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Lasso, Jose Ayala --- "Tasks for the UN Decade for Human Rights Education in the Asia-Pacific Region" [1996] HRightsDef 26; (1996) Human Rights Defender

Tasks for the UN Decade for Human Rights Education in the Asia-Pacific Region

By Jose Ayala Lasso

Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to be able to address you - the participants in this important Program. I would like to thank the organisers for inviting me to attend and I regret most sincerely the fact that previous commitments have prevented me from being with you in person. Nevertheless, I assure you all that I will follow the results of the programme with great interest. We are engaged in the same battle. At the outset I confirm my commitment to your work and I ask for your help and support in carrying out my own. The task of defending human rights is a formidable one which belongs to us all. Our chances for success will depend very much on our ability to work together and to assist each other.

1. Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific region: challenges and responses

As human rights educators of the Asia-Pacific region you all face some very special challenges. I have come to understand from my work as High Commissioner (and the extensive travelling in this part of the world which that work has involved) that this region comprises countries of tremendous complexity and diversity. Great differences in culture, religion and history set this region apart from all others - and indeed have often been cited as reasons why Asia-Pacific remains the only UN-defined region not to have established a regional, intergovernmental mechanism for the protection and promotion of human rights.

It is important for us to admit the fact that the human rights record of many countries of this region - like so many other parts of the world - leaves much to be desired. Many millions continue to live in conditions of extreme poverty and underdevelopment- denied the most basic rights to food, shelter and education. Violations against ethnic and religious minorities and discrimination against women are frighteningly commonplace. Democratic protections and respect for the rule of law have, in some countries of the region, been systematically eroded or even abolished altogether.

While it is important for us to remain realistic about the challenges ahead, it is counterproductive to be overly pessimistic. I see much to be hopeful about and your presence at this Program is clear evidence to me that you share this optimism. The Asia-Pacific region has, over the past decade, witnessed a monumental evolution in civil society. Non governmental organisations and community groups are a feature of the political landscape in almost every country of the region and are fast becoming important actors at the international level. As High Commissioner for Human Rights I have come to the conclusion that non-governmental organisations must be recognised and actively supported. Such organisations have a freedom of movement and a flexibility of action which ensures that their work is complementary to that which is undertaken by the more traditional human rights "players". The commitment, professionalism and sheer activity of Asian and Pacific human rights NGO's is, I believe, a sure sign that for the communities which these organisations represent, human rights are becoming a common language - one with the capacity to bridge cultural, religious and other differences.

NGOs are not, of course, the only actors to have played a critical role in shaping human rights in this region. Independent national human rights institutions (such as your host, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission)- dedicated to promoting rights and investigating complaints of violations, have grown more rapidly in Asian and Pacific countries than in any other part of the World. Such institutions now exist in Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Zealand- with similar institutions expected to be functioning by the end of the year in a number of other countries including Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea. Significantly, the charters of the National Human Rights Commissions already established in the Asia-Pacific Region emphasise (either explicitly or implicitly) the important role which is played by non-governmental organisations. All such institutions are empowered to work closely with NGOs - a collaborative relationship which I would like to draw your attention to as being of great importance in the area of human rights education.

I believe that independent national human rights institutions such as those which exist in this part of the world contribute significantly to regional understanding and cooperation - as well as providing practical redress for human rights abuses to many of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in the countries within which they operate. In my capacity as High Commissioner for Human Rights I have accordingly made national human rights institutions one of my highest priorities. In 1995, I recruited as a high-level adviser, the former federal Human Rights Commissioner of Australia. Over the past 12 months, the majority of his time in this area has been spent responding to requests from different countries relating to the establishment of National Institutions; strengthening of existing Institutions and advising on appropriate legislation relating to such institutions. Last month, in Darwin, an Asia-Pacific Regional Forum of National Human Rights Institutions was created. This Forum will be dedicated to promote the establishment and development of independent, effective institutions. Member institutions will work together and help each other. This Forum is the first of its kind in the world and a model of which the founding institutions and their respective countries can be justly proud.

2. The United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education a common commitment

I would now like to share with you some thoughts on our common commitment: human rights education. As you know, in December 1994 the General Assembly proclaimed the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, covering the period from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2004. Through this initiative, Governments, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, professional associations, large sectors of civil society and individuals at large have been called upon to concentrate their efforts and to enter into a partnership towards the building of a universal culture of human rights.

A Plan of Action setting out a complete strategy for activities directed to this aim (to be undertaken at the international, regional, national and local level) has been prepared, and I have been called upon to coordinate its implementation - with the support of the Centre for Human Rights and the contribution of all the other partners of the Decade.

The Plan of Action focuses, in particular, on stimulating and supporting national and

local initiatives, and has five main objectives:

* Assessing needs and formulating strategies for human rights education;

* Building and strengthening human rights education programmes at the international, regional, national and local levels;

* Developing and coordinating the development of human rights education materials;

* Strengthening the role of the mass media; and

* Promoting the global dissemination of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The proclamation of the Decade did not so much represent the birth of global efforts for human rights education as their maturation. Consistent with the provisions of Article 1 of the Charter, United Nations activities in the field of human rights have, for almost fifty years, been devoted to promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for

fundamental freedoms.

Since the early days of the United Nations, a common core of human rights and fundamental freedoms has been enshrined by the international community in several international instruments. This exercise of standard-setting has resulted in the scripting of what the Secretary-General called, in his statement at the opening of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights in June of 1993, a "common language of humanity". International mechanisms to monitor the compliance of governments with those rights have also been established.

Monitoring compliance with laws and standards will, however, never be enough. The effective protection of human rights also requires that those with the potential to have an impact on the realisation of human rights and all human beings subject to their enjoyment, be aware of both their rights and their responsibilities under this international framework. In realisation of this, the United Nations has also given increasing attention to human rights education in its global activities. The objective of the United Nations in its human rights educational activities is to teach the "common language of humanity" to all people everywhere, to make each woman and man fluent in its vocabulary, and to enable each person to translate its terms into their daily conduct. To quote again the Secretary-General, we must do "nothing less than setting up a civics workshop on a global scale".

References to the concept of education for human rights appear in a number of

international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 26), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art.13), the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (art. 10), the Convention of the Rights of the Child (art. 29), and, most recently, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (II.D, paras. 78-82).

Taken together, these instruments provide a clear definition of the concept of human rights education as agreed by the international community; they define it in essence as training, dissemination and information efforts aimed at the building of a universal culture of human rights through the imparting of knowledge and skills and the molding of attitudes and which are directed to:

* the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity;

* the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

* the promotion of understanding, tolerance, gender equality and friendship among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups;

* the enabling of all persons to participate effectively in a free society, and;

* the furtherance of the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

These are our educational goals. And they constitute nothing less than lessons for life.

lessons for life because they seek to teach respect for the sanctity of human life, and

therefore of human dignity.

lessons for life because they are intended to guide human conduct in every day life,

at the office, at home, in the schools, and in the jails; and

lessons for life because they apply from the first day of life to the last: protecting our

children; developing our youth; empowering our adults; and elevating our seniors.

Our task - yours and mine - during the next years, will be to bring these lessons for life to the world - and in your case, to this region which comprises close to half of humanity. This is an enormous challenge. It will require new creative approaches, methodologies and mechanisms. This is exactly why you have been gathered here - to discuss, examine and consolidate existing educational approaches, methodologies and experiences and to explore new ways of having those lessons learnt and put into practice. I urge you to draw on the work of others. (A number of important initiatives have already been undertaken in the region in the context of the decade. One such activity was the Conference-Workshop on Asia-Pacific Human Rights Education for Development, held in Manila in December of 1995. I was represented at that meeting by my Special Adviser and I read its final document very carefully. This document contains valuable insights which I believe will be of great assistance to you in your present task).

Our common commitment is extremely important because human rights education is not an end in itself, but it can constitute a powerful tool to greater ends: teaching and learning about human rights means teaching and learning about our rights. And only by knowing our rights, can we defend and realise them. Education means change. This is why our efforts must be directed to make human rights known and understood worldwide.

Conclusion

Ladies and Gentlemen, in delivering this message, I would like to appeal individually to all of you to participate actively in this Decade for Human Rights Education. You are already assisting in the realisation of its goals by organising and participating in formal and non-formal human rights education programmes. However, you may also wish to be of further assistance. My Office and the United Nations Centre for Human Rights are eager to receive suggestions, ideas and constructive comments to make this Decade a fruitful undertaking; we consider your knowledge and experience a precious gift, and we invite you to establish a direct dialogue with us, to make this network of the partners of the Decade broader and broader.

You may also wish to be my spokespersons in your countries (and, of course, within the region), making public opinion and institutions more and more aware of the importance of human rights education and of this common framework constituted by the Decade.

Together, we can bring a change and make a difference in our future. For empowering people, combating human rights violations and enhancing peace and tolerance are challenges which will require the concerted effort of all members of the human rights community, and the use of all available tools to this end. The tool of human rights education, Ladies and Gentlemen, will be essential to this struggle.

I wish you a very fruitful programme and I look forward to receiving your concrete and constructive suggestions.