Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
and universities, non-formal HRE which is any
organised, systematic education activity carried
on outside the formal system, and informal HRE.
The latter may or may not be organised, and is
usually unsystematic education, 'having its impact
on the lifelong processes by which every person
acquires and accumulates knowledge, skills, at-
titudes and insights from daily experiences and
exposure' (Claude & Hick, 2000, p.231).
Flowers (2000) defined human rights education
as all learning that develops the knowledge, skills,
and values of human rights. It is a complex pro-
cess that requires cognitive, emotional and active
learning according to Mihr (2004). Nonetheless
endorsements for human rights education have
been proclaimed in various global and regional
legal instruments ever since 1945, when the Char-
ter of the United Nations called for cooperation
in promoting and encouraging respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms (Andreopoulos
& Claude, 1997). This premise, which was reaf-
firmed in 1993 in Vienna at the United Nations
World Conference on Human Rights, creates re-
sponsibilities at the State level in terms of formal
education. It also creates responsibilities among
social institutions, including NGOs, who deliver
non-formal education in human rights.
Online human rights education centers now go
beyond the provision of material for formal educa-
tion and training to address the non-formal HRE
needs of a variety of sectors. The Human Rights
EducationAssociates (HREA) library (http://www.
hrea.org/erc/Library/), for example, which is one
of the most extensive online human rights educa-
tion libraries available to the public, contains over
2,000 full-text guides, curricula, textbooks and other
documents that can be used for both formal and
non-formal education relating to human rights. In
addition to general resources and formal education
material, it provides training material for profes-
sional groups such as teachers, law enforcement
officials and companies. It also includes a range of
non-formal education material for women, NGOs,
community leaders and youth.
Human rights education involves analysis
through reflection on one's own situation (Lan-
non & Halpin, 2006). The mere gathering of
knowledge is not enough for this; there also needs
to be awareness building, everyday examples,
experience and reflection (Freire, 1995). A good
example of how the Internet and other ICTs can be
used to meet this challenge is Pambazuka News, a
weekly newsletter and platform for social justice
in Africa. In keeping with the need for emotional
and active learning, it has also become a tool for
advocacy in Africa. As part of the 2005 campaign
for the ratification of the protocol on the Rights
of Women in Africa, for example, two special is-
sues were produced profiling important aspects
of the protocol.
According to Shahjahan Siraj, a former online
editor of Banglarights.net (an independent web
portal that exposes and challenges discriminations
and violations of human rights in Bangladesh),
'global information systems, [the] Internet as
well as ICTs have opened up the golden gate for
human rights promotion in Bangladesh' (Siraj,
2005). ICTs provide public access to information
and build a virtual space for community gathering
and grassroots development, particularly in the
case of marginalized communities, he says, and
websites can change a situation dramatically by
encouraging participation in debate about human
rights abuse. Siraj believes that if such a resource
were available in Bangladesh it would gives con-
tinuous objective education and awareness both to
the human rights defenders and offenders.
monitoring anD reporting
Human rigHtS violationS
The human rights regime depends on information
that is reliable, trustworthy and relevant. If it is not
objective and truthful, it will be ignored (Weyker,
2002), and if it is not presented in a way that is
usable by its recipients it has little value.
Human rights standards are set primarily by the
Search WWH ::
Custom Search