1st Quarterly, 2006 No.139

WORLD PROGRAMME FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION (WPHRE)

January 2005 the World Programme has started with the 1st phase focusing on human rights education at primary and secondary school system. As two years have been past, we look into how it has developed in Japan as well as in the international community.

The Conclusion of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education and the Launching of the World Programme:Action in Japan

Kenzo Tomonaga
Director, BLHRRI

1. The Conclusion of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education (the UN Decade) and the Launching of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (the World Programme)

The Conclusion of the UN Decade

The UN Decade, which began in January 1995 with the aim of building a culture of human rights throughout the world, came to an end in December 2004. A Japan headquarters was set up and plans of action developed during the decade at both national and local governmental levels.

These plans have resulted in increasing awareness of and interest in the importance of human rights education both in general and for specific professions that are deeply engaged with human rights. Other outcomes include the creation of a Law on the Promotion of Human Rights Education and Awareness-Raising, which was promulgated and came into force in December 2000.

The Launching of the World Programme

Various sectors identified the need to continue with initiatives like the UN Decade after its conclusion due to continuing cases of serious human rights violations and discrimination, including those occurring in Japan. On the 10th of December 2004, the UN consequently decided to continue promoting human rights education from 2005 within the new framework of the World Programme.

Japan's Response

Various sectors have launched a number of different initiatives in response to this development. The Osaka Liaison Conference for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for example, organized a local meeting for the commemoration of the 56th anniversary of the Universal Declaration, calling for "the creation of a World Programme for Human Rights Education, building on the UN Decade for Human Rights Education". The Buraku Liberation and Human Rights Research Institute compiled relevant UN resolutions and a World Programme draft plan of action to publish Making a Culture of Human Rights a Reality for Everyone: The Launching of the World Programme for Human Rights Education. In addition, many local governments have developed new plans of action based upon on the results of the UN Decade and the new framework of the World Programme.

2. New Plans of Action Following the Conclusion of the UN Decade

Development of New Plans of Action

The plans of action that have been developed in connection with the UN Decade, and initiatives based on these plans, have produced numerous achievements. However, initial objectives have not been achieved in municipalities where the plans of action expired. Serious situations exist in terms of discrimination and human rights violations. Initiatives have therefore been made toward the development of new plans of action based on the results of the UN Decade.

Patters of the New Plans of Action

Some local governments have still been working within the framework of the previous plans of action since 2004 due to delays in the development of plans of action in connection with the UN Decade (Toyama and Kochi Prefectures).
Some local governments have developed comprehensive new plans for human rights education and awareness-raising (Ishikawa, Kyoto, Osaka, Tokushima, Kagawa, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefectures and Kyoto, Osaka and Fukuoka Cities).
Some local governments have incorporated human rights education and awareness-raising into sets of measures or strategies on human rights administration and policies in general (Shizuoka, Wakayama, Tottori and Ehime Prefectures).
Kanagawa and Okayama Prefectures have treated existing guidelines on the promotion of human rights policies as plans of action for the UN Decade. Nagano, Mie and Shiga Prefectures are yet to decide on what to do about new plans of action.

In (3) and (4), policies and plans on human rights education and awareness- raising are inevitably limited in scope since they are incorporated into strategies and plans on human rights in general. Ideally, comprehensive plans on human rights education and awareness-raising, as indicated in (2), should be developed alongside general human rights policies and strategies.

Basis for Plans of Action

A legislative basis should exist to provide a solid foundation for the implementation of new plans. Consequently, many municipalities treat the following law and local ordinances as bases for their plans:

The Law on the Promotion of Human Rights Education and Awareness-Raising.
Local ordinances for the elimination of Buraku discrimination and all other forms of discrimination or for the creation of communities where human rights are respected.

Development and Implementation Structures for Plans of Action

Comprehensive administrative structures and committees composed of a diverse range of people from outside the administrative structures are needed to develop and implement the new plans. Such structures already exist in many municipalities.

3. The World Programme

Positive Results and Problems

The World Programme, which began in January 2005, has both positive results and problems:

Positive Results: A new programme was developed to build on the UN Decade and indicated the importance and orientation of human rights education in primary and secondary school systems.
Problems: Despite the urgency posed by the short three-year timeframe, the UN was slow to act. For example, the plan of action for the first phase was not adopted until 14 July 2005. In addition, the focuses of the second and third phase are yet to be clarified, which makes it impossible to conduct adequate preparations at the national and local levels.

Effectively Using this New Opportunity in Japan

While the World Programme has both positive aspects and problems as indicated above, Japan must make maximum use of its positive aspects. In order to do so, the following action is required:

Promotion of the World Programme in various different sectors.
Reflection of the perspectives of the World Programme in comprehensive new plans for human rights education and awareness-raising.
Reflection of the perspectives of the World Programme in education and awareness- raising components of policies and plans for human rights in general.
Reflection of the perspectives of the World Programme in school-based education to prevent Buraku discrimination and in human rights education.

4. Primary and Secondary School Human Rights and Dowa Education

The first phase of the World Programme (from Jan 1 '05 to Dec 31 '07) focuses on the promotion of human rights education in the primary and secondary school systems. The promotion of human rights education at primary and secondary schools should be significantly increased on the basis of the World Programme. In order to achieve this, the following actions are required:

Fundamental policies and strategies on human rights education and Dowa education must be developed at these levels of education. In this regard, (i) such fundamental policies and strategies should ideally be developed for both types of education. Where they are developed only for human rights education, Dowa education should be addressed separately and explicitly. (ii) Such policies and strategies are necessary in higher education institutions, including graduate schools. (iii) Ultimately, each school should have its own strategies.
Where such fundamental policies and strategies have already been developed, they should be reviewed in the light of the World Programme. If they are yet to be developed, relevant initiatives should be taken on the basis of the World Programme.
Advantage must be taken of the positive aspects of the publication Revised Conclusions on the Methodologies of Human Rights Education and Other Matters, prepared in January 2006 by a committee of experts under the Ministry of Education.

5. Essential Measures for the Promotion of Human Rights Education and Awareness- Raising at the Local Government Level

Human rights policies, education and awareness-raising must be placed high on the agenda of general plans for community development. Local governmental plans for community development incorporate compre- hensive future visions for each municipality. Specific mention should be made therein of the promotion of human rights policies, education and awareness-raising.
Fundamental policies and plans for human rights in general should be developed on the basis of local ordinances for the elimination of Buraku discrimination and all other forms of discrimination, or for the creation of communities where human rights are respected. Fundamental policies and plans should be based on relevant local ordinances and include the following three pillars:
1. The promotion of human rights education and awareness-raising.
2. The provision of consultation and remedies for human rights problems.
3. The promotion of human rights policies.
Comprehensive plans for the promotion of human rights education and awareness-raising must be formulated. Comprehensive plans for the promotion of human rights education and awareness-raising must also be developed as follow-up measures to the UN Decade and should reflect the perspectives of the World Programme.
Fundamental policies and plans for the promotion of human rights education and Dowa education at schools must be developed. Fundamental policies and plans for the promotion of school-based human rights and Dowa education must be formulated or revised while taking advantage of the focus of the first phase of the World Programme on the promotion of human rights education in the primary and secondary school systems.
School plans for the promotion of human rights and Dowa education must be formulated.

Each and every school should formulate its own plans for the promotion of human rights and Dowa education that reflect the perspectives of the World Programme.

6. Advocacy at the National and International Levels

Advocacy at the National Level

The government of Japan regularly published the annual report of the implementation of the "UN Decade" with the one dated Sept 16, 2005 as the last report. It has not made any successive plan under the World Programme. Meanwhile, "Basic Plan for Human Rights Education and Awareness-Raising" was developed in March '02 in accordance with the "Law for the Promotion of Human Rights and Awareness-Raising." It is anticipated that this Basic Plan would play a role as a successive plan. Implementation of the Basic Plan is reported in the annual "White Paper on Human Rights Education and Awareness-Raising." It is important to monitor the white paper from the viewpoint of "World Programme." "Head- quarters for the Promotion of the UN Decade" headed by the prime minister has remained as of June 2006, but it presently does not work. For the implementation of the Basic Plan, a liaison council across ministries and agencies was set up, which would be in charge of implementation of the "World Programme." To promote the "World Programme" at the entire government level, it is desirable to have a structure similar to the promotion headquarters for the UN Decade.

Advocacy at the UN Level

The UN should be encouraged to make further efforts to ensure initiative are taken in all States within the framework of the World Programme. Also, the focuses of the second and third phases of the World Programme should be clarified as early as possible: the focuses can be human rights education for judges, lawyers and prosecutors; for welfare and health personnel; or for the mass media.

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