UNITED NATIONS Press Release Human Rights Council Advisory Committee MORNING 28 January 2009
Regarding the draft declaration on human rights education and training, Committee Experts said that the consultation process was impressive, and such a wide process was important as a method of work and the Committee should always use it before preparing such a declaration as it enhanced the changes they were seeking because participants would be motivated to rethink their programmes. The declaration needed to be exhaustive as the area of education was broad. It should target students, adults, the police and all the segments of the population who not only needed to know about human rights, but were also involved in the implementation of human rights. Advisory Committee Experts speaking in the general debate included Shigeki Sakamoto, Halima Embarek Warzazi, Vladimir Kartashkin, Emmanuel Decaux, Shiqiu Chen, Wolfgang Stefan Heinz, Purificacion V. Quisumbing, Chinsung Chung, Bernards Andrews Nyamwaya Mudho, Miguel Alfonso Martinez, Dheerujlall Seetulsingh and Mona Zulficar. Also speaking were representatives of Venezuela and Indonesia, and the non-governmental organizations Soka Gakkai International, Pax Romana and IODEL in a joint statement, and the Indian Movement Tupaj Amaru. The Advisory Committee is scheduled to meet again in public at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon when it will continue its discussion on the work of the drafting group on human rights education and training and begin its debate on the right to food. Time allowing, the Committee will also discuss the implementation of section III of the Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 on rules of procedures and methods of work of the Advisory Committee. *Document* The Advisory Committee has before it A/HRC/AC/2/CRP.1, a working paper on the draft Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, presented by the Rapporteur of the Working Group on the subject, Emmanuel Decaux, which states that regarding human rights education and training, the Working Group that was established at the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee's first session has started its preparatory work. Official consultations with governments, national human rights institutions, intergovernmental and regional organizations and non-governmental organizations had been opened in November 2008. A contact with UNESCO has also been established and has led to an involvement of one Expert in a round table discussion concerning the implementation of human rights education. During the ninth session of the Human Rights Council in September 2008, several countries expressed their interest in human rights education and formation, such as Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Egypt on behalf of the African Group, Japan, Chile, Nigeria and Azerbaijan. The initiators, Switzerland, Costa-Rica, Italy and Morocco emphasized that the group will take into account different point of views, especially those of NGOs and national human rights institutions. *General Discussion on Human Rights Education and Training* EMMANUEL DECAUX, Advisory Committee Expert, welcomed that Mr. Dheerujlall Seetulsingh had joined the Working Group on human rights education and training. During the previous days, the Working Group had been in contact with civil society and had held fruitful discussions. Mr. Decaux had also been invited by UNESCO to take part in the closing ceremony of a panel discussion in December 2008. He underlined that UNESCO was a very important partner for the Committee. Other UN agencies, such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, had also replied to the questionnaire that had been sent out, as well as about 30 States. It was very satisfactory to see so many answers but also to see the high quality of the answers. After a first analysis, some first trends and target groups would be identified and a consolidated document would be prepared in a few months time. Given the great interest in the consultative process, the deadline for participation would be extended to March. To encourage participation and transparency, the answers would be made public online. In addition, informal meetings would allow discussing ideas between members of the Committee and external experts. The Committee hoped that the sponsors of this draft declaration on human rights education and training would take the initiative to organise such an informal meeting. Regarding an interim report to the Council, Mr. Decaux said that deadlines for the consultative process had to be extended in order to integrate the views of various United Nations Committees, such as the Committee on the Rights of the Child for example. The Council had asked the Committee to submit a conceptual framework. Mr. Decaux emphasized that the message had to be strong and contribute to change. The framework should be adaptable to different circumstances. Education was an ongoing process, it was life-long learning, and therefore informal education should also be covered. Non-discrimination had to be stressed, special care taken of the inclusion of women and girls and the education within the family itself. Vulnerable groups had to be taken into account, such as the disabled. Mr. Decaux concluded by saying that illiteracy, extreme poverty, national minorities and members of indigenous groups had to be addressed as well. MIGUEL ALFONSO MARTINEZ, Advisory Committee Chairperson, said that this year there was a total absence of representatives of the United Nations agencies and bodies from the meetings of the Advisory Committee. It would have been extremely useful to have had the presence of those agencies and their contributions to the work of the Committee. He urged the Committee Experts to appeal to all relevant actors to participate in relevant discussions taking place in the Committee. KATUNARI FUJI, of Soka Gakkai International in a joint statement with International Organization for the Development of Freedom of Education (OIDEL), and Pax Romana, drew the Committee's attention to the non-exhaustive definition of human rights education. It should remain non-exhaustive so that when specific human rights were conceptually developed and a new human right was recognized, it was also comprehended within the definition of human rights education set forth in the declaration. Further, the declaration should clarify who bore the duty to implement and who was to benefit from human rights education and training. To the maximum degree feasible, the declaration should provide for monitoring to ensure implementation. Also, the declaration could stipulate the responsibility of governments to include human rights education and training in annual national budgetary planning. MARIA AUXILIADORA GUILARTE CALLES (Venezuela) congratulated the Advisory Committee for its work during this session and the work of the drafting groups. With regard to human rights education and training, Venezuela fully supported this topic. The informal and formal areas were pedagogical areas for human rights training. This training should be ongoing both for obligations and responsibilities involved. It was important to emphasize the aspect of literacy; to educate people in the area of human rights they had to be literate. Human rights training should be a fundamental, social and political aspect of society. Venezuela had engaged in an international cooperation effort with Cuba to combat illiteracy, and as a result of this campaign was declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as an illiterate-free area. DEERUJLALL SEETULSINGH, Advisory Committee Expert, noted that numerous United Nations agencies had contributed in the consultative process. He regretted that the national representative of his country in Geneva had not been informed by national institutions of the deliberations of the Committee. He reiterated that the representative of Switzerland had emphasized earlier that the declaration should be concise. A timeframe should be suggested to the Council. Mr. Seetulsingh said that monitoring was very important. As was said earlier by Italy in the consultative process, the issue of human rights education should be taken up in the Universal Periodic Review. The Universal Periodic Review would be one means to check if a country had taken measures in that regard. PURIFICACION V. QUISUMBING, Advisory Committee Expert, said that as a member of the drafting group, she wanted to thank Mr. Decaux for his tremendous contribution to the drafting group's work on human rights education and training. A total of 16 responses were received from national institutions, but of those only 12 were accredited with "A" status from the International Criminal Court. Worldwide there were 62 national institutions. On the regional distribution representation, regrettably, the Philippines and France had not yet responded. The European Group was under represented, and surprisingly, the Asia Pacific group was well represented. In late March 2009 a meeting of national institutions was scheduled in Geneva, and this would be a good opportunity for the Committee to consult with those institutions. LAZARO PARY, of the Indian Movement Tupaj Amaru, asked the Secretariat not to obstruct the work of the Indian Movement Tupaj Amaru in the Advisory Committee. It should be able to express itself freely and to not be subject to discriminatory treatment. It was the family core that provided for children's involvement in school. Globalization had been underway for many years and schools had been privatized. What about the poor people? If they did not have the means, they did not have access to education anymore. Education had worsened significantly. That was due to privatization of education. It was not true that in order to eliminate racism people had to be educated. Instead, the educators had to be educated and society had to be transformed to eliminate racism. Further, the new technologies had to support education instead of impeding it. The civilizations of the indigenous had made many contributions which should be acknowledged. The world was extremely important to have this ancestral knowledge. His country, Bolivia, had been declared to be free of illiteracy which was thanks to Cuban people. The Cuban people were characterized by international solidarity. INDAH NURIA SAVITRI (Indonesia) thanked the Working Group for the work they had done on the subject of human rights education and training. She said that in relation to the draft declaration on human rights education and training, input from the Government of Indonesia had just been received, and it would be transmitted to the Working Group to be included in the draft declaration on human rights education and training and any ongoing efforts. MONA ZULFICAR, Advisory Committee Expert, said that the consultation process was impressive. Such a wide process of consultation was important as a method of work and the Committee should always use it before preparing such a declaration. The consultation process enhanced the changes they were seeking because participants would be motivated to rethink their programmes. This helped the process of human rights culture in general. Also, if governments participated in the process, implementation would be much easier since they would see suggestions that they had made in the declaration. VLADIMIR KARTASHKIN, Advisory Committee Expert, said that as a member of the Working Group, he thanked Mr. Emmanuel Decaux and Ms. Halima Embarek Warzazi for gathering and preparing the substantive segments needed to draft the document before the Committee. The declaration needed to be exhaustive as the area of education was broad. It should target students, adults, the police and all the segments of the population who not only needed to know about human rights, but were also involved in the implementation of human rights. The Committee should not be too hasty in trying to conclude the work just yet. Only 31 answers had been received from States, despite the fact that there were 192 States in the United Nations system. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council were called on to assist in facilitating the involvement of missing relevant actors in fulfilling the Committee's mandates. The Committee should carry on with its work and take steps to involve inter-governmental agencies, specialized agencies, and non-governmental organisations to complete this work in a comprehensive way. The draft declaration was a very important document that needed to take into account all the views expressed and should be elaborated in great detail. It should bear in mind the importance of this topic for the international community. CHEN SHIQIU, Advisory Committee Expert, thanked the Working Group for the work that had been done. This was a very important subject and human rights education had a very broad scope. It was the responsibility of governments and they should invest more in human rights education. Non-governmental organizations should play a supportive role. In China, the Human Rights Society also played a very important role in human rights education, for example by developing curricula. However, these efforts in China faced a shortage of funds. Bilateral cooperation could be carried out between two States or between human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations. Mr. Chen said he had been involved in training prison staff. The United Nations had launched the decade of human rights education, but this was not sufficient. Training, to a certain extent, was maybe more realistic than education. The people who would play a key role as for example in law enforcement were a more realistic target. There should be a rational allocation of funds and cooperation with governments, especially of developing countries. ---- AFTERNOON 28 January 2009 *Committee Concludes Debate on Human Rights Education and Training * The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee this afternoon started its discussion on the right to food, hearing from members of its drafting group on recommendations for possible further measures to enhance the realization of the right to food. The Committee also concluded its debate on human rights education and training. Mona Zulficar, member of the drafting group on the right to food, said that in resolution 7/4 on the right to food, the Human Rights Council recommended that the Advisory Committee consider potential recommendations for approval by the Council on possible further measures to enhance the realization of the right to food, bearing in mind the priority importance of promoting the existing standards. In response, in August 2008, the Advisory Committee established a Working Group on the right to food to address this request. A number of meetings of the Working Group had taken place since then. Jean Ziegler, member of the drafting group, introducing the draft recommendations on the right to food, said there were two kinds of hunger: there was structural hunger which was a daily massacre and implicit in underdevelopment; and there was sudden hunger, for example as a result of a sudden disaster. Mr. Ziegler also addressed the extreme volatility of food prices and said that it was a result of excessive speculation and the processing of staple foods to turn them into bio-fuels. Mr. Ziegler drew the Committee's attention to the fact that hunger refugees that crossed the Mediterranean and came to the shores of Italy did not have international protection because the Geneva Convention did not cover hunger as grounds for refugee status. Jose Antonio Bengoa, member of the drafting group on the right to food, said a short and concise paper was drafted from the initial paper. This document aimed to summarize the recommendations in the form of nine core recommendations. For example, the first recommendation referred to speculation on food, which was a very complex subject area. The second recommendation focused on the processing of staple foods into bio fuels. The third recommendation addressed the violations of the human rights of poor peasants, particularly of the right to food, which included the consideration of the adoption of an international convention on the rights of peasants. In the general debate on human rights education and training, which started in the morning meeting, speakers said that the right to education guaranteed the enjoyment of other rights as the right to freedom of expression. A good education based on human rights eliminated all kinds of racism that had been transmitted from generation to generation. Education in human rights was of great significance. The universal nature of human rights was not a dictate from one nation to one another, but rather a mutual understanding between all nations. Significant room should be given to the historic context when discussing education as a human right. The Committee also heard from the Secretariat which was responding to an allegation from a representative of a non-governmental organization during the morning meeting that UN security officers had discriminated against him during a security check. The Secretariat said the UN security officers implemented the rules set by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, and security checks for all meetings were the same. Advisory Committee Experts speaking this afternoon included Miguel Alfonso Martinez, Emmanuel Decaux, Mona Zulficar, Jean Ziegler and Jose Antonio Bengoa. Also speaking on human rights education were the non-governmental organizations Arab Commission for Human Rights and the Federation of Associations for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights. The Committee will reconvene at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 29 January to continue its discussion on the right to food. It is also scheduled to discuss rules of procedures and methods of work. *General Debate on Human Rights Education and Training * DAVID FERNANDEZ PUYANA, of Federacion de Asociaciones de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, said that the right to education guaranteed the enjoyment of other rights as the right to freedom of expression. A good education based on human rights eliminated all kinds of racism that had been transmitted from generation to generation. Education should also provide all children to acquire basic knowledge. Schools had to be identified as neutral areas and be protected. Education and education towards peace and human rights had to be a clear priority for all United Nations agencies. Empathy, tolerance, diversity and peace should be the underlying principles of education. Regarding informal and non-formal education of women, the organization said that the participation of women had to be increased. ABDELWAHAB HANI, of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, said that from the point of view of normative work the draft declaration should include international law and the work of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Education in human rights was of great significance. It was necessary to pay attention to the cultural wealth of humanity, taking into consideration all cultures and religions. The universal nature of human rights was not a dictate from one nation to one another, but rather a mutual understanding between all nations. Significant room should be given to the historic context when discussing education as a human right. It was also important that the draft declaration did not only look at human rights education in general, but it should look at specific cases. Furthermore, particular attention should be paid to minorities, girls, prisoners, and other marginalized groups which had been deprived of their right to education. MIGUEL ALFONSO MARTINEZ, Advisory Committee Chairperson, said that in Cuba there had been a decision for the development of training in human rights at the university level. For the first time, there was enough funding for such a measure. In the setting up of the programme, questions could be contemplated such as what knowledge someone should have with a view to later work for example in journalism. Not only had a programme of lectures been developed but also seminars at the university level had been developed which proved to be extraordinarily useful. With this personal experience, the Chairperson wanted to emphasize the importance of the topic and the possibilities that existed. EMMANUEL DECAUX, Committee Expert and Rapporteur for the draft declaration on human rights education and training, in concluding remarks, thanked all who contributed to the discussion. He said that the representative of the Arab Commission for Human Rights had set the benchmark very high. All of the ideas presented needed to be considered, but the work must be kept simple. The Committee needed to take the time to formulate decisions, and it was difficult to see what the future would bring. It was important that all the working papers were made available to all stakeholders and observers. With regard to substance, the link between human rights and humanitarian law in the Geneva Conventions outlined specific conditions where States Parties were obligated to provide education on human rights. The State was the main body responsible for human rights education via curricula. It was important for projects for training and education in human rights to be developed. Going beyond the responsibilities of the State, individuals were also responsible for this training, as well as the family. He stressed that it was important to adapt education to tackle the issue of relativism, drawing upon traditions and practices which were just as important as institutional monitoring. With the help of the Secretariat, he had complied a list of recommendations made by States on the right to education during the Universal Periodic Review. It was the hope that there could one day be a more systematic process to compiling that information. He welcomed all additional information pertinent to the topic to be submitted for consideration. JOSE BENGOA, Advisory Committee Expert, said he wished to explain that he had been absent from meetings of the Committee because of other ongoing meetings. MIGUEL ALFONSO MARTINEZ, Advisory Committee Chairperson, regretted that there was a considerable overlap of meetings. Several Experts could not take part in meetings of the Committee because they were participating in other meetings. The Chairperson would bring this fact to the attention of the Human Rights Council. ------ Human Rights Council Advisory Committee 30 January 2009 ** *Action on Recommendation on Human Rights Education and Training * In a recommendation to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/AC/2/L.1) on human rights education and training, adopted without a vote, the Advisory Committee requests the Human Rights Council to ask the Rapporteur of the drafting group to prepare a summary of the replies received, on the basis of the provisional conclusions reached by members of the group during the second session of the Advisory Committee, and to submit that summary to the Advisory Committee at its third session. The Committee also requests national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights to add this item to the agendas of their forthcoming international meetings, in March 2009 in Geneva, at the annual meeting of the International Coordinating Committee, and at their regional meetings. The Advisory Committee recommends that the Council take note of the elements of reflection submitted by the Committee as an interim report on its ongoing work and consultations and to encourage it to continue its work in order to develop a draft declaration on human rights education and training. The Advisory Committee also recommends that the Council request the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to facilitate the organization of an informal meeting to enrich the collective thinking before the next session of the Advisory Committee. EMMANUEL DECAUX, Advisory Committee Expert, presenting the progress report of the drafting group on human rights education and training, made several oral amendments. -- W A Laskar Freelance Reporter and Human Rights Activist with Barak Human Rights Protection Committee, http://bhrpc.net.googlepages.com 15, Panjabari Road, Darandha, Six Mile, Guwahati-781037, Assam, India Cell: +919401134314 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
