About Human Rights Education

Definition of Human Rights Education

The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training defines human rights education as comprising “all educational, training, information, awareness-raising and learning activities aimed at promoting universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and thus contributing to, inter alia, the prevention of human rights violations and abuses by providing persons with knowledge, skills and understanding and developing their attitudes and behaviors, to empower them to contribute to the building and promotion of a universal culture of human rights.” (United Nations Human Rights Council 2011) This Declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Dec. 19, 2011.

The lessons and related materials available here are consistent with the philosophical rationale and goals of this international declaration.

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Rationale for Human Rights Education

Source: Nancy Flowers, Human Rights Educators’ Network, Amnesty International USA  and Kristi Rudelius-Palmer, Partners in Human Rights Education. (Modified by Human Rights Educators USA-NJ, 12-2015, and used with permission of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center)

Why Human Rights Education?

Human rights is not a subject that can be studied at a distance. Students should not just learn about the Universal Declaration, about racial injustice, or about homelessness without also being challenged to think about what it all means for them personally. As human rights educators, we must ask our students and ourselves, “How does this all relate to the way we live our lives?” The answers to this question will tell us much about how effectively we have taught our students. David Shiman, ”Introduction” in David Shiman, Teaching Human Rights. Denver CO: Center for Teaching International Relations-University of Denver, 1993: page 1.

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION declares a commitment to those human rights expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the UN Covenants, UN Human Rights Conventions and Treaties, and the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights. It asserts the responsibility to respect, protect, and promote the rights of all people.

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION promotes democratic principles. It examines human rights issues without bias and from diverse perspectives through a variety of educational practices.

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION helps to develop the communication skills and informed critical thinking essential to a democracy. It provides multicultural and historical perspectives on the universal struggle for justice and dignity.

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION engages the heart as well as the mind. It challenges students to ask what human rights mean to them personally and encourages them to translate caring into informed, nonviolent action.

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION affirms the interdependence of the human family. It promotes understanding of the complex global forces that create abuses, as well as the ways in which abuses can be abolished and avoided.

Human Rights Educators’ Network Amnesty International USA January 1991 (Slightly modified by HRE USA NJ Educators, 12-2015)

What is Human Rights Education?

Simply put, human rights education is all learning that develops the knowledge, skills, and values of human rights. The United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004) defined Human Rights Education as “training, dissemination, and information efforts aimed at the building of a universal culture of human rights through the imparting of knowledge and skills and the molding of attitudes which are directed to:

The strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
The full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity;
The promotion of understanding, respect, gender equality, and friendship among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups;
The enabling of all persons to participate effectively in a free society;
The furtherance of the activities of the United Nations for the Maintenance of Peace.” (Adapted from the Plan of Action of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004), paragraph 2)

Subsequent to the UN Decade for Human Rights Education, the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (December 2011) strengthened this commitment and listed the three interrelated areas of focus for human rights education.

Education about human rights, which includes providing knowledge and understanding of human rights norms and principles, the values that underpin them and the mechanisms for their protection;
Education through human rights, which includes learning and teaching in a way that respects the rights of both educators and learners;
Education for human rights, which includes empowering persons to enjoy and exercise their rights and to respect and uphold the rights of others. (United Nations General Assembly, Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, Dec. 2011)

Human Rights Education as a Human Right

Education in human rights is itself a fundamental human right and also a responsibility: the Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) exhorts “every individual and every organ of society” to “strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms.” The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) declares that a government “may not stand in the way of people learning about [their rights].” Although news reports refer to human rights every day, “human rights literacy” is not widespread in the United States. Students of law and international relations or political science may study human rights in a university setting, but most people receive no education, formally or informally, about human rights. Even human rights activists usually acquire their knowledge and skills by self-teaching and direct experience.

When Americans say, “I’ve got my rights,” they usually think of those civil and political rights defined in the US Bill of Rights, which includes freedom of assembly, freedom of worship, and the right to a fair trial. Few, however, realize that social, economic, and cultural rights such as health care, housing, or a living wage, are also human rights guaranteed in the UDHR. People who do not know their rights are more vulnerable to having them abused and often lack the language and conceptual framework to effectively advocate for them. Growing consensus around the world recognizes education for and about human rights as essential. It can contribute to the building of free, just, and peaceful societies. Human rights education is also increasingly recognized as an effective strategy to prevent human rights abuses.

Rights, Responsibilities, and Action

Integral to learning about one’s human rights is learning about the responsibilities that accompany all rights. Just as human rights belong to both individuals and society as a whole, the responsibility to respect, defend, and promote human rights is both individual and collective. The Preamble of the UDHR, for example, calls not only on governments to promote human rights, but also on “every individual and every organ of society.” Human rights education provides the knowledge and awareness needed to meet this responsibility. The responsibilities of all citizens in a democratic society are inseparable from the responsibility to promote human rights. To flourish, both democracy and human rights require people’s active participation. Human rights education includes learning the skills of advocacy – to speak and act every day in the name of human rights.

Human rights education also provides a basis for conflict resolution and the promotion of social order. Rights themselves often clash, such as when one person’s commitment to public safety conflicts with another’s freedom of expression. As a value system based on respect and the equality and dignity of all people, human rights can create a framework for analyzing and resolving such differences. Human rights education also teaches the skills of negotiation, mediation, and consensus building.

The Goals of Human Rights Education

Human rights education teaches about human rights, through human rights and for human rights. Its goal is to help people understand human rights, value human rights, and take responsibility for respecting, defending, and promoting human rights. An important outcome of human rights education is empowerment, a process through which people and communities increase their control of their own lives and the decisions that affect them. The ultimate goal of human rights education is people working together to bring about human rights, justice, and dignity for all.

A. Education about human rights provides people with information about human rights. It includes learning –

about the inherent dignity of all people and their right to be treated with respect
about human rights principles, such as the universality, indivisibility, and interdependence of human rights
about how human rights promote participation in decision making and the peaceful resolution of conflicts
about the history and continuing development of human rights
about international law, like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the Convention on the Rights of the Child
about regional, national, state, and local law that reinforces international human rights law
about using human rights law to protect human rights and to call violators to account for their actions
about human rights violations such as torture, genocide, or violence against women and the social, economic, political, ethnic, and gender forces which cause them
about the persons and agencies that are responsible for promoting, protecting, and respecting human rights.

B. Education through human rights also gives people a sense of responsibility for respecting and defending human rights as they learn about them, and empowers them through skill development to take appropriate action.

Classroom study through human rights requires that a culture of mutual respect and compassion is engendered where teachers and learners can exchange ideas in a thoughtful and respectful manner, where conflicts are addressed in a comprehensive and peaceful manner, where multiple perspectives are encouraged and shared in a supportive classroom climate, and where conclusions are developed that are tentative and which remain open to reconsideration in light of new ideas and evidence.

Skill development in education through human rights includes:

recognizing that human rights may be promoted and defended on an individual, collective, and institutional level
developing critical understanding of life situations
analyzing situations in moral terms
realizing that unjust situations can be improved
recognizing a personal and social stake in the defense of human rights
analyzing factors that cause human rights violations
knowing about and being able to use global, regional, national, and local human rights instruments and mechanisms for the protection of human rights
strategizing appropriate responses to injustice
acting to promote and defend human rights

C. Education for human rights helps people feel the importance of human rights, internalize human rights values, and integrate them into the way they live. These human rights values and attitudes include –

“strengthening respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms” (UDHR Article 30.2)
nurturing respect for others, self-esteem, and hope
understanding the nature of human dignity and respecting the dignity of others
empathizing with those whose rights are violated and feeling a sense of solidarity with them
recognizing that the enjoyment of human rights by all citizens is a precondition to a just and humane society
perceiving the human rights dimension of civil, social, political, economic, and cultural issues and conflicts both in the US and other countries
valuing non-violence and believing that cooperation is better than conflict

Who Needs Human Rights Education?

Human rights should be part of everyone’s education. However, certain groups have a particular need for human rights education: some because they are especially vulnerable to human rights abuses, others because they hold official positions and upholding human rights is their responsibility, still others because of their ability to influence and educate. Among these groups are the following:

Administrators of Justice:

law enforcement personnel, including police and security forces
prison officials
lawyers, judges, and prosecutors

Other Government and Legislative Officials:

members of the legislature
public officials, elected and appointed
members of the military

Other Professionals:

educators
social workers
health professionals
journalists and media representatives

Organizations, Associations, and Groups

women’s organizations
community activists and civic leaders
minority groups
members of the business community
trade unionists
indigenous peoples
religious leaders and others with a special interest in social justice issues
children and youth, and students at all levels of education
refugees and displaced persons
people of all sexual orientations
poor people, whether in cities or rural areas
people with disabilities
migrant workers

Source: Nancy Flowers, Human Rights Educators’ Network, Amnesty International USA and Kristi Rudelius-Palmer, Partners in Human Rights Education. (Modified by Human Rights Educators USA-NJ, 12-2015, and used with permission of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center)

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