Who needs human rights education?

Human rights education (HRE) is generally undertaken with the objective of developing an acceptable human rights culture that will be of benefit to everyone, irrespective of colour, caste, or creed.

Analysts believe that HRE is one way of empowering people so that they can create skills and behaviour that would promote dignity and equality within the community and society. It is consequently believed that every human being has the right to receive both religious and worldly education from the various institutions of education and guidance, including the family, the school, the university, and the media, in an integrated and balanced manner so that it can help to develop one’s personality, strengthen one’s faith in God, and promote one’s respect for and defense of both rights and obligations.

What is happening in Yemen, Syria, and several other countries in Africa, Latin America, and Myanmar underlines the importance of the subject.

It may be recalled that history was made in Paris, France on December 10, 1948, when the newly created United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” 46 years later, the General Assembly, in its Resolution 49/184 of December 23, 1994, declared 1995-2004 as the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education.

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