4/85 World Programme for Human Rights Education - Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

UNITED NATIONS

A

General Assembly Distr. GENERAL

A/HRC/4/85 30 January 2007

Original: ENGLISH

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Fourth session Item 2 of the provisional agenda

IMPLEMENTATION OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 60/251 OF 15 MARCH 2006 ENTITLED “HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL”

World Programme for Human Rights Education*

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

1. On 14 July 2005, in its resolution 59/113 B the General Assembly adopted the Plan of Action for the first phase (2005-2007) of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005-ongoing). The first phase of the World Programme focuses on the infusion of human rights education into the primary and secondary school systems. Drawing from the principles and frameworks set by international human rights instruments, the Plan of Action highlights that human rights education in the school system involves not only the integration of human rights in all educational processes and tools (curricula, textbooks, materials, methods and training) but also the practice of human rights within the education system. The Plan of Action provides methodological guidelines on the content and process for infusing human rights education in the school system in line with the above-mentioned approach. The main responsibility for implementing the Plan of Action rests with the ministry of education or equivalent institution in each country, which should assign or strengthen a department or unit responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of a related national strategy, in close cooperation with all relevant actors. Member States are also encouraged to identify and support a resource centre for collecting and disseminating related initiatives and information (good practices, educational materials, events).

* The present report is being submitted late so as to include as much updated information as possible.

GE.07-10551 (E) 120207

2. On 27 February 2006, the High Commissioner for Human Rights presented a report on the World Programme and on related activities undertaken by her Office to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2006/90). The present report provides additional information on activities which took place from February to December 2006, and is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council decision 2/102.

3. On 3 April 2006, the General Assembly established the Human Rights Council by its resolution 60/251, according to which one of the primary responsibilities of the Council would be to promote human rights education and learning (para. 5).

4. On 23 June 2006, the Eighteenth Meeting of Chairpersons of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies accepted the harmonized guidelines on reporting under the international human rights treaties, including guidelines on a common core document and treaty specific documents (HRI/MC/2006/3). The guidelines mention that States should provide information on any measures taken to ensure adequate education and training in human rights for a wide range of professional categories, including teachers (para. 43 (d)). States should also submit information on any measures taken to promote respect for human rights through education and training in general, and within schools in particular (paras. 43 (e) and 56).

5. On 24 August 2006, the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights adopted resolution 2006/19 welcoming the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the activities carried out by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) both aimed at disseminating globally the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the World Programme’s Plan of Action, and at supporting the Plan’s implementation. The Sub-Commission recommended that human rights treaty bodies, when examining reports of States parties, devote specific attention to human rights education in the framework of the World Programme and that human rights education be included as an item in the agenda of the annual meeting of the persons chairing the treaty bodies.

6. Since the adoption of the Plan of Action, OHCHR and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have carried out joint activities with a view to disseminating the Plan.

7. OHCHR and UNESCO jointly published a booklet containing the text of the Plan of Action as well as a summary highlighting its main aspects and relevant General Assembly resolutions. As of mid-December 2006, the booklet was available in English and it will soon be published in all United Nations official languages.

8. As stated in report E/CN.4/2006/90, in January 2006 the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Director-General of UNESCO, as well as the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe as far as Council of Europe’s Member States are concerned, addressed personal letters to ministers of education to encourage implementation of the Plan of Action and offer assistance upon request. They also requested information on which relevant departments or units in the Ministry would coordinate initiatives related to the implementation of the Plan of Action. As of

mid-December 2006, 28 governmental bodies had responded to the joint letter; the list of countries is attached in the annex to this report. In order to facilitate information-sharing on national initiatives undertaken in connection with the Plan of Action, in November 2006 OHCHR launched a new section of its website. The section contains information on the national focal points appointed by Governments as well as on existing national plans for human rights education or relevant excerpts from overall national human rights plans. This is available on OHCHR’s website at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/ national-initiatives.htm.

9. On 11-12 September 2006, OHCHR and UNESCO hosted the first meeting of the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee on Human Rights Education in the School System (UNIACC), established in accordance with the Plan of Action (paras. 38-40). The objectives of the Committee include:

− To encourage and support appropriate implementation of human rights education in the school system at the national level;

− To liaise with all other United Nations initiatives, frameworks and inter-agency efforts relevant to education/human rights;

− To develop ways to collect and disseminate examples from various contexts and countries;

− To develop a framework for monitoring and evaluating progress in the implementation of the Plan of Action; and

− To interact with international and regional financial institutions, as well as bilateral funding agencies, to explore ways of linking their funding programmes on education to human rights education programmes.

10. The meeting gathered representatives from the International Labour Organization, OHCHR, UNAIDS, the United Nations Development Programme, UNESCO, the United Nations Population Fund, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and the World Bank. The newly-established Committee agreed on strategies for the short, medium and long term with a view to encourage and support national implementation of the Plan of Action, focusing on the use of existing United Nations mechanisms and institutions as entry-points for enhancing cooperation. The Committee identified three broad areas for support by the United Nations system to the national implementation of the Plan of Action, namely technical assistance, information-sharing and resources mobilization. More information on the Committee is available on OHCHR’s website at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/UN-inter-agency.htm.

11. In addition, OHCHR contributed to the implementation of the World Programme and its Plan of Action by:1

(a) Facilitating information-sharing and networking among all actors through OHCHR’s Database on Human Rights Education and Training, which provides information on relevant institutions and programmes and is accessible through OHCHR’s website at http://hre.ohchr.org/hret, as well as the Resource Collection on Human Rights Education and Training, a specialized section of the OHCHR Library which includes a variety of human rights education and training materials and is publicly accessible. OHCHR continues to respond on a daily basis to related queries from governmental and non-governmental actors, including by providing human rights education and training reference services and advice. OHCHR also supported international and regional human rights education activities organized by other actors through provisions of grants, dissemination of publications, participation of specialized staff and other initiatives, as appropriate;

(b) Supporting national capacities for human rights education and training through projects undertaken within OHCHR’s Programme of Technical Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights. More information on this programme is available on OHCHR’s website at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/countries/coop/index.htm. OHCHR also devoted enhanced efforts to strengthening national capacities for human rights training of military and other staff deployed to peacekeeping operations; in particular, the Office contributed to the development of training materials for the United Nations Police;

(c) Supporting grass-roots human rights education initiatives through the Assisting Communities Together (ACT) Project, a joint initiative of OHCHR and the United Nations Development Programme which provides small grants to national and local non-governmental organizations for community-based human rights education and training projects. In November 2005, OHCHR and UNDP launched the fifth phase (2005-2007) of the ACT Project, focusing on supporting activities within the school system, in the following regions and countries:

− Africa (Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda);

− Arab region (Iraq, Yemen, Palestinian Authority); − Asia-Pacific (Afghanistan, Cook Islands, Indonesia, Mongolia, Samoa, Sri Lanka,

Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu);

1 More information on all these activities is available on OHCHR’s website at the address:

http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/index.htm.

− Europe and Central Asia (Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Serbia and Montenegro, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Ukraine);

− Latin America and the Caribbean (Belize, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, Uruguay).2

(d) Developing and disseminating a selected number of human rights training and education materials within OHCHR’s Professional Training and Human Rights Education Series. More information on these and other OHCHR publications, including their electronic versions, is available on OHCHR’s website at http://www.ohchr.org/english/about/publications/index.htm;

(e) Globally disseminating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). OHCHR continues to maintain and develop a web section on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, available through OHCHR’s website at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/ education/training/udhr.htm. The web section comprises many resources on the Universal Declaration, including translations into 365 national and local languages. OHCHR also maintains a UDHR Collection which includes more than 300 printed and multimedia materials as well as a broad array of commemorative items, a selection of which is permanently displayed on the ground floor of OHCHR’s headquarters in Geneva.

2 As of mid-December 2006, 120 projects funded by OHCHR grants were under

implementation. More information on the ACT Project is available on OHCHR’s website at: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/act.htm.

Annex

LIST OF RESPONDENTS TO THE JOINT OHCHR/UNESCO/COUNCIL OF EUROPE LETTER (AS OF MID-DECEMBER 2006)

Austria Bulgaria Cameroon Chad Côte d’Ivoire Cyprus Georgia Iceland Iraq Japan Jordan Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Liberia Lithuania Morocco New Zealand Niger Norway Oman Pakistan Philippines Portugal Qatar Slovenia Sri Lanka The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Turkey

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