Human Rights Education

Human rights education is a driving force for building peaceful and just societies; it contributes to the prevention of human rights violations and abuses and promotes equal development outcomes.

Knowledge about human rights is an important step towards being empowered to claim these rights as human rights defenders. To secure a safe and enabling environment for defenders, states must ensure that the rights and obligations in the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders are known and understood. Human rights education can be performed in a variety of ways, such as through formal education and professional training programmes for governmental officials, law enforcement officers, and legal practitioners; like lawyers and judges. It can also be training programmes to empower groups of rightsholders such as children, women and persons with disabilities. Facilitating and providing human rights education is also an important function undertaken by human rights defenders. In some contexts, they are celebrated for it, while in others they are persecuted.

Articles in the UN DHRD

Art 6

Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others:
(a) To know, seek, obtain, receive and hold information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including having access to information as to how those rights and freedoms are given effect in domestic legislative, judicial or administrative systems;
(b) As provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms;
(c) To study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice,
of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters.

Art 14.1

The State has the responsibility to take legislative, judicial, administrative or other appropriate measures to promote the understanding by all persons under its jurisdiction of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Art 14.2

Such measures shall include, inter alia:
(a) The publication and widespread availability of national laws and regulations and of applicable basic international human rights instruments;
(b) Full and equal access to international documents in the field of human rights, including the periodic reports by the State to the bodies established by the international human rights treaties to which it is a party, as well as the summary records of discussions and the official reports of these bodies.

Art 15

The State has the responsibility to promote and facilitate the teaching of human rights and fundamental freedoms at all levels of education and to ensure that all those responsible for training lawyers, law enforcement officers, the personnel of the armed forces and public officials include appropriate elements of human rights teaching in their training programme.

Art 16

Individuals, non-governmental organizations and relevant institutions have an important role to play in contributing to making the public more aware of questions relating to all human rights and fundamental freedoms through activities such
as education, training and research in these areas to strengthen further, inter alia, understanding, tolerance, peace and friendly relations among nations and among all racial and religious groups, bearing in mind the various backgrounds of the societies and communities in which they carry out their activities.

Art 18.2

Individuals, groups, institutions and non-governmental organizations have an important role to play and a responsibility in safeguarding democracy, promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms and contributing to the promotion and advancement of democratic societies, institutions and processes.

Art 18.3

Individuals, groups, institutions and non-governmental organizations also have an important role and a responsibility in contributing, as appropriate, to the promotion of the right of everyone to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights instruments can be fully realized.

Examples in other International Human Rights Instruments

Universal declaration of human rights

Art 26.2

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

International covenant on economic, social and cultural rights

Art 13.1

The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education. They agree that education shall be directed to the full development
of the human personality and the sense of its dignity and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

International convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination

Art 7

States Parties undertake to adopt immediate and effective measures, particularly in the fields of teaching, education, culture and information, with a view to combating prejudices which lead to racial discrimination and to promoting understanding, tolerance and friendship among nations and racial or ethnical groups, as well as to propagating the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and this Convention.

Convention on the rights of the child

Art 29.1

States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to:
29.1.b The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women

Art 10

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with men in the field of education and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:
10.c The elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and the adaptation of teaching methods;
10.h Access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families, including information and advice on family planning.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples

Art 15.1

Indigenous peoples have the right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories and aspirations which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public information.

Convention Against Torture

Art 4.4

With the aim of contributing to the effective application of the present Agreement, each Party shall provide the public with information to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge on access rights.

Art 10.2

Each Party, in line with its capacities, may take, inter alia, the following measures:
10.2.a train authorities and civil servants on environmental access rights;
10.2.b develop and strengthen environmental law and access rights awareness- raising and capacity-building programmes for, inter alia, the public, judicial and administrative officials, national human rights institutions and jurists;
10.2.c provide the competent institutions and entities with adequate equipment and resources;
10.2.d promote education and training on, and raise public awareness of, environmental matters, through, inter alia, basic educational modules on access rights for students at all levels of education.

International covenant on civil and political rights

Art 19

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries
with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary: (a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; (b) For the protection of national security or of public order (order public), or of public health or morals.