advocate, fundraiser and consultant. I uphold the ideas raised by the participants of the forum. Day by day I work on inform-consultation activity promoting human rights and freedoms. Our organization and many of our partners are interested in such questions. One of the purposes of our activity is organizing and conducting public law consultations, inform-educational campaigns on human rights and seminar-trainings on human rights advocacy. Our organizations, Princes-Benefactors Ostrozkiy Foundation and Volyn Resource Center, work in the Volyn, Khmelnytsk, Zhytomyr and Rivne regions of Ukraine. Human rights is infused within the legal education curricula throughout Ukraine. Organisations like the Ukrainian Legal Foundation and Amnesty International are actively working in schools. Human rights trainings for judges, prison staff and law enforcement officials, among others, have been conducted around the country for many years now -- often in partnership with NGOs from Central and Western Europe and the United States -- although I do not know how systematic these efforts are. We are not sure how many of these activities are actually presented within the framework of the Decade. The main problems human rights NGOs face here is a lack of staff, training programs, and social-culture exchange programs. Leadership has active influence in all spheres of third sector through conferences, seminars, joint projects. That's why it is necessary to include money in the budget for the actions. We also need more political freedom for the realization of principles adopted within the Ukrainian Constitution, laws, and supported by international donors. We have need to improve educational and awareness campaigns among citizens, public organizations and others. We hope that we can continue our conversation with this forum's participants. With best wishes, Bohdan Bohdan Volchko, Lawyer The Princes-Benefactors Ostrozkiy Foundation Volyn Resource Center 36 Kyivska St., Rivne 33027 Ukraine Tel/fax +38(0362)290-674 E-mail: vrc@ukrwest.net ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 16:58:01 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03Gw1j50166 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 16:58:01 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031658.h03Gw1j50166@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 10:35:36 -0500 To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Extending On-line Forum on follow-up to Decade for HRE Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear Members, We are pleased to let you know that the on-line forum on the follow-up to the UN Decade for Human Rights Education will be extended until Wednesday, 18 December. We hope that this will give more members a chance to contribute to the discussion and make suggestions for follow-up to the Decade for Human Rights Education. Tomorrow (Saturday) you will receive a draft summary of the discussion on follow-up at the international level as well as other messages posted during the past week that address follow-up at local/national and regional levels. Looking forward to our continued exchanges. Warm regards, Frank Elbers List moderator ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 16:58:22 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03GwMI50241 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 16:58:22 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031658.h03GwMI50241@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 20:39:52 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Doreen Lwanga Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Please allow me contribute to the ongoing debate on HRE. An emphasis on actor-oriented training should be the key goal, where the target group is in fact given a higher platform to teach the so-called "experts". This is when people will learn to translate human rights into their own lives. Coming from a country where the system of education used "Western" education models and materials, I experienced first hand the difficulty of enjoying my academic life. In fact, my own profession developed out of a practical internship in human rights I participated in with a local NGO in Uganda. It is not enough for people to speak for the "victims" when in fact the victims are never present at the event. Or when the victims are never scheduled within the timetable. This is particularly true with "Northern" human rights NGOs working within Africa, who conduct meetings and training with a sample selection of "expert" staff of the host country but not their constituencies. In addition, if we are talking about discrimination of women, it is not enough to work with e.g. male heads of state because their experiences can never reflect the real needs of women. Or if you are talking about refugees but only working with refugee workers who are "aware" of challenges of their constituencies, but will always be limited as "outsiders", their own biases cannot be underestimated. When addressing racial discrimination, an equal representation of all racial groups is very necessary. Another group that has often been underepresented is "indigenous people". Especially in North America (particularly USA), where Native Americans are almost absent in every human rights fora. Most importantly, anyone attempting to train people in human rights should have formal or informal human rights training and awareness in a language that translates to the target group. In Uganda, lawyers are coming up in public challenging human rights violation through creative legal interpretation. This is in fact serving a great deal to the non legal public who may not be aware of what is right or wrong and their right to protection. The Center for National Human Rights Education in Atlanta, Georgia, USA is one training source I would highly recommend. Doreen N. Lwanga Uganda E-mail: d_klutz@yahoo.com ----------------------------------------------------------- "the struggle for liberation of African peoples still continues, never settle for our present oppression". Arrested Development ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 16:58:54 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03GwsE50312 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 16:58:54 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031658.h03GwsE50312@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Fri, 13 Dec 2002 20:22:30 -0500 To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Década para EDH: Recomendaciones de actividades, tanto a nivel regional (Resumen) Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org [***Moderators' note: Below you will find a Spanish translation of the draft summary of the follow-up to the HRE Decade at the regional level. Many thanks to Gerardo Sanchez of IIDH for editing a preliminary version of the translation. For the English version, please see: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/msg01072.html ***] Estimados miembros: Más abajo encontrarán el resumen de actividades recomendadas, a nivel regional (por ejemplo, América Latina) y sub-regional (por ejemplo, Sureste asiático), como parte del seguimiento a la Década para la Educación en Derechos Humanos (EDH). Adicionalmente, hemos incluido también las recomendaciones de actividades a nivel nacional y local. Los instamos a leer estos resúmenes y si lo tuvieran a bien, hacernos llegar sus comentarios cuanto antes, pues el foro concluirá el miércoles 18 de diciembre. SEGUIMIENTO DE LA DÉCADA PARA EDH EN LOS NIVELES SUB-REGIONAL Y REGIONALES Los miembros de la lista enviaron comentarios sobre las estrategias y necesidades de América Latina, el mundo árabe y el sudeste asiático. Las estrategias fueron relacionadas con la situación nacional de la EDH imperante en esas regiones. A nivel nacional, la EDH se muestra fuerte en América latina, y se ha venido desarrollando desde los años 80. Hay redes activas para aquéllos comprometidos con los derechos humanos y con la educación en derechos humanos. Estas redes y esfuerzos nacionales se llevan a cabo en ámbitos no gubernamentales. Por el contrario, un suscriptor del sureste asiático ha sentido que el esfuerzo regional en EDH ha sido en general muy débil, si se exceptúa el trabajo realizado en las Filipinas y en Tailandia. Los suscriptores han reconocido los particulares desafíos y oportunidades para la EDH en sus regiones. Sobre la base de estas observaciones, han propuesto diferentes soluciones para fortalecer la posición de la EDH. El esfuerzo en EDH en América Latina podría vigorizarse mediante el fortalecimiento de las relaciones entre las redes latinoamericanas y las existentes en América del Norte o en otras partes - solución que implica resolver la existencia de barreras idiomáticas. Se sugirió también un mayor apoyo de los gobiernos a la EDH, introduciéndola dentro de los planes de estudio como un tema central. Finalmente, se mencionó la existencia de problemas estructurales que deben ser enfrentados cotidianamente, tales como pobreza, inequidad e injusticia. Un suscriptor indicó la falta de apoyo estructural de los gobiernos a organizacones nacionales o internacionales del mundo árabe en materia de EDH. La estrategia adoptada por el grupo regional de EDH al que pertenece ha sido de índole cultural: demostrar cómo la cultura árabe es consistente con los valores y principios de los derechos humanos. "Todas las culturas, incluyendo las occidentales, deben hacer su mejor esfuerzo para identificar las contradicciones internas con los valores universales de los derechos humanos." Las conferencias regionales han procurado desarrollar este punto de vista entre los representantes árabes, lo que dio lugar a la Declaración de El Cairo para la Educación y Difusión de los Derechos Humanos. Otras estrategias propuestas para reducir las barreras culturales hacia el sistema de valores de los derechos humanos en el mundo árabe son: (i) reconocimiento de la EDH como una dimensión crucial de la reforma política y constitucional; (ii) creación de enfoques innovadores y atractivos de la EDH - incluso valiéndose de las artes visuales, el teatro y las humanidades - para inspirar una conciencia humana y relacionarse con la vida cotidiana; (iii) búsqueda de puntos de acuerdo entre los valores de los derechos humanos y las tradiciones culturales y religiosas árabes. El último punto supone el liderazgo de intelectuales y académicos religiosos. En el Sureste asiático se recomendó a los actores de la sociedad civil, activos en EDH, la formación de coaliciones estratégicas y alianzas para promover la EDH por medio de enfoques formales, no formales e informales. "Nuestras culturas nos enseñan a valorar la cooperación," ha dicho un particpante del Sureste asiático. Las organizaciones de la sociedad civil mencionadas no incluyen solamente a las ONG's, sino también organizaciones populares, intelectuales, comunidades religiosas, medios de comunicación y el mundo de los negocios. ************************ SEGUIMIENTO A NIVEL LOCAL O NACIONAL DE LA DÉCADA PARA LA EDH - ADDENDUM AVANCES INSPIRADOS POR LA DÉCADA PARA LA EDH Estructura y Políticas: Mediante un acuerdo entre el Ministerio de Educación y una organización regional de EDH, fue creada una red nacional de educadores en derechos humanos en Panamá. En Suráfrica, la Comisión de Derechos Humanos y ONG's del Foro para la Educación en Derechos Humanos sostuvieron reuniones mensuales a nivel provincial para discutir y planear proyectos de EDH. Ahí se incluyó a la educación en derechos humanos como una materia transversal en la educación primaria y secundaria. Actividades: En Suráfrica, las ONG's y el gobierno han organizado sucesivas campañas de conciencia sobre asuntos de derechos humanos, especialmente en el Día Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (marzo 21) y en el Día Internacional de los Derechos Humanos (diciembre 10). En algunas universidades, los estudiantes de Derecho capacitan a los profesores y/o a estudiantes de secundaria a educar sobre derecho, derechos humanos y democracia. En Panamá un programa de entrenamiento a capacitadores será organizado mediante el uso de la recientemente creada Red Nacional de Educadores en Derechos Humanos. En Belarús, se han publicado algunos materiales educativos y alguna informción sobre el sistema de Naciones Unidas, a la vez que hay planes para colocar información en un sitio electrónico. LIMITACIONES La carencia de materiales didácticos con respaldo gubernamental y la falta de oportunidades de capacitación para los profesores, así como resistencia administrativa y un curriculum sobrecargado, han limitado la implementación de la EDH como una materia transversal de los planes de estudio en muchos países (Suráfrica fue mencionada como ejemplo). En Belarús no existen manuales ni oportunidades para capacitar a los profesores en EDH. Otra barrera a la EDH es la existencia de gobiernos no-democráticos, y una cultura general legal y política débil (e.g. Belarus). RECOMENDACIONES DE ACTIVIDADES PARA PROMOVER LA EDH A NIVEL NACIONAL ONG's: Difusión de información, incluso en asociación con los medios de comunicación. Extensión para llegar a los profesores. (Belarus) Gobiernos nacionales: Los gobiernos pueden incrementar el acceso a la información, facilitar intercambios globales y promover una cultura global de derechos humanos, facilitando el acceso a Internet en escuelas secundarias. Naciones Unidas: Se sugirió que la presente Década fuera seguida por otra Década para la Educación en Derechos Humanos. "Crear una cultura global de los derechos humanos debe ser la meta para el siglo XXI." Otro miembro de la lista escribió que en un reciente seminario regional se propuso que la Década para la Educación en Derechos Humanos fuera seguida por una Década para la Educación en Democracia. ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 16:59:50 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03GxoU50470 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 16:59:50 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031659.h03GxoU50470@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Sat, 14 Dec 2002 22:49:36 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level (Draft Summary) Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear members, Below you will find the draft summary of the recommendations for activities at the international level to follow-up the Decade for HRE. We have also included separately recommendations for activities at the sub-regional, regional, national and local levels, which were submitted in the recent week. We encourage you to read these summaries and add your comments as soon as possible, as the Forum will conclude on Wednesday, 18 December. --------------------------------------------- FOLLOW-UP AT INTERNATIONAL LEVEL TO DECADE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION List members commented on strategies at the international level, specifically the role the United Nations (UN) can play. The UN and other international organisations should monitor government's compliance with HRE commitments but NGOs should also take the initiative on this. It was recommended that NGOs coordinate their efforts in publishing regular regional or international reports on HRE as a tool of pressure on their governments and the existing regional and international structures. In addition, States should be required to report extensively on HRE and get UN comments on their report, which can be the basis for a long-term strategy. Exercises such as this on-line forum could be turned into a formal report to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This report could include systematic elaborations of HRE obligations, survey results on people's knowledge of human rights, projected needs for HRE to fill this gap, and reports on "best practices" and could be the basis for future OHCHR actions. Guidelines should be formulated for what constitutes the basic minimum understanding that rights holders should have of their rights and duty bearers should have of their duties. This effort could be included as a General Comment on the Human Right to Human Rights Education for one of the human rights treaty bodies at the UN. Members pointed out that there is a need to take stock of the global impact of HRE; a need to work more to develop a framework to examine HRE curricula, study materials, and modes of teaching/training. Several participants agreed that the Decade needs to continue because HRE is a long-term process. HRE programs need to be evaluated, followed up, and programmes developed that have an impact that are measurable. If the Decade finishes within such a short period of time it will make it more difficult for NGOs at the local level to insist that governments and other institutions continue to implement, support and develop programmes. A member pointed out that the UN Decade for HRE has been a useful framework that gives HRE a certain status and importance. A number of Amnesty International sections and structures, for example, have lobbied and worked with governments to include human rights within the curriculum. The Decade has provided a central focus and as a UN initiative is more likely to be taken seriously. If a second decade is initiated, however, more precise benchmarks need to be defined on what needs to to achieved in each region, in each country, e.g. how many states do we want to ratify the international and regional instruments during the Decade?; what are minimum standards related to HRE?; etcetera. Another participant supported the idea of second decade provided that the international community recognises that the majority of countries have still to take the necessary initiatives as suggested during the current Decade. Some skepticism was expressed as well: "I do not believe that Decades, Centuries, Centenaries or any other memorials do much good. The only real achievement can be made slowly, against all odds, in the school, the family, the community, by enthusiasts, NGOs, their groupings and best of all by young people", according to a member from the Czech Republic. The idea of a Special Rapporteur on human rights education was raised once more. Some felt that NGOs should make better use of political opportunities presented by OHCHR to engage governments in pushing for reforms, including more systematic HRE programs and the government budgets required for these. Finally, a practical suggestion was made regarding funding for HRE activities. NGOs should look to donor agencies, such as the IMF and World Bank, and lobby them to support HRE and human rights reforms through national or regional offices. ---------------------------------------------- FOLLOW-UP AT SUB-REGIONAL AND REGIONAL LEVELS TO DECADE FOR HRE 1. Status of HRE at the sub-regional and regional levels In Latin America, with the recovery of democracy, almost all the countries have introduced HRE into the formal curriculum. However, a list member pointed out, governments are devoted to other objectives and are not fully committed to HRE. Ministries of Education should be fully responsible for advancing human rights. This process of strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law in Latin America has been accompanied by a tendency to strengthen the right to human rights education. Within this legal and policy framework it will be possible to further strengthen HRE and increase the participation of civil society in promoting and defending human rights. Human rights cities have been developed in the regions of Latin America, Asia and Africa that allow all sectors of society to take part in an ongoing dialogue and examination of the relevance of the human rights framework to the inhabitants. Regional learning institutions for human rights are being developed in Africa, Asia Pacific, South Asia and Latin America in order to provide intensive training of community leaders so they can initiate further development of these human rights cities. Amnesty International has held regional HRE workshops in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The agenda has depended upon the needs and situation of a particular region, but have resulted in the initiation of ideas and strategies at the national level. Regional and sub-regional workshops facilitate active cooperation between NGOs and allow for efficient capacity building since many of the national NGOs have small staffs. Regional materials development workshops facilitate the adaptation of materials from other places. 2. Regional strategies for promoting HRE A participant from Costa Rica recommended a number of strategies to promote HRE in Latin American/Caribbean. First, states that have not already done so should ratify the international and regional instruments that guarantee minimum standards relating to HRE (specifically the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights "Protocol of San Salvador," adopted in 1988) and consider policy measures in favor of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, women, people and other vulnerable groups. Second, there should be a regional, inter-American strategy to exchange experiences, to develop pedagogical tools and to delineate common principles for educational policies in human rights and democracy. Some members felt that NGOs should make better use of existing resources by engaging in more networking, sharing of ideas, materials and approaches, and taking advantage of Internet-based information dissemination technologies. HRE materials should be made available on-line as much as possible and be distributed freely or at a low price; these materials should include both international exemplary materials as well as those focusing on local issues of human rights. Another member was in the opinion that human rights educators should become further professionalised and recognised through dedicated organisations, annual meetings, and journals. It was suggested that the Council of Europe make human rights a major sub-theme of the anticipated "European Year of Citizenship through Education" and explicitly include the Decade for HRE objectives in it. European institutions such as the Council of Europe and the European Union need to offer substantial funding opportunities that are explicitly open to this area of activities. Funding could be made available for European networking, developing the expertise of human rights NGOs, to commonly developed materials, etc. Finally, it was suggested that regional and sub-regional workshops should be promoted, as they are an important means for sharing materials, developing ideas and providing capacity building. They should always be aimed at promoting national and local programs, however. Regional strategies can be used to guide national strategies and to develop approaches for governments and inter-governmental agencies. Regional strategies can also assist NGOs in developing a more coordinated and strategic approach to developing programs and campaigns. ***************** FOLLOW-UP TO DECADE FOR HRE AT LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEVELS - ADDENDUM 1. Areas of gains, inspired by the Decade for HRE: The Decade for HRE has brought about qualitative and quantitative differences in India, including new HRE curriculums that are being used at universities and institutions. Civil society members of the Flemish community in Belgium took the initiative to organise an NGO with HRE as its main mission, within the framework of the Decade for HRE. Human rights are also integrated into the core curriculum of compulsory education within the Flemish community. In Ukraine, human rights are infused within the legal education curricula throughout the country. 2. Areas of limitations: Members pointed out that it remains difficult to get the resources needed for a long-term, stable functioning of HRE programming, often caused by the complexity of the state structure, the lack of a minister with explicit overall authority over human rights education, no structural funding opportunities for HRE, and the lack of political will. (Belgium) Curricula, methodologies, programmes and projects have been designed and disseminated. Yet very few governments have actually introduced HRE in the school curricula and they do this only under public pressure, for public appearance or election reasons. One cannot expect governments, public servants, the education system, simply any authority to promote human rights, let alone human rights education. "The only institutions that will relentlessly, exhausted, stand (mostly alone) in the struggle to bring HRE into the curriculum will be the NGOs", said a member from the Czech Republic. One of the major problems with HRE in the formal sector, it was pointed out, is the lack of training given to teachers within their normal teaching training program to implement genuine HRE within their classes. If this does not happen, then introducing it into the curriculum is only a token gesture. 3. Recommendations for future activities to promote HRE at the national level: Training It was recommended that train-the-trainers courses should be long enough to include a range of skills, including needs analysis of the target group, workshop and session design, developing appropriate materials. Such courses require an appropriate commitment of funds at the international, regional and national levels. Another participant suggested that an emphasis on actor-oriented training should be the key goal, where the target group is in fact given a higher platform to teach the so-called "experts." Underrepresented groups -- women, refugees, indigenous peoples -- should included as trainers. The trainers should be able to work in a language that translates to the target group. HRE could be done through the Internet where it is available in the schools and in youth organisations. Funding & evaluation Various recommendations were made regarding funding and evaluation. It was suggested that NGOs find additional resources by charging fee-for-services and partner with businesses in areas of mutual interest, e.g., anti-corruption. Further, it seems unreasonable to expect the government to fund HRE but NGOs can seek partnership and build rapport with governments. Civil servants can be involved in planning and strategising for HRE, and participating both as facilitators and trainees, according a member from Kenya. Governments, government officials, and non-state actors need to make a serious commitment with funding but they also need to contribute by putting human rights into practice in their own organisations and for their own employees. Several participants in the discussion addressed the issue of how to measure impact. Said a member from the USA: "Any society in which the rights holders do not know their rights or the duty bearers do not know their duties associated with those rights does not have a properly functioning human rights system" Public inquiries could be held to find out how many people in a country know about human rights and HRE. Such surveys could begin with the question of what constitutes an adequate baseline understanding of human rights for the people of this country, or "duty holders". It should determine what constitutes an adequate baseline understanding of human rights by government officials or "duty bearers". Set clear goals and targets and press the government to support the programmes. Concentrate especially on security forces, lawmakers and the media in training efforts. This is relevant for all countries, regardless of level of wealth. It was also suggested to organise quality evaluations that examine how effective HRE programmes have been in the long term: how people's lives or school environments changed, if people behave differently. Policy A set of recommendations was made by an organisation from Costa Rica: (i) governments can continue the process of progressive enrichment of HRE by means of constitutional reforms that facilitate the processes of adjusting national legislation to incorporate international instruments; (ii) governments should progressively increase the incorporation of obligations and principles about HRE in special laws on education and other connected laws with that subject, in order to design or reformulate public policies to be implemented by means of national plans and budget allocation; (iii) states that have not yet approved laws related to HRE should be encouraged to discuss such initiatives with the participation of civil society and concerned institutions; (iv) public policies, programmes and plans related to HRE (including both formal and non-formal education) should be reformulated so that there is better coordination between the different institutions that execute them. A member from Russia urged Russian federal authorities to adjust educational plans so that they include human rights as a subject. Finally, it was suggested that NGOs should come forward with more concrete proposals at the national and regional levels asking OHCHR for help. ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:00:05 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H05X50882 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:00:05 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031700.h03H05X50882@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f From: Derek Sheppard To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 09:15:44 +1000 Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Hi HRE activists, Human rights and education that includes it, or that progresses it in some way/s, is an issue in every country, from the first world, so called developed countries to third world developing countries. Rights and freedom can be a hard struggle to achieve in developed countries, because political systems seek to implement policies that have a more narrow view of rights than proposed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Another example, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, has not been adequately implemented years after it was ratified by most countries. This is a time when rights are being curtailed. And when there are rights, access to justice to ensure the rights are upheld is far too expensive for most people. I speak from experience with civil and criminal justice in Australia. I also speak with the experience and immense struggles to establish the only truly democratic school in Australia, in which rights (along with responsibilities) for people of all ages are implicit. I also speak as a parent. Elected governments at federal, state and local levels simply don't understand that human rights are available to everyone. Rights are not adequately built into legislation. Parents don't know that their children have rights. Too many teachers and principals of many mainstream schools are too busy scrambling for more students and more money in wages to recognise the need for their students voices to be heard. The minor attempts at giving at least voices to young people in student representative councils are manipulated by teachers and principals so that favoured people get the nod. I have addressed and participated in forums with our students, who attended by choice, where issues of children's rights have been the focus, but very few other students were in attendance, and were outnumbered by far more adults. The information about the Universal Declaration and the Convention on the Rights of the Child is simply not getting through. I suggest there needs to be a completely fresh look at human rights, and responsibilities. I think that there should be a new movement that seeks to update and review of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The purpose of this would be to create a ground up movement to create discussion, that will hopefully end up in the strengthening of all human rights (not just for adults, but young people, all people irrespective of religion, sexual preferences, colour, etc). I just don't think the issue of human rights is current enough to get people thinking and acting to uphold rights around the world in every country. Too much lip service is paid to the subject. A decade or even a generation may be required to give the process of review and renewal enough time to permeate through all levels of all countries. So I agree with Jana about how much people know. But there won't be public enquiries, because politicians and leaders are too busy and wouldn't want to know the outcomes. Finally, I think it should be said that human rights, like most other things that have been analysed and broken down into subject based matter, cannot simply be taught - it must be experienced and lived day to day, just like democracy. You can talk as have people read as much as you would like about human rights, but unless they can exercise their rights, unless they really know they actually have the rights, and feel empowered, it will all be just words. We all need more of the practice, not more of the words. Regards, Derek Sheppard (a Founder and elected Staff) The Booroobin Sudbury School - a centre of learning, Queensland, Australia www.booroobinschool.com.au Ph / fax +61 07 5499 9944 On Fri, 13 Dec 2002, Jana Ondrácková" wrote: > > I wish a public inquiry could be made to find out how many people in this > country (and in yours) know anything about human rights and HRE and if so > how much. I believe the results would be dismal. A Decade thought? > Possibly. > ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:00:38 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H0cU50990 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:00:38 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031700.h03H0cU50990@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Mon, 16 Dec 2002 23:11:23 +0100 From: Jana Ondrácková Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues, It has been extremely enlightening to read the summary. Let me underline several items which I believe are the most important: The idea of a Special Rapporteur -- who would this be, how is he/she to be chosen. For all countries, or individually? Who will he/she rapport to, what will his/her responsibilities and competences be. Is this to be something like an ombudsman for HRE? Yes, NGO's should definitely look to donor agencies. However, they should be very careful to make sure that the donor agency does not take decisions on the nature of the HRE, its philosophy and ideology (various -- churches and religious groups might have specific and quite frankly unacceptable ideas about human rights), as might powerful commercial lobbies. I agree that civil society should take part in strengthening, promoting and defending human rights. Again with caution -- some parents, members of the public and even officials or teachers might have „specific" ideas on children's human rights and their own vis-á-vis these rights. NGO's should make better use of networking, exchanging experiences and ideas. They should, however, be careful about using materials written in other countries with different culture, history, tradition, etc. As exemplary materials yes, but always to be modified to suit the respective country, setting, age group. Focusing on local issues is, yes, extremely important. Trouble is, with lack of funds, many NGO's often fight for funding instead of joining forces. So in the end those who find their way to officialdom in one way or another, get the most, while others get nothing. Thereby may have valuable materials and no funds to publish, or even have funds to write and publish but no funds left to use them in projects. Projects may run for a year or two and then the money runs out and the publications get stuck in libraries with no use for anyone (an example is the Czech Helsinki Committee's project "Neighbours"). As for commonly developed materials: every country is different and commonly developed materials hardly ever really fit. Yet many are used because the developer organization (usually from a rich country), in good will and believing that it knows best pays for the accompanying projects (the common response to such materials from the receiving organization is: we got money to do the project with the publications and have no funding to do our own so let us do the one offered to us). Promoting national, regional or even local programmes and projects is, I believe, the ideal solution. Of course you study other people's materials, of course, you go into the library and do your research and homework, sometimes you might even copy an idea or two. But always: match the materials, publications, projects and programmes to the situation on the ground. The lack of training given to teachers and the lack of information given to parents and the general public is the greatest problem. HRE not being an official part of the curriculum, teachers feel reluctant to add to their teaching burden by further education in a subject which they do not find they really need. One which is not supported, financed or otherwise heeded. Parents and the general public do not feel it important for children and young „rebels" to know anything about their rights. It is easier to complain about „young hooligans" than to bring up decent and responsible -- kids who know that human rights are not about smashing other people's property or about turning cities into terrorized areas requiring massive police protection. We have had experience with trying to organize teacher training sessions to which not a single teacher in the region would assign. There is generally very little interest in any such study courses. So unless HRE is made part of the school curriculum for teachers to have to teach and part of the curriculum in teacher training colleges (which it hardly ever is) for student teachers to have to attend it will be difficult to organize any kind of further teacher training. And without teacher training there is no HRE. The lack of funds for such training is another problem. Yes, teacher training could be done through the Internet. Pupils and students could also be trained thus. I fully agree that the police, the judiciary and especially public servants could well be served by HRE, especially in the post-totalitarian countries. We have done HRE projects at our secondary police training school and at our Police Academy with good results. Quality evaluations are a good idea but like the Rapporteur: who would be responsible and who would be in charge and on what basis? Wishing a Very Happy Christmas and a Good HRE Year 2003 to you, your loved ones and your countries, and much success in your human rights efforts, Jana Jana Ondrácková Czech Republic E-mail: ondra@ri.ipex.cz ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:00:54 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H0s951041 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:00:54 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031700.h03H0s951041@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 17:50:51 +0100 From: Catrin Pekari To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear Members, Before the Forum will be closing tomorrow, we would like to add some comments to this very fruitful and valid discussion regarding the situation of HRE in Austria. We are writing to you as representatives of an NGO (ETC - European Training- and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy), located in Graz. One of our major activities is the development of training programs and the conduct of research in the fields of human rights, promotion of democracy and the rule of law. We offer training programs for specific target groups, such as national and international civil servants, the police, the legal profession and the judiciary, members of non-governmental organisations, the educational sector as well as experts of international organisations on field missions etc. Additionally we carry out the coordination of the world-wide project "human rights cities" in Austria, whereas Graz is the first Human Rights City in Europe. In this project one of the major goals is the participation of all citizens in the implementation process, leading to empowerment, better knowledge and activism of individuals concerning their human rights. For more information, please visit us online at: www.etc-graz.at In elaborating our seminars and training programs we experienced what most of the other participants of the ongoing discussion mentioned already, namely the lack of institutional or structural support of the government for conducting comprehensive and effective HRE. Regarding this fact we would like to very much underline the accuracy of the comments of Wim Taelman from Belgium who summed up very significantly the problem HRE (and its activists, mostly NGOs) is facing in Western European countries. As most of the other members of the European Union, Austria has an impressive record of ratified international treaties, conventions and disposed obligations, especially concerning human rights. Moreover the Austrian government declared HRE as one of the priorities in its human rights policies, showing initiative in many international conferences in this field. However, when it comes to the concrete implementation on a national or regional level, the commitment to actively put into practice these obligations decreases noticeably. That of course doesn't mean we didn't have some good experiences as well, especially regarding project-based support, where we have received funds from different authorities enabling us to carry out various projects and training programs, especially in South-Eastern Europe. But it still remains difficult to get support for a long-term, stable and sustainable plan of HRE, including the integration of HRE in the country-wide educational system. Austria does not have a national action plan for HRE, neither an independent national human rights education commission or any structural, long-term funding opportunities for organisations carrying out the implementation activities. Therefore, it is very often up to the personal energy, relations and engagement of individuals or individual organisations to get the support they need, but without any structural "framework" they could rely on. One of the reasons we see in this rather disappointing strategy of governments and official authorities is, as already mentioned by some contributors, the lack of a precise and clear definition of what human rights education really means and how those strategies implementing the Decade would really look like. Therefore governments always have the possibility to allocate "some" activities in their country related to HRE and present them as a contribution to the Decade without necessarily having a full-fledged national HRE strategy, vision and support. Looking at the international level, we fully agree that the Decade should be continued as the whole process started in 1995 needs much more time to develop and take roots in daily life. On the other hand, we believe this 2nd stage or follow-up of the Decade should improve in quality and international collaboration and coordination a lot. We would like to foster the ideas of Abraham Magendzo from Chile, who pointed out the importance of being "more precise on what we want to achieve in each region and in each country in the Second Decade". Only if the goals and the implemental vision of such a follow-up Decade are elaborated and adjusted to the needs of different regions in the world, we will be able to put much more pressure on our governments, leading them to take into consideration these "adjusted requirements for implementation" and therefore to much more effective HRE plans of action. A regular UN reporting system, as suggested by Wim Taelman, under close cooperation with NGOs ("naming and shaming strategy") would definitely be an important tool to monitor such new requirements. A concerted action of us all and more united HRE communities are needed to shape the special place and focus on HRE in the whole international human rights issues debate. The ETC has started the process of institutionalisation of HRE with drafting a Declaration on the main principles of HRE to be adopted during the Ministerial meeting of the Human Security Network which will take place in May 2003 in Graz. Such steps can be undertaken more broadly and on many different levels in order to assure the genuine recognition and institutionalisation of HRE. Only then, can we hope for more leverage, understanding and noticeable impact. Best regards, The Human Rights Education Team of the ETC ETC (European Training- and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy) Mozarthof, Schubertstrasse 29 A-8010 Graz / Austria Tel.+43/316/322-888-1, Fax:+43/316/322-888-4 email: office@etc-graz.at web: www.etc-graz.at ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:01:30 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H1U551148 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:01:30 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031701.h03H1U551148@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Rui GOMES Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2002 22:17:36 +0100 Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues, The three years programme on HRE with young people was established by the Council of Europe's Directorate of Youth and Sport to redress the situation and to bring human rights into the mainstream of youth work. It is being a humble - but firm - attempt to make HRE accessible and attractive to those youth workers, youth leaders, trainers and simple young people who work with other young people, mostly in non-formal education. Not only (or not primarily) to those who are already experienced, active and motivated. It is therefore a programme that aspires to bring human rights and HRE closer to the reality of young people. This is far from being an easy task. The first results of the programme so far reveal and confirm some trends, which, while not being unique, are relevant to take into account when reviewing the status of HRE today. Apathy: many young people in Europe grow up with the impression that their fundamental human rights are not violated, or that the threats to their human rights are of a relative importance when compared to the realities in other countries and continents. The richer and more "developed" is the country, the more difficult it seems to talk with young people in HRE especially in relation to their local or national reality. This has little to do with their general awareness or level of participation in society. One of the purposes of the programme is, therefore, to bring HRE to the front scene and to empower/train young people to understand the issues of their concerns in a global human rights perspective that includes their own reality. Many young people (still) associate HRE with specialised work, requiring an inside knowledge of international and constitutional law. The perception that the awareness of human rights is sufficient is also prevailing. Similarly, the perception that human rights is essentially civil, political and legal contributes to the "relative satisfaction" and apathy. The recent years have brought with them also a tendency to accept violations to social and economic human rights as "inevitable". A particular emphasis of our activities is therefore the indivisibility of human rights, finding ways to connect the global and the local dimensions of human rights. The "European" reality embraces also very different specific situations from country to country. It is obvious that there are countries, societies and social groups that feel and are exposed to more open and visible forms of human rights violations and taken action against it. But here, too, the task remains to bring HRE into the open and to reach young people at large. The dissemination of the programme, especially through pilot projects and through the organisation of training courses for multipliers at national level, confirms some of the limits that have been highlighted by other contributions to the list, notably the difficulty to associate the formal and the non-formal education sectors, the lack of funds available, the absence of national governmental counterparts for HRE (it is always everybody and nobody), the relative absence of quality standards in the field and the difficulty of setting up sustainable projects. But the fact that many activities have already been carried out or being planned is in itself very positive and encouraging. In fact, we are reaching a variety of new partners and organisations that would otherwise not see themselves as "HRE promoters". Since many of them have their own networks and channels to young people and adults, we can expect a fairly good cascading effect. Local and national organisations seem also to be able to interest donors and funding agencies for their programmes. One aspect that is particularly relevant for this programme is that it has been initiated by an intergovernmental (international) regional organisation and from here promoted at the national level. This approach is not exempt from criticism: a bottom-up approach would sometimes be preferable and, especially, more in accordance with HRE principles. The reality, however, shows also that the institutional support from the Council of Europe is often crucial to get things started and to give credibility to the local organisers. Afterwards, local organisers are better able to take it from there on their own. This is important because it illustrates what can be the role of regional international organisations: to support, to initiate and to provide recognition and legitimacy wherever it is needed and relevant. Coming back specifically to the UN Decade for HRE, it is true - as Wim Taelman point out - that we have not been particularly careful to place our programme within the Decade, not the least because our partners were not very aware of it or how it could benefit them (or did not feel concerned), partly for the reasons that I explained above. While not wanting to rush into conclusions, it seems clear to me that: - Institutional support to HRE is crucial, even if it is not (and never) sufficient. - Visibility of HRE activities is very important, especially by placing issues of present concern (war, violence, discrimination) in the framework of human rights. - Partnerships with different organisations, groups and institutions and people are very important in order to break the impression that HRE is only for specialists and specialised organisations. - Training trainers and multipliers is very important to go from the awareness-raising level to empowerment and transformative approaches and strategies. - International cooperation among practitioners and trainers should be encouraged. We are probably influenced as anyone by mutual prejudices and perceptions of each other. There is probably a lot that can be learned from each other, more than just the exchange of experiences. - We should not take for granted that because we share identical values and concerns. In this context I very much agree with many of the proposals in the summary of conclusions. I would certainly emphasise a follow-up to the Decade that considers a broad understanding of HRE and the association of organisations that so far may not feel part of the HRE "movement". Their support may be very important, not only for lobbying and campaigning but also to give HRE the status and visibility it deserves. I certainly support all initiatives that encourage the direct exchange of experiences and of learning and training practices, such as through international training courses. While we may work in very different contexts, we certainly have key values and, hopefully, many approaches in common. These comments are of course personal, they do not represent the point of view of the Council of Europe. Rui Gomes Budapest, Hungary E-mail: Rui.GOMES@coe.int ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:01:46 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H1kO51247 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:01:46 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031701.h03H1kO51247@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 10:36:06 +0530 From: Anna Pinto To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org We have been following closely the discussions on HRE and the monitoring and evaluations of the Decade. There are some points we would like to contribute. For one, We cannot expect very much of governments not only because HRE is often inimical to the power structures in particular the political and economic nexus that is every day strengthening between government and industry and commerce, but also because many governments simply do not have resources to or do not sufficiently manage their resources in such a way as to provide basic needs for all. While the circularity of the argument of human rights awareness being a vital tool in the people attaining their rights is acknowledged the reality remains. How do we prioritise this in a world where NGOs are themselves underresourced and daily becoming more strapped for resources and more resources being diverted into tedious and complex administrative activities. Also keeping in mind that NGOs are being called on increasingly to deliver services that used to be government or traditional community responsibility. In those areas where in fact HRE would be most valuable NGOs are more absorbed in providing essential survival services for their target populations and are themselves ill equipped in terms of knowledge and awareness to provide HRE. Further, many NGOs in these regions are constrained by government unstated ambiguity if not outright hostility to HRE, being very dependent on government goodwill for funds. One example of even Intergovernmental attitudes being controlled by Government attitudes is of UNICEF in India. Several months ago the Govt. of India submitted its second report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child with the help of UNICEF. Till today despite a large number of NGOs struggling to get copies of this report (including the NGO Group on the Rights of the Child) the report has not been made available by either UNICEF or the Government of India. Enquiries are simply ignored. What concrete action can be taken in such instances? And they are myriad. There has to be some way of NGOs working together more effectively to achieve concrete results, internationally since action at local and national level often compromises the security of NGOs and activists. Anna Pinto Centre for Organisation, Research and Education (CORE) New Delhi, India E-mail: core_NE@hotmail.com ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:02:06 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H26Q51335 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:02:06 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031702.h03H26Q51335@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 16:53:18 +1100 From: Michael Curtotti To: hr-education@hrea.org Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear friends Apologies I have come to this discussion so late. It was great to have an opportunity to read through the summary and to offer a view at this late stage. In any case the National Committee on Human Rights Education (Inc) Australia supports the idea of a second Decade of Human Rights Education. Two facts are clear in developments so far: a. The first Decade has served as a powerful catalyst at international, regional and national level to encourage activities in the field of human rights education. It has produced valuable results which if continued can only have an increasingly positive effect on the protection and promotion of human rights. Human rights education has of course been recognised as essential by the World Conference on Human Rights and in the context of the UN Decade. b. Far more needs to be done to achieve the aspirations of the Decade of Human Rights Education at all levels. Ten years is simply too short a time frame for not only the elaboration of policy at global, regional, national and local level, but then in addition the establishment and implementation of curricula and the subsequent processes of review. A second Decade would ensure continued focus at the international level on the pursuit and encouragement of human rights education. It would represent a commitment of the international community (including the United Nations, governments and civil society) to continue to pursue human rights education to further achieve the aims of the first Decade. A second Decade would ensure that funding within the Office of the High Commissioner for human rights education related programs is maintained (if not expanded). An appropriate course of action would appear to be renewal of the Decade through a General Assembly resolution, as was the case with the first Decade. Given the many demands on international resources and attention, it seems highly likely that in the absence of a focus such as a second Decade, that the kind of activities we are able to pursue now would become significantly more difficult. In this context we feel civil society support for a second Decade is important. warm regards Michael Curtotti for the National Committee on Human Rights Education (Inc) Australia E-mail: curtotti@ozemail.com.au ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:02:35 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H2Zo51433 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:02:35 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031702.h03H2Zo51433@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Maria Williams Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 07:41:50 EST Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Colleagues: let me add my personal thoughts to the on-line discussion on human rights education. I come from that part of the world, Canada and North America that has a strong tradition of human and civil rights. Yet within these sophisticated wealthy societies, pockets of violation of human rights continue on a regular basis. Human rights education is primarily the responsibility of human rights commissions. Yet there are limits to areas in which these human rights commissions can have an impact. Most human rights commissions were established through acts of parliament, which defines or limits the areas in which they operate or the grounds they can deal with. As a result societal discrimination that exists outside of their defined jurisdiction are not addressed. The human rights commissions embody legal rights and access to them are limited by law. Poverty is rampant among children, older women and newcomers - immigrants and refugees. These are not seen as issues that can be addressed by human rights commissions, because these are not grounds that are included in their processes. There is rampant discrimination in housing, yet there are no laws that provide for housing as a human right. Homelessness is a growing phenomenon, yet these and other social issues are not addressed by most human rights commissions. Human rights commissions, for the most part, do not apply a systemic analysis to these issues, being limited to an individual complaints process. Furthermore there is a vast disconnect between human rights NGOs and government sponsored bodies that true human violations remain unchallenged. The jurisdictional division that exists in Canada, for example, between provinces and the federal government means these are no national standards to address human rights education. Yet, people are becoming increasing aware of the importance of human rights, and this can only be strengthened by extending the Decade for Human Rights Education. More thought could then be given to exploring how relationships can be strengthened between human rights NGOs and government regulated commissions to ensure that human rights education becomes everyday reading and learning. best regards, Maria Williams Human Rights Policy Analyst Ontario, Canada E-mail: IndiMedia@aol.com ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:03:04 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H34451547 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:03:04 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031703.h03H34451547@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Vibeke Eikaas Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 15:01:59 +0100 Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to Decade at the local and national levels Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear HRE friends, These past few weeks have revealed an impressive and interesting commitment for HRE around the globe, which gives hopes for further efforts and future achievements. Rather delayed, but nevertheless with a wish to join you on this important arena for HRE debate, the Norwegian section of Amnesty International wants to give a brief input on the national HRE work in Norway. As some of you may assume, human rights are already integrated in our school curricula, from elementary to secondary level. They are mainly dealt with in subjects like social sciences, life skills, religion and values. In addition, our educational authorities have now introduced an optional subject specifically on human rights at secondary level. There are also separate human rights subjects in colleges and law faculties at the universities. So, why use more efforts on HRE? Well, the work is not done by securing integration of human rights in school curricula. The subject appears theoretic to teachers, and they do not yet have the appropriate tools to be comfortable with teaching human rights. There is an abundance of material on human rights, produced by NGOs and IGOs. However, as pointed out by several of the contributors in the network, HRE requires a specific, participatory methodology in order to allow the students to understand what human rights and responsibilities are and what they mean. Only teachers who have the methodological skills and/or are particularly committed to and familiar with human rights and/or related international issues, will embark upon the challenge of doing HRE in their schools. Consequently, HRE is not integrated, systematised and internalised in our educational system. So what is being done to rectify this? A major instrument is a national HRE committee, which was established after the UNESCO conference on HRE in 1979. In 1981, it was integrated in the Human Rights Committee to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as a consultative group for HRE issues. Active members of the HRE group are our National Human Rights Centre, NGOs, UN organisations/associations, educational branches of political parties, teachers' trade unions and the Ministry of Education. On an ongoing basis, the group gives advice to the government on national as well as international HRE issues; it is a network for exchange of HRE materials and a forum for discussion and promotion of HRE. More specifically, we have given input to the National Human Rights Action Plan 2000-2004 of the Norwegian Government; to the Ministry of Education on the draft lesson plan of the human rights subject at secondary level; to the Norwegian delegation prior to the Commission on Human Rights. An important and active role is now to be a watchdog for the implementation of the HRE elements in the Human Rights Action Plan, which covers the educational system as well as specific target groups like police, prison officials, social security and health officials. In connection with the 50th anniversary of the UDHR, we played a major role in the many activities that took place in December 1998. Before this, the group initiated and carried out a review and documentation of all HRE material available in Norway and disseminated this to all the schools, with the assistance of the Ministry of Education. Our latest initiative is a forthcoming national conference on HRE in teacher training for all school levels. The conference will involve the decision-makers at the highest political levels, at the universities and colleges, as well as the HRE actors among the NGOs and IGOs. The conference was initiated after the HRE group had made a survey of the role and position of HRE in teacher training. The survey concluded that a major effort needed to be made in relation to the important group of "multipliers" in the formal system that teachers represent. This emphasises the situation described above, that teachers have not been taught special skills for HRE in their teacher training. With regard to the Decade for HRE, we held a similar HRE conference in 1997 initiated by the Decade. With the situation described above, you may see that the HRE actors in Norway have found the Decade to be an important support and inspiration for our work, more than an initiator. In Amnesty International Norway we have been fortunate to have the direct professional and moral support of the Office of the High Commissioner in Geneva. With the close cooperation of the HRE Team of Amnesty International's International Secretariat in London, we are also involved in an international HRE programme with local Amnesty International structures. There is no doubt that HRE still needs to be pushed onto the national and international political and educational agenda. The ongoing Decade goes on for a few more years, but we must keep the momentum of the Decade for at least another decade if we are to move ahead and have an impact globally. Vibeke Eikaas Vibeke Eikaas International Programme Coordinator Amnesty International Norway P.O. Box 702 - Sentrum, 0106 OSLO, Norway Email: veikaas@amnesty.no Phone +47 22 40 22 00, direct line +47 22 40 22 48 Fax +47 22 40 22 50 Website: http://www.amnesty.no visit http://www.stoptorture.org and register to take a step to stamp out torture ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:03:25 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H3Pe51614 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:03:25 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031703.h03H3Pe51614@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f From: Shulamith Koenig To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 11:01:34 -0500 Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the international level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear colleagues, I wanted to add some comments in response to the summary posted last Saturday. >> List members commented on strategies at the international level, >> specifically the role the United Nations (UN) can play. It is important not to leave out the responsibilities that must be undertaken by international HRE NGOs, various UN agencies who understand the value of HRE for mainstreaming human rights such as UNDP, and other international organizations in creating a mechanism to monitor government's compliance with HRE commitments. NGOs should also take the initiative on this in forms similar to "shadow reports" in various international fora. The ESCR Covenant includes human rights education -- attention should be paid to when various governments are reporting to the committee and add compliance or non-compliance with HRE as part of an NGO report (same can be done at CEDAW and CRC committees). This, however, needs diligence and awareness of international actions within the UN. I highly recommend to identify " friendly governments" that will assist in the regional and international pressure. >> In addition, States should be required to report extensively on HRE. Such requirement can only be carried out on friendly terms unless the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights works amongst nations to pass a resolution that makes such a request!! >> Exercises such as this on-line forum could be turned into a formal report - >> to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for >> Human Rights (OHCHR). This report could include systematic elaborations of >> HRE obligations, survey results on people's knowledge of human rights, >> projected needs for HRE to fill this gap, and reports on "best practices" >> and could be the basis for future OHCHR actions. I would suggest to create an ad hoc committee of NGOs and governments that will give the intellectual and practical life to this idea. >> Members pointed out that there is a need to take stock of the global >> impact of HRE; a need to work more to develop a framework to examine HRE >> curricula, study materials, and modes of teaching/training. To take such stock a process of defining needs, audiences and the goals of HRE must be drafted to become a basic guideline from which various HRE activities can emerge and be strengthened. >> HRE programs need to be evaluated, followed up, >> and programmes developed that have an impact that are measurable. I would like to express a word of caution here. This is very dangerous as it is impossible to measure the impact in a real way, HRE being a long term process. Funders may request something which is not possible at all unless it is practical. >> If a second decade is initiated, however, more precise benchmarks need to >> be defined on what needs to to achieved in each region, in each >> country, e.g. how many states do we want to ratify the international and >> regional instruments during the Decade? I would say that human rights education on the national level should be used to encourage NGOs and communities to pressure their governments to hasten the process of ratification where it is absent and to overcome reservations where possible and participate in preparing shadow reports to the various treaty bodies. >> Some skepticism was expressed as well: "I do not believe that Decades, >> Centuries, Centenaries or any other memorials do much good. The only real >> achievement can be made slowly, against all odds, in the school, the >> family, the community, by enthusiasts, NGOs, their groupings and best of >> all by young people", according to a member from the Czech Republic. I do agree fully and therefore I suggest that we speak of developing mechanisms at the OHCHR and for HRE at all levels of society to become an ongoing obligation of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and his responsibility to get resources and use professional advise as to the content of HRE. One can also say that there are now many examples of the UN collaborating with NGOs. The OHCHR should do the same even though it is a UN agency that works through governments. The NGOs have the real and immediate contact with the community where human rights education can be of immediate benefit towards transformation. >> Finally, a practical suggestion was made regarding funding for HRE >> activities. NGOs should look to donor agencies, such as the IMF and World >> Bank, and lobby them to support HRE and human rights reforms through >> national or regional offices It is important to note that the ESCR Committee, headed by Virginia Dandan, has in its general comment of empowering the poor that this can only take place through human rights education and further more she maintains that it is clear in the convention that human rights education is a human right! >> Some members felt that NGOs should make better use of existing resources >> by engaging in more networking, sharing of ideas, materials and >> approaches, and taking advantage of Internet-based information >> dissemination technologies. HRE materials should be made available >> on-line. Existing materials and resources should be used cautiously with the understanding that human rights deals with people's lives thus there is an immense responsibility on the shoulders of the trainer or teacher. And, most important, is the basic understanding that human rights is about equality and lack of discrimination which human rights law protects; and it needs to create critical thinking in the learner whoever they are. Only then materials can be distributed as much as possible and be distributed freely or at a low price. >> It was recommended that train-the-trainers courses should be long enough >> to include a range of skills, including needs analysis of the target >> group, workshop and session design, developing appropriate materials. Such >> courses require an appropriate commitment of funds at the international, >> regional and national levels. The training should attempt to create political, sociological and psychological analysis to equip the trainer to work in a meaningful way within the context of the learner's life. For this purpose it is important for the trainers to differentiate between symptoms and causes (such as violence against women and patriarchy) and elaborate on realization as well as on violations to develop hope as a major ingredient of HRE. Shula Koenig PDHRE E-mail: pdhre@igc.org ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:03:55 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H3tt51678 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:03:55 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031703.h03H3tt51678@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f To: hr-education@hrea.org Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 14:18:48 +0000 (GMT) From: Jeff Plantilla Subject: [hr-education] Re: Follow-up to the Decade at the regional level Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear Colleagues, This is a very last minute input in the on-going dialogue on the UN Decade. Internet is nearby but I could not sit down to make any long messages. > > - Did your organisation use the UN Decade for Human Rights Education as a > > mobilisation tool within its activities? How? Our center, the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA), has since 1995 been using the Decade as a major focus of its activities. Its domestic and regional human rights programs have all been anchored on the Decade. HURIGHTS OSAKA promotes it in full recognition of its importance, as well as in response to demands from the institutions it deals with domestically and regionally. > > - Is a Decade a useful tool for raising awareness and stimulating action > > on human rights education? If not, which procedures/mechanisms/instruments > > could be better used/created at the international level to strengthen > > action on HRE worldwide? The Decade has been used by many institutions (governmental and non-governmental) in promoting human rights. For these institutions, the Decade represents an international initiative that gives focus and legitimacy to the value of human rights education. So many international declarations mention human rights education as an important of follow-up activities, and yet the implementation of this component of the document is largely missing. The Decade is therefore an incentive, and an excuse, for governments to finally act on their international commitments. So many institutional institutions have been involved in the Decade. The problem is the consistency as well as sufficiency of their involvement - financially and otherwise. > > - Do you think the Decade for HRE (1995-2004) needs to be followed by a > > second Decade for HRE, as has been the case with the Decade to Combat > > Racism and Racial Discrimination? If a second Decade for HRE is desirable, > > what would be the main aims, strategies, and approaches? I support the idea of a second Decade for HRE because it will provide international support for the regional and national programs created in line with the first Decade. For those who have been supporting the first Decade, a second Decade constitutes an acknowledgment of the work that have been accomplished and an opportunity extend their program to other institutions. It will also give governments which have not given attention to HRE the opportunity to start programs based on the experiences of other countries and institutions. A second Decade should mean supporting/continuing the gains of the first Decade. > > - Should the function of monitoring governments' compliance with HRE > > commitments made at the international level be a main task of the United > > Nations (such as OHCHR or UNESCO) and other international organisations? If > > yes, how should that be done? For instance, would a Special Rapporteur or > > an Independent Expert for Human Rights Education be a useful mechanism? If > > so, what should be her/his tasks? I think it is best for the UN specialized agencies' country and regional offices to take a more active role on monitoring government compliance with HRE commitments at the international level. They are the ones who implement support programs that facilitate the translation of the international commitments into regional and national activities. Geneva and New York offices cannot respond effectively to the needs of the regions and countries. They can in most cases have one-off activities rather than continuing program implementation. OHCHR and UNESCO Paris can, for example, provide the main direction of the regional and national programs. > > - Should the United Nations create a permanent voluntary fund to support > > HRE? Does a grant programme, such as the ACT Project (administered by > > OHCHR in cooperation with the UN Development Programme, and providing > > small grants to NGOs for HRE activities) meet the needs of civil society > > at the local level? Why or why not? A stable source of funding support to longer-term programs (aside from funds for short-term projects) is a need. Training of trainers requires multi-stage and multi-year program to be able to yield a better result. Also, a longer-term program would be able to reach more educators. Funding is always the major reason why many training workshops remain one-off activities. Follow-up activities is uncertain when no funding agency commits fund for longer period. > > - How can representatives of inter-governmental organisations in your > > country (such as local offices of United Nations agencies) better support > > your HRE work? In which areas could partnerships be established or > > strengthened? Country offices of UN agencies or centers of regional organizations based in some countries are in the best position to help promote human rights education because they have some resources at their disposal. But this can only happen if they make human rights education an important part of their program. Not all of these institutions make a conscious effort in support of human rights education. While those who undertake activities in support of human rights education are mainly concentrated on particular issues and institutions in the country. It would help if these offices network with other institutions within the country especially those who are not their usual partners. Some of the SEAMEO regional centers (there are 15 of them all over Southeast Asia), for example, can support human rights education by making their materials more widely circulated to groups doing human rights education work. They may also open their programs to those who are not working on human rights education in the formal education sector. > > - Should the dissemination of human rights education materials (easily > > accessible -- i.e., on-line, distributed free of charge and translated > > into local languages) be a priority of international organisations? International organizations have the capability to do this task. They simply have to give space for it in their programs. > > - How could non-state actors --including the business community, as well as > > development, trade and financial organisations-- better support HRE? How > > might they be encouraged to do this? Non-state actors can very well fund the preparation of teaching materials for schools and communities. This funding should not only be limited to providing funds for printing but also for the necessary preparatory work from research to pilot testing of the materials. They can also participate in the Decade by incorporating human rights education in their staff development programs with the support of human rights education institutions. Jeff Plantilla HURIGHTS OSAKA Osaka, Japan E-mail: jeff@hurights.or.jp ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source. From owner-hr-education@hrea.org Fri Jan 3 17:04:11 2003 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hrea.org (8.11.6/8.11.0) id h03H4B051736 for a44156794; Fri, 3 Jan 2003 17:04:11 GMT (envelope-from owner-hr-education@hrea.org) Message-Id: <200301031704.h03H4B051736@hrea.org> X-Authentication-Warning: hrea.org: majordom set sender to owner-hr-education@hrea.org using -f Date: Wed, 18 Dec 2002 18:15:23 GMT To: hr-education@hrea.org From: Global HRE List Moderators Subject: [hr-education] Ending On-line Forum on follow-up to Decade for HRE Sender: owner-hr-education@hrea.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: hr-education@hrea.org Dear Friends, We would like to personally thank listserv members for contributing to the on-line Forum on the follow-up to the UN Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004), sponsored by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The moderators are also grateful for your patience in enduring what was a high message load during this period. In the next weeks, they will make available the final summaries of the Forum (in English, French, Russian and Spanish). As may you know, OHCHR is preparing a report to the UN Commission on Human Rights (Geneva, 17 March-25 April 2003), which will propose strategies for the follow-up to the Decade. The recommendations shared by listserv members within the on-line Forum will be considered for this report, along with input received from governments, national human rights institutions and intergovernmental organisations. The report (document symbol: E/CN.4/2003/101) will be shared with you once it is published. We hope that this effort will contribute to advancing our common cause, and we wish all of us a fruitful new year. Elena Ippoliti, OHCHR Felisa Tibbitts, HREA ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======== Send mail intended for the list to . Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/markup/maillist.php If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact . **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source.