No quality education without human rights
Human rights education (HRE) is a tool for building peaceful and just societies and States are held accountable for their HRE implementation through various global and regional conventions, resolutions, declarations and programmes.
If future generations are to participate in the development of a universal culture of human rights, it is crucial that human rights education is embedded in both national education policies and in the curricula.
As schools are key to socialising younger generations, it is equally important to create learning environments characterised by respect and human dignity, where teachers provide students with opportunities for self-expression and participation in decision-making.
Only by integrating human rights values into all aspects of schooling and education, can we promote a universal culture of justice, non-violence and equality.
A new indicator framework
The Danish Institute for Human Rights is in consultation with The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) developing an
to measure progress on national implementing the human rights education element of target 4.7.The proposed indicator framework is our contribution to the ongoing international process around developing a methodology for global monitoring of SDG Indicator 4.7.1.It is key for the future of human rights that the quality and extent of human rights education is advanced at the national level, and SDG 4, and in particular target 4.7, provides a strong framework for such efforts.
Monitoring and follow-up with States on their progress on human rights education is crucial in this regard. Efficient monitoring, however, requires operational indicators, that are designed to capture the essence of the state of implementation in such a way that it becomes clear where more efforts are needed to secure effective implementation of human rights education.
“Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development, including gender equality and human rights, are mainstreamed at all levels in:
- national education policies
- curricula
- teacher education
- student assessment
The new indicator framework builds on the links between the four elements included in SDG Indicator 4.7.1 (see fact box) and the five components of the WPHRE’s Action Plan for implementation of human rights education in primary and secondary schools and their associated standards and guidelines (see fact box).
In this way, the most comprehensive, internationally agreed framework that exists for human rights education is reflected in the indicators. The indicator framework thus serves a double purpose of operationalising data collection for monitoring the implementation of SDG indicator 4.7.1 and the implementation of the WPHRE simultaneously.
..for implementation of human rights education in primary and secondary schools comprises 5 components:
- educational policies
- policy implementation
- the learning environment
- teaching and learning processes
- school personnel education
World Programme for Human Rights Education (WPHRE) adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2004.
The indicator framework is designed with a primary focus on data that is immediately available from public authorities (administrative data). For example, is human rights education provided for in education laws and policies? Are teachers trained to impart human rights knowledge and skills – and to build a human rights-based culture of respect and human dignity in classrooms? Do school curricula include elements on human rights? And are students’ human rights knowledge and skills assessed?
National human rights institutions can provide data
Many National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) already dedicate considerable efforts towards promoting human rights education in their countries. The new indicator framework is a tool that can help them generate better data on the current situation, which can then serve to guide a process towards enhanced implementation of human rights education.
With their human rights responsibilities and expertise, as established by the Paris Principles relating to the status of national institutions, NHRIs are well placed to act as data providers on human rights education. Also in the context of national and global SDG monitoring. Six NHRIs (Nigeria, Ecuador, Australia, Philippines, Georgia and Denmark) have piloted the indicator framework, and
- In general, there is a great need for more data on HRE and its national implementation and a great need for measuring the outcome of the implementation.
- HRE is often loosely integrated into various themes like civic education, democratic citizenship and responsible citizenship, intercultural education and history. Two out of the six pilot countries have explicit reference to human rights in school policies and curricula.
- HRE is weakly represented in most teacher education programme.
The development of the HRE Indicator Framework is supported by the Permanent Mission of Denmark to UN in Geneva.
September 2017 - September 2019