In the Follow-up of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education

Kenzo Tomonaga
Director, BLHRRI


On the 21st of April 2004, the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution proposing the proclamation of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (the World Programme) to begin on 1st of January 2005 as a follow-up to the UN Decade for Human Rights Education (the UN Decade). The resolution will be presented for adoption to the UN General Assembly, which is to be held later this year.

Achievements of the UN Decade

Before stating the significance and future challenges of the World Programme, it is important to evaluate the efforts made since January 1995 under the UN Decade. The following six elements can be identified as the achievements of the UN Decade:

  1. Increased awareness of the importance of human rights education.
  2. Coordination of human rights education efforts that had previously been undertaken separately among different departments of local governments and between the public and private sectors (e.g. business corporations).
  3. Increased attention given to discriminated groups.
  4. Increased awareness on the need for human rights education for professionals.
  5. Development of institutional arrange- ments, plans of action, and centers for human rights education and awareness-raising at different levels (national and local).
  6. Enactment of the Law on the Promotion of Human Rights Education and Awareness-raising, and establishment of ordinances on community building for human rights.

Shortcomings of the UN Decade

On the other hand, the UN Decade had some shortcomings. At the global level, one of the shortcomings was that there were not many countries that undertook initiatives within the framework of the UN Decade.

This may be due to the fact (1) that States do not tend to be keen to promote human rights education; (2) that the comprehensive nature of the Plan of Action for the UN Decade minimized the number of States that were able to fully respond to it; and (3) that the United Nations had not allocated adequate resources to promote the UN Decade at the global level.

The following can be identified as problems in Japan.

  1. Some local governments have not undertaken initiatives within the framework of the UN Decade.
  2. Many local governments have failed to take concrete efforts according to the plans of action they developed.
  3. There has been a lack of systematic planning on human rights education for professionals.
  4. The efforts made by private enterprises, religious groups and parliamentarians to promote the UN Decade have been insufficient.
  5. The efforts by civil society and other areas to promote the UN Decade have been insufficient.

What elements should be maintained after the UN Decade?

The following elements of the UN Decade should be maintained in the World Programme.

  1. Definition of human rights education
  2. Components of human rights education
  3. Aims of human rights education

Future challenges

At the global level, one of the greatest challenges is to ensure that all states undertake initiatives for human rights education. In this regard, the World Programme, learning from the experiences of the UN Decade, defines the three years of 2005-2007 as the first phase and sets a specific goal of promoting human rights education at the primary and secondary school levels. This goal-setting facilitates states to take initiatives. It is necessary to identify elements in promoting human rights education at the primary and secondary levels.

At the national level, the UN Decade must be evaluated before anything else can take place. Then, plans of action should be developed with a view to building on the achievements of the UN Decade and making up for its shortcomings. In this regard, attention should be paid to the fact that the World Programme puts emphasis on the promotion of human rights education at the primary and secondary levels during the first phase. It encourages the establishment of a commission for this purpose, with representation from various sectors.

Other specific challenges faced by Japan include the following:

  1. At the national level, all ministries and departments should develop new plans of action based on the evaluation of the UN Decade;
  2. All local governments should develop new plans of action based on evaluation of the UN Decade, combined with efforts to build human rights communities;
  3. Human rights education should be an explicit and fundamental element in all levels of education, including pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary education, as well as community education and life-long learning, along with the development of plans on the basis of analysis of child abuse and neglect, refusal to go to school, bullying and other problems;
  4. Human rights education for pro- fessionals who are in a particular position to influence the realization of human rights should be strengthened, including through the development of relevant materials and curricula for each professional group;
  5. Human rights education for private enterprises, religious groups and parlia- mentarians should be strengthened;
  6. Human rights education for the general public should be strengthened with increased support from the State and local governments;
  7. On the basis of evaluation of the UN Decade as well as challenges posed by the World Programme, efforts should be made to modify the Basic Plan under the Law on the Promotion of Human Rights Education and Awareness-raising.

Conclusion

The 2004 UN Commission on Human Rights resolution proposing a follow-up to the UN Decade in the framework of the World Programme has recently been approved by the UN Economic and Social Council. Now, it must be approved by the 59th UN General Assembly in December 2004. A plan of action for the first phase (2005-2007), focusing on primary and secondary education, is now being prepared by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in cooperation with UNESCO and NGOs.

Japanese NGOs, along with national and local governments in Japan, are urged to actively participate in this process. In particular, they are expected to contribute to the international discussion on what the plan of action should be on the basis of their experiences of more than fifty years of Dowa education and the theories, materials, curricula and methodologies that have been developed. It is also necessary to contribute experiential knowledge in developing human rights education on the basis of the achievements of Dowa education.