Background

On 10 December 2004, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005-ongoing) in order to advance the implementation of human rights education programmes in all sectors. The World Programme is organized in consecutive phases; the Plan of Action for the first phase (2005-2007), prepared by practitioners and experts and adopted by all UN Member States at the General Assembly in July 2005, focuses on integrating human rights education in the national primary and secondary school systems; it proposes a concrete strategy and provides practical guidance in this regard. It promotes a right-based approach to the whole education system, as human rights education should address not only educational policies, processes and tools (education legislation, school curricula, teaching methods, textbooks and other materials, teacher-training programmes etc.), but also the environment within which education takes place. Four stages for the national implementation are proposed, i.e. (1) analyzing the current situation of human rights education in the school system; (2) setting of priorities and developing a "national implementation strategy"; (3) implementing and (4) evaluating.

The main responsibility for national implementation rests with the Minister of Education or equivalent institution in each country; the active involvement of other actors such as teacher training institutions, teachers' associations, national human rights institutions, non-governmental organizations, parents' and students' associations, is essential.

For more information on the World Programme for Human Rights Education and the Plan of Action, please refer to: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/programme.htm. A joint OHCHR/UNESCO booklet is also available in hard copies through OHCHR and UNESCO Headquarters (requests can be sent to wphre@ohchr.org).

United Nations system-wide support

National implementation can be supported by the United Nations system in a variety of ways, for instance:
- By providing expertise and support in the elaboration, implementation and monitoring of national implementation strategies, in direct contact with the ministries of education or other relevant national actors;
- By facilitating information-sharing at all levels, including through the identification, collection and dissemination of good practices as well as information about available materials, institutions and programmes;
- By encouraging the development of human rights education networks;
- By supporting training and research.

In September 2006, a United Nations Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee has been established to facilitate coordination of international activities in support to the integration of human rights education in the national school system. The Committee is composed of 13 UN agencies and programmes (ILO, OHCHR, UNAIDS, UNDG, UNDP, UNDPI, UNESCO, UNESCO/ International Bureau for Education, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNRWA) as well as international organizations such as the World Bank. For more information on the Committee, please refer to: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/UN-inter-agency.htm

In its recommendations, the Committee encouraged UN Country Teams to:

- Liaise with governments to mobilize their commitment. A joint OHCHR/UNESCO (and Council of Europe, for related countries) letter was sent in January 2006 to all Ministries of Education to encourage the development of national implementation strategies for human rights education in the school system in line with the Plan of Action. National UN presences could follow-up to those letters to obtain the information requested (i.e. the appointment of national focal points in the Ministry as well as information on initiatives undertaken). For more information on this please consult: http://www.ohchr.org/english/issues/education/training/national-initiatives.htm or contact OHCHR colleagues working on the World Programme for Human Rights Education at wphre@ohchr.org

- Involve/mobilize national key actors, such as national human rights institutions and civil society, to advocate for and participate in this process;

- Use existing UN frameworks, such as the Action 2 Global Programme, to assist national action.

UN Country Teams or individual UN agencies which are supporting national human rights education programming or would like to do so are invited to liaise with the Secretariat of the UN Inter-Agency Committee at HRESecretariatUN@ohchr.org with a view to further cooperation, facilitate information-sharing and/or obtain support in this area.