Human Rights Education Associates

Human Rights and Citizenship: The Emergence of Human Rights Education

Author

David Suarez and Francisco Ramirez

Publisher

Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law Stanford Institute for International Studies

Place of Publication

n.p

Year of Publication

2004

Language

English

This paper argues that in the last half century there has been an explosion in worldwide organizations and discourse on behalf of ever-expanding conceptions of human rights. This broad movement has resulted in an increase in (a) the number of groups whose human rights are to be protected, such as women and children, gays and lesbians, or ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples. It has also produced an increase (b) in the range of topics covered, such as basic due process rights, rights to an elementary and secondary education, rights to health, and rights to one’s language and culture. It has expanded (c) the scope of human rights treaties and the number of countries that have ratified them. Finally, it has expanded (d) the density of organizational structures around the world engaged in advocacy, monitoring, and representation. This broad movement has impacted policy and practice throughout much of the world. The worldwide human rights movement is an important foundation of human rights education. Human rights education has expanded dramatically since the mid-1970s, and the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education has drawn even more attention to the movement. The growth in education and the variety of communities and identities represented in schools, combined with globalization and the success of the human rights movement, accounts for the strength and the success of human rights education at the global level.
Education Policy, Curriculum Development, Research
EPCDR: Research and evaluation
Freedom from discrimination, Human rights-based approach, International humanitarian law, Democracy

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