CHAPTER 5: Human Rights Education

Human rights education (HRE) is an international movement to promote awareness about the rights accorded by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related human rights conventions, and the procedures that exist for the redress of violations of these rights (Amnesty International, 2005; Tibbitts, 1996; Reardon, 1995). Beginning with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Right in 1948, the United Nations and its specialized agencies formally recognized the right of citizens to be informed about the rights and freedoms contained in the documents ratified by their countries—the right to human rights education itself (UNESCO, 2005). Since then, numerous policy documents developed by United Nations (UN) affiliated agencies, international policymaking bodies, regional human rights bodies and national human rights agencies have referenced HRE, proposing that the treatment of human rights themes should be present in schooling (Pearse, 1987).¹