Table of contents

1.   Call for Ideas and Examples of Good Practice by the Chair of DARE
2.   European Parliaments CULT committee invites DARE for an exchange of view on EDC/HRE
3.   SynAct - Synchronised Action Days 2009
4.   Training Course "Human Rights Methods in youth work“, International House Sonnenberg, 2 - 9 April 2009
5.   DARE Conference documentation available for download
6.   Work Program 2009 of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency online
7.   NGO statement on the draft UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training
8.   Individual complaints procedure enabled by new Optional Protocol to the ICESCR
9.   Transnational Perspectives on Democratic Education: an intensive international seminar and taught course
10. Human Rights Learning as Peace Education: pursuing democracy in a time of crisis
11. aces - Academy of Central European Schools: call for project proposals 2009
12. Update from the Citizenship Foundation
13. A VORMEN project: integrating children's rights in police academy training courses
14. CRED - New Projects on Protecting Human Rights For Disadvantaged People
15. New EMHRN publication on using non-formal education methodologies in HRE
16. Teaching democracy - A collection of models for democratic citizenship and human rights education
17. New publication on education for citizenship and diversity in Irish contexts
18. Human Rights Education in the Russian Federation
19. Using quotes for stimulating reflection on human rights and citizenship

Editorial



 1. Call for Ideas and Examples of Good Practice by the Chair of DARE

I want to use this opportunity to inform you, the DARE-members and users of our web-site, about our challenges and issues at the present time. The remaining time before the next General Assembly, which will take place in Berlin on May 30, 2009, will be used by the Board and AdB-staff involved in the DARE EU project to find new ways of making the network more efficient, more democratic, and less harmful to the environment through travel activity.

We are asking ourselves: is the way we are working in harmony with our convictions, or in other words: are we acting according to what we are preaching in EDC and HRE? Integrity is, to my mind, a major value. We need consistency between what we say and what we do. One important aspect of this is the issue raised at our last GA about the so called “carbon footprint” of conferences and international seminars, when many participants have to travel by airplane.

One important topic the Board will be working on is to develop a new, inexpensive and ecological concept of democratic governance and legitimacy of our network. We want our network to grow, and it is growing. But how can we connect the need to include a high number of members in decision-making and avoid making a lot of people travel throughout Europe in airplanes, whose carbon footprint is the worst of all means of travel?

The Board intends to submit a new concept of democratic governance to the GA to be voted, where travel is avoided if possible, and a higher number of members are included in network decisions. This concept has, of course, to be coherent with our constitution and existing legal guidelines.

I invite everybody to send ideas, thoughts, existing concepts or practical solutions to me, to be discussed and possibly included in our concept. There might be examples of good practice out there which are worth looking at, and you might know about it.

Thank you in advance for your support.

Best warm wishes

Ingrid Halbritter, Chair of DARE, Pharos e.V., Stuttgart (Germany) / Sarajevo (BiH)

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 2. European Parliaments CULT committee invites DARE for an exchange of view on EDC/HRE with the EP

The DATE of the Hearing is fixed by the EPs CULT Secretariat: on Thursday 2 of April 2009 DARE is invited for an exchange of views on EDC/HRE in Europe with Members of the European Parliament. EDC/HRE practicioners from the NGO level interested in participating at the Hearing please contact Georg Pirker.

Georg Pirker, DARE Project Office, Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstätten (AdB), Berlin (Germany)

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 3. SynAct - Synchronised Action Days 2009

Please share your activities around Human Rights Day 2009 (ranging from Nov 10 to Dec 31, 2009) with us in order to gain more visibility! Synchronized Action Days (SynAct) are a powerful PR tool and a standing invitation to all activists and organisation in the field of Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education in Europe.

Why SynAct?
With the Synchronised Action Days we collect and showcase the many different activities in the field of Education for Democratic citizenship and Human Rights. Be it a public event, a workshop, a seminar, a campaign, an arts project, a roundtable, a local, regional, national or international project - DARE publishes all your initiatives in a brochure and on the DARE website, and we disseminate this hopefully impressing collection to stakeholders on the local, regional, national and European level. Synchronised Action Days underline the impact of our work by increasing its visibility.

How does it work?
DARE collects all activities in the field of Education for Democratic citizenship and Human Rights in Europe in the period Nov 10 to Dec 31, 2009. Every activity is important! You just have to fill out the short “activity report sheet” below (or for download at: http://www.dare-network.eu)

What is DARE´s service and your benefit?
Your activities will be collected, published on DAREs website and put in a brochure which will be sent to all relevant stakeholders on national and European level (MEPs, MPs, MEC etc).
You are very welcome to use the logo of the Synchronised Action Days (for download at www.dare-network.eu) on your website or other materials of your organisations. If many of us use this logo, we increase the visibility of our joint efforts.

What you have to do to do?
1) Fill out the simple “activity report form” displayed below and to be downloaded here.
2) For every additional activity please just copy the form.
3) Send the form(s) until October 31, 2009 via Email to Anne Stalfort.

Activity Report Form

• Title of the activity (in English)?
• Where will it happen? (country, city, location)
• When will the activity take place? (Date/Period)
• Who are the participants/target groups?
• Estimated number of participants?
• What kind of activity is it? (workshop, publication, film, campaign …)
• What is the aim?
• What will happen at the event?
• Information on the web (if available):
• Name of the organisation in charge of the activity (Full Name/Acronym/Full name in English translation
• Contact information of the organisation (full postal address, URL):
• Name and e-mail of contact person:
• Involved partner organisations (names, names in English translation, URL's):

Please join us for the SynAct 2009!
For more information check www.dare-network.eu or contact Anne Stalfort at AdB Germany

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 4. Training Course on “Human Rights Methods in youth work“ at International House Sonnenberg, 2 - 9 April 2009

We are very happy to announce that the application for our Training Course on Human Rights Methods (the idea was developed on the SIG II meeting in Rome in July) was accepted by the Youth in Action programme. We found a whole colourful bouquet of nine international partners - mostly members of the DARE network - who support the project, such as “Partners Bulgaria Foundation”, “Future Worlds Center” Cyprus, “Centre for Europe” Great Britain, “Human Rights Education Associates” Netherlands and of course the DARE network itself. Other countries involved are Lithuania, Georgia, Ukraine, Italy and of course Germany as host country.

Each partner is going to send at least 4 young multipliers (between 18 and 30 years) to participate in the one-week training course that will cope with basic educational methods to involve the subject of human rights in youth work. Therefore a big variety of workshops, held by experienced trainers, will be offered. The aim of the training is to equip trainers and/or teachers who are already experienced in the field of youth work with a set of general knowledge and basic methodology on human rights education. Moreover there will be lots of chances for mutual exchange of experience and the development of new project ideas. Participants will be able to implement new methods and activities into their daily youth work, in order to raise awareness for human rights among young people all over Europe.

The facility “International House Sonnenberg” is situated in the beautiful national park of the Harz mountains, surrounded by the bigger cities of Hannover, Göttingen and Braunschweig. Besides the comfort of modern accommodation, tasty food, and well-equipped conference rooms, the picturesque scenery invites for relaxing hikes in the forests and mountains. For more information please check www.sonnenberg-international.de.

We are looking forward to an intense international week with new impulses, contacts and a high level of professional exchange on up-to-date methods of human rights education. If you're interested in participating, sending participants or running a workshop as a trainer, please write an email to k.poetzsch@sonnenberg-international.de.

A huge “Thank you” goes to the partners supporting this project and to the Youth in Action programme for granting subsidies. Looking forward to welcome many active young multipliers in the first week of April!

Katja Pötzsch, International House Sonnenberg (Germany) & Reinhard Eckert

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 5. DARE Conference documentation available for download

"Intercultural Dialogue: Challenge for Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights " was the topic of a European Conference in Vienna (14 -16 November 2008), providing a forum for more than 160 stakeholders from 37 countries active in the twin fields of civic and human rights education. The conference aimed at fostering collaboration between practitioners, scholars and policy makers on a local, national and European level. Topics like framework policies for civic education and structural barriers in diversity management were discussed in working groups, various workshops offered training and exchange of experiences concerning innovative educational tools in intercultural learning.

The conference was a part of the current DARE project 2007-2010 and was organised in cooperation with Zentrum polis - Politik lernen in der Schule and the Austrian Ministery for Education, Arts and Culture.

Have a look at the conference documentation online, including workshop minutes and presentations, reports and research papers from discussion groups, press coverage and pictures.

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 6. Work Program 2009 of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency online

See this document on the EU Fundamental Rights Agency's website for the annual work progam of the FRA.

Note: the European Parliament recently adopted a report on fundamental rights drafted by Giusto Catania (GUE/NGL, Italy) by 401 votes in favour, 220 against and 67 abstentions. The report has several references to the Fundamental Rights Agency. A very short summary is available as news release.

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 7. NGO statement on the draft UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training

The next session the Human Rights Council, the United Nations' highest human rights body, will be addressing human rights education. Specifically, it will discuss a Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training that is under development, and the follow-up to the current World Programme for Human Rights Education. The NGO Working Group on Human Rights Education and Learning in Geneva, and Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) have developed a statement for the Council on behalf of civil society organisations from around the world.

The full text of the statement is available at: http://www.hrea.org/statement-HRC-Feb2009.pdf

The main points of this statement are:

1. Draft UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training

We call upon the Human Rights Council to ensure that when the draft UN declaration is prepared, the following views be fully reflected in the text:

(1) Concept and Definition
The declaration, as a new international human rights standard, should provide a clear definition of human rights education. As human rights education encompasses all human rights, such definition should remain broad.

(2) Accountability / Duty-bearers and rights-holders
Over the course of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education and the WPHRE, the question of accountability has often been raised. The declaration should clarify the concept of duty-bearers and rights-holders regarding implementation of human rights education and training.
The declaration should also include references to international obligations that States have to train government personnel adequately in human rights. A human rights-based framework should be part of all human rights education, schooling, learning and training.

(3) Monitoring system
To the maximum degree feasible, the declaration should provide for monitoring to ensure implementation by duty-bearers.

(4) Financial resources
The declaration should contain a provision for financial resources. It could, for example, stipulate the responsibility of governments to include human rights education and training in annual national budgetary planning.

(5) The role of civil society and NGOs
Through all experiences and surveys of the UN Decade and the first phase of the WPHRE, it is evident that civil society actors and NGOs, irrespective of their consultative status with the UN, are the main contributors. It is imperative that the importance of supporting their involvement and efforts toward the implementation of human rights education and training be clearly stated in the declaration.

2. World Programme for Human Rights Education

(1) Evaluation Process of the First Phase (2005-2009)
In preparing for the final national evaluation report, we would like to call upon the Human Rights Council to ensure that all Member States commit to the following actions:
(i) To further assist and collaborate with all stakeholders, particularly NGOs and other civil society actors, for gathering information relevant to the first phase.
(ii) To maintain efforts for implementation of human rights education in primary and secondary school systems even after the conclusion of the first phase.

(2) Second Phase (2010-further)
We urge the Human Rights Council to take action as soon as possible to determine a sector/area to be focused upon as well as drafting a plan of action for the second phase.

3. Special Procedures of Human Rights Council

We call upon the Member States to consider expanding the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education to formally include human rights education as well as to establish a Special Rapporteur on (the Right to) Human Rights Education.

Frank Elbers, Human Rights Education Associates (HREA)

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 8. Individual complaints procedure enabled by new Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights  

On 10 December 2008, an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly. States Parties to the Optional Protocol recognize the competence of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to receive and consider “communications”. With regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, this individual complaints procedure has existed since 1966.

The communications can be submitted by individuals or groups of individuals (under the jurisdiction of a State Party) who claim to be a victim of a violation of one of the Covenant's rights. Inter-State communications are likewise possible, if all States involved have declared to accept the Committee's competence in this regard.

Although States Parties are merely required to “give due consideration” to the Committee's views and recommendations and to submit a written follow-up response, the adoption of the Optional Protocol on Human Rights Day 2008 constitutes a major step in the much needed equalization of enforceability of civil and political rights on the one hand, and economic, social and cultural rights on the other hand.

The full text of the optional protocol can be downloaded.

Fiona Ang, VORMEN (Belgium)

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 9. Transnational Perspectives on Democratic Education: an intensive international seminar and taught course

Institute of Education, University of London, 1 - 8 July 2009 in association with University of Wisconsin Madison; University of Melbourne; International Centre for Education for Democratic Citizenship.

This intensive programme aimed at educators combines keynote lectures by world renowned academics; active workshops involving the keynotes and a programme of visits. It is offered as an accredited master's module and will also be of interest to doctoral students and those seeking a one-off refreshing short course. Confirmed speakers include: Michael Apple, Diana Hess, Gloria Ladson-Billings from Madison; Johanna Wyn and Julie McLeod from Melbourne; Michael Fielding, David Gillborn, Ann Phoenix, Hugh Starkey from London.

Activities and workshops include: seminar hosted by Parliamentary Education Service; visit to schools implementing human rights and citizenship education; whole school human rights education with UNICEF UK and Amnesty International; using multicultural resources of Museum of London; new media and democratic participation.

Participants will join an online pre-sessional forum hosted on a specially developed website and moderated by course faculty.

The aims of this programme are:

• To explore transnational perspectives on democratic education by drawing on experience and scholarship from three national contexts.
• To provide opportunities for in depth engagement both with leading scholars acting as faculty and with students from other universities.
• To engage with institutions and cultural artefacts in the host city that have relevance to struggles for democracy and education.

The themes addressed are:

• What is democracy? Why study democratic education, and why now? Tensions and challenges in democratic agendas in different national and transnational agenda; lack of conceptual clarity?
• What is citizenship? Changing forms and challenges (national, cosmopolitan, citizenship across difference).
• What is democratic education? Deliberation and talk as forms of democratic ed. Deliberative traditions. What skills do educators need? Curriculum and professional resources.
• Diversity and inclusion: policies and responses in different national settings.
• Civil Rights, Human Rights and the law: campaigning for justice.
• Student voice and youth participation in a digital age. New forms and sites of democratic participation. In what ways are young people engaging?

Places are limited, so to register interest and obtain further details please contact Ruth Shewan.

Hugh Starkey, Reader of Education, Institute of Education, University of London (UK)

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 10. Human Rights Learning as Peace Education: pursuing democracy in a time of crisis

International Institute on Peace Education 2009, Budapest (Hungary), 26 July - 2 August 2009

Now accepting applications!

The International Institute on Peace Education (IIPE) 2009 will take place from July 26 to August 2 in Budapest, Hungary. The institute is being co-organized by the IIPE secretariat and the EJBO Foundation with the support and sponsorship of UNESCO and the Center for Nonviolence and Democratic Education of the University of Toledo, Ohio. IIPE 2009 will explore the theme of "Human Rights Learning as Peace Education: Pursuing Democracy in a Time of Crisis".

More information about IIPE 2009 can be found here.

Best regards,

Aniko Kaposvari, trainer (Vienna, Austria)

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 11. aces - Academy of Central European Schools: call for project proposals 2009

The new call for the successful school partnership project “aces – Academy of Central European Schools” was launched on February 2. In 1989, active citizenship led to the Fall of the Iron Curtain. Against this background, the theme of the 2009 competition is “Have your say! Young Europeans shape their future”.

Eligible countries: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

The best project proposals will be awarded, and the winners are supported in carrying out the cross-border partnership projects.
All school types with pupils aged 12-17 years can participate. Working language is English.
Deadline for submission is 30th April 2009!

aces is an initiative by ERSTE Foundation (Austria) in co-operation with Interkulturelles Zentrum. The network aims at promoting the exchange and intercultural dialogue among young people and teachers in Central Europe.

Further information (including the application form and background information) is available here. On the website you will also find a Partner Finder - in case you are still looking for a school in another eligible country.

In case of whatever questions, please contact: Interkulturelles Zentrum (Vienna, Austria)

Rebecca Zeilinger, Interkulturelles Zentrum (Vienna, Austria)

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 12. Update from the Citizenship Foundation

DARE Conference
Citizenship Foundation participated in the DARE conference in November 2008 in Vienna. As part of this conference, Ted Huddleston held a workshop on a new set of interactive materials about the EU that were developed by the Citizenship Foundation for the ILDE initiative. These resources are to be launched soon and Citizenship Foundation is hoping be involved in trialling them in a few schools in the UK.

Economic Citizenship
My Money My Rights is a fun, pocket sized guide that was developed based on Citizenship Foundation's award winning Young Citizen's Passport. Funded by Abbey, it covers a range of issues that impact on teenagers' lives, including banks and building societies, consumer law and student finance, providing concise, easy to use advice on everything from what to do if you get into debt to avoiding internet scams. The guide has initially been sent to 10,000 Year 10 students in 50 schools across the country, and is accompanied by two specially written lesson plans (mapped on to Citizenship and PSHE curricula at Key Stage 4) to encourage teachers to use it as a classroom resource. It will also be free to download from the Citizenship Foundation's website in February.

Budget Buddy and Play Your Prepaid Card Right Game - Citizenship Foundation have created an interactive budgeting tool and an interactive money game as financial education to accompany the launch of Visa's prepaid card for under 18s. Visa is now offering these resources to banks without their own educational resources for free to encourage them to help young people to learn how to budget and how manage plastic money. The Budget Buddy can be found on the specially designed Visa Youth website under Money Advice and the Play your Prepaid Card Right Game will be available to play there from February.

Participation and Social Action
Youth Act, one of the active citizenship programmes at the Citizenship Foundation, led their first piece of pioneering research in November 2008 called 'Our Stories: Portrayal or Betrayal'. After recognising the sheer amount of negative coverage about young people in the media, Youth Act led a number of questionnaires, focus groups and discussions with young people across London to identify how just they are portrayed in the media, and how it affects them.
One of the most interesting things to come from the research was that the vast majority of young people simply don't recognise themselves in the column inches that get their attention and yet are also seem incapable of assessing whether or not these memorable stories are typical of young people in general or not. One of the recommendations to come from the research was for a more systematic relationship between local press and young people which could dispel the myth of the anti-social young person; illustrating how local media could better serve the community than feed off its few deviants
To get a full copy of the report 'Our Stories: Portrayal or Betrayal' please contact Nicola Harwood.

Ruxandra Ratiu, International Project Officer, Citizenship Foundation

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 13.  VORMEN project: integrating children's rights in police academy training courses

VORMEN (Center of expertise for human rights education Flanders, Belgium) is currently coordinating a project aimed at providing student police officers with children's rights education during their basic, one-year training course. Cornerstone is a participatory methodology by which all stakeholders are involved: young people who have been in contact with the police, police officers operating in special youth brigades, neighborhood police officers, police academy teachers, student police officers, and academic experts on children and the police.

After the initial identification of the main problems or obstacles that pop up when children and the police are confronted (derived from meetings with both children and police officers), a look is taken at the current training materials (handbooks, readers) used by police academies. VORMEN offers teachers/authors textual suggestions to add a children's rights dimension to those materials. At the same time, an inspiring introductory activity is developed, to spark student police officers' interest in children's rights, and to explain that a child rights approach is part of community policing ánd of good policing. Furthermore, VORMEN is writing a specific manual on children's rights training within the framework of the specialized training module for neighborhood police officers, as these police men and women often encounter youth (eg. playing football in the streets), without having much specific experience or training on dealing with young people.

VORMEN of course welcomes any suggestions or input from the DARE community, and is looking forward to sharing its conclusions, materials and experiences upon project closure.

Fiona Ang, VORMEN (Belgium)

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 14. CRED - New Projects on Protecting Human Rights For Disadvantaged People

C.R.E.D. NGO from Romania is currently implementing three projects in differents regions of Romania focused on increasing the respecting of human rights and the human dignity of Roma people about to be released from prison, in order to increase the chances for their professional reintegration.

The goal of these projects is to increase the target group's abilities to find a job and to reduce discrimination on the labor market. The objectives of the projects are:

• To increase the knowledge about human rights on the labor market, to better use the legislation for disadvantaged people conceived in this respect.
• To increase the target group's psycho-social abilities related to finding a job
• To increase the level of access to information and counseling services offered to the target group members
• To increase the involvement of the civil society in combating the discrimination on the labor market

The number of direct beneficiaries is of approximately 700 persons, including minors, youngsters and adults, men and women imprisoned in different facilities and regions of the country. The final beneficiaries of the project are the prisoners' families and the prison staff (about 2500 persons and 500 families). These projects are in three regions of the country and we have as partner prisons from each region:

• South region, we have as partners - Ploiesti Prison, Gaesti - Reeducation Centre, Târgsor - Prison for Women
• North - East region we have as partners - Bacau Prison, Tâgu Ocna - Reeducation Centre
• South - East region we have as partners - Tichilesti - Prison for Minors and Young Offenders, Braila Prison, Galati Prison

The main activities are:

• creating information and counseling centers in order to enhance the access on the labor market for rroma people
• creating a center for developing competencies in IT to use efficiently the computer for finding job
• testing and evaluating the professional abilities of the target group
• developing the necessary abilities to find a job
• initiated jobs fare (inside and outside the prisons) special for people that are to be released from prison in order to increase their chance to find a place to work
• vocational counseling and orientation for integration on the labor market (individual activity)
• creating a guide for forming and enhancing the necessary abilities for finding a place to work
• legislative guide concerning the rights of disadvantaged people on the labor market
• awareness campaign for the civil society to be more supportive regarding the problems of the rroma people in finding a place to work in order to reduce the discrimination on the labor market for these persons
• assisting beneficiaries in contacting institutions, companies, possible employers

In the same time we are implementing two projects concerning the reforming of judicial law in Romania in order to increase the respecting of human rights and democracy in institution acting under the juridical system. These two projects are:

1. Alternative measures - a viable method for respecting human rights
2. The new law of execution of punishments - between theory and practice

The project about alternative measures has as:

Objectives:

• Sensitizing institutions involved in deciding punishment, and taking advantage of the alternative sentences, with a goal to extend the alternatives, to a much greater extent in Bucharest
• Improving the degree of protection of minor and young delinquents' rights by implementing an experiment - that make the people aware about the effect of crime on the victims - during 9 month in Bucharest
• Stimulating democratic participation via community involvement in administering juvenile justice

Partners:

• Probation Service under the Ministry of Justice
• PRI (Penal Reform International)
• ANGEL

Target groups:

• judges and prosecutors in Bucharest
• probation counselors
• social workers in DPCs (child protection department), as well as 50 minors and young persons that will execute alternative work sentences for the community

Final beneficiaries:

• judges and prosecutors in Bucharest
• probation counselors, social workers in DPCs (child protection department), as well as minor and young persons that will execute alternative work sentences for the community
• NGO's staff

Main Activities:

• Organize a study group to devise strategy for applying and administering alternative sentences;
• Experience exchanges in Belgium, to get acquainted to the Belgian Alternative Steps System;
• Create and publish folders and booklets about alternative sentencing benefits;
• Implement an experiment pilot project of alternative sentencing, within the community;
• Create a network of institutions supporting minor and young delinquents' social reintegration;
• Monitor and evaluate the project.

The project about the new law of execution of punishments has as:

Objectives:

• to create a unitary system of understanding and applying the new law regarding the execution of punishments, in all the Romanian prisons
• to protect the prisoners' rights and their families, which come in touch with the penal system and the new law regarding the execution of punishments
• to encourage an active participation of the civil society , especially the NGOs in supporting the process of applying the new law of execution of punishments

Partners:

• National Administration of Penitentiaries
• ANGEL association

Target Groups:

• Prisoners from penitentiaries
• Penitentiary staff

Final Beneficiaries:

• The whole staff from the penitentiary system
• Detained persons that enter the system
• Non-governmental organizations active in this field

Main Activities:

• Create functional standards to apply law 275/2006
• Organize meeting with professionals in the field
• Create and distribute informative materials for both the staff and the inmates
• Organize debriefing sessions with the inmates
• Ensure the organize of permanent debriefing sessions with the inmates
• Monitoring the application of the law 275/2006
• Involvement of the non-governmental organizations in specific actions: meetings, monitoring the application of law 275 and educational, therapeutical activities as well as instructive-educative ones.

Anca Militaru, CRED (Romania)

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 15. New EMHRN publication on using non-formal education methodologies in HRE

"Resources for Human Rights Education in the Euro-Mediterranean region: A practical introduction to methodologies in non-formal education" is now available. It is the first publication of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) based on HRE methodologies tested and developed by EMHRN members and partners that participated at the EMHRN Summer School in Cyprus in July 2007.

It provides educational exercises and teaching resources on HRE methodologies as part of non-formal education in the Euro-Mediterranean region, including sample activities of methodologies as diverse as art, film, peer learning and training for trainers. It presents a range of HRE methodologies for organisations dealing with HRE who want to build on or improve existing activities or programmes, or who want to initiate new activities.

The electronic versions (in English and Arabic) are available online.

Nour Hemici, Project Coordinator, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network

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 16. Teaching democracy - A collection of models for democratic citizenship and human rights education

This teachers' manual contains a collection of exercises and models for Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) and Human Rights Education (HRE) in schools as well as in non-formal settings of education. These teaching models provide the framework to encourage students to become active by offering examples and inroads to understanding general principles of democracy and human rights.

Many exercises are adaptable for different age groups, as the level of reflection may vary. The wide variety of approaches reflects the fact that authors from all parts of Europe have contributed to this book. They have drawn on different sources and traditions of teaching and learning, and have selected models that they know through practical experience and testing in class.

However, there is a shared understanding of EDC/HRE that runs through every part of this book: in EDC/HRE, the method carries the message. This manual offers the users the chance to select and to try out different traditions and approaches to Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education.

ISBN : 978-92-871-6494-0
Price : 19€ / 38 $ + postage

For further information and to place an order directly, click here.

Council of Europe Publishing, Palais de l'Europe, Strasbourg (France)

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 17. New publication on education for citizenship and diversity in Irish contexts

Former President of Ireland and human rights activist Mary Robinson launched a new book "Education for Citizenship and Diversity in Irish Contexts" in Dublin on 5th February 2009.

The publication is the result is a collaborative venture between academics and practitioners in the area of education for citizenship, human rights and diversity in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The 18 chapters offer an engaging range of practical suggestions, conceptual frameworks, critical analyses and policy challenges from pioneers in the field of citizenship education in Ireland.

While, as the title suggests, the focus is on modern day Ireland, many of the insights in the book have global relevance and international applications. The book is co-edited by Gerry Jeffers, National University of Ireland, Maynooth and Una O'Connor, University of Ulster, Coleraine. More information on the publication can be found here.

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 18. Human Rights Education in the Russian Federation

Moscow School of Human Rights and Social and Human Sciences Sector of the UNESCO Moscow Office present a new publication – Analytical Report “Human Rights Education in the Russian Federation, Including Prevention Education in HIV/AIDS” (edited by Anatoly Azarov).

The book examines the status, trends, and issues of HRE, including HIV/AIDS prevention education in the Russian Federation. It spans the period from the early 1990s to December 2008, analyzing both positive preconditions for the spread of human rights and freedoms knowledge in Russia and obstacles encountered in the process. A special focus is on laws, regulations and standards applicable to higher education.

The book describes the activities of the primary social institutions engaged in HRE: comprehensive schools and universities, human rights commissioners, NGOs. It shows examples of international humanitarian law teaching; offers an evaluation of HRE literature for Russian universities; offers a concept of Science and Discipline of Human Rights. The book also examines the condition of HIV/AIDS prevention education within the context of human rights observance. The authors’ conclusions and judgments are supported with a special opinion poll.

The results of this research may be used in scholarly studies and in the practice of governmental and non-governmental organizations committed to improving HRE.
 
CONTENTS

1. THE RUSSIAN CONTEXT
1.1. Human Rights and Russian Values, 1.2. Political and legal preconditions, 1.3. International HRE obligations of Russia, 1.4. Understanding HRE.

2. THE HIGHER SCHOOL
2.1. On standards of higher education. Attempts at introducing human rights, 2.2. Teaching of HR in high schools, 2.3. International Humanitarian Law, 2.4. HRE manuals for Russian universities, 2.5. Science and Discipline of Human Rights.

3. COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS
3.1. Norms, textbooks and practice, 3.2. New textbooks and authority.

4. INFORMAL EDUCATION
4.1. Commissioners for Human Rights, 4.2. NGO activity in HRE.

5. HIV/AIDS. PREVENTION EDUCATION
5.1. HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, 5.2. Stigma and Discrimination, 5.3. Prevention education in HIV/AIDS. 5.4. Educational programs. Teaching guidelines, 5.5. Information campaigns, 5.6. Conclusions and recommendations.

The Report is published and available in Russian and English.
 
Anatoly Azarov, Director of Moscow School of Human Rights (Russia)

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 19. Using quotes for stimulating reflection on human rights and citizenship

“The right quote tells more than a thousand words…”

There are lots of ways in which one can use quotes. As an eye-catcher in a presentation, as an icebreaker for an interactive workshop, as a starting point for a panel debate or a group discussion, as a daily/weekly changing eye-catcher on a website… They can be used as one of the tools in convincing persons of a certain view but also as a stimulus provoking creative or critical thinking.

In human rights education and citizenship education one can use specific quotes on human rights or on citizenship, but also quotes on a very broad range of related subjects. As it doesn't make sense to re-invent the wheel, we present you hereunder a series of links to resources on the internet.

On how to use quotes for educational purposes:

http://www.trainingfairy.com/Fun+Stuff.html
http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson132.shtml (on the use of quotations in schools)

Quotes on citizenship

http://thinkexist.com/quotations/citizenship/
http://www.betterworld.net/quotes/citizenship-quotes.htm
http://www.cultureofpeace.org/quotes/citizenship-quotes.htm
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/citizenship.html
http://www.quotesea.com/Quotes.aspx?about=Citizenship
http://www.worldofquotes.com/topic/Citizenship/index.html
http://www.myfamousquotes.com/?tid=61
http://josephsoninstitute.org/quotes/citizenship.html
http://quotingthomas.com/Famous_quotes_about_Citizenship.html
http://www.quotesdaddy.com/tag/Citizenship
http://www.quotes-quotes.com/topicquotes/Citizenship/1.html
http://quotationsbook.com/tag/citizenship/

Human rights quotes

http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/human_right/
http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/human_rights/
http://www.betterworld.net/quotes/humanrights-quotes.htm
http://www.cultureofpeace.org/quotes/humanrights-quotes.htm
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/rights.html
http://www.myfamousquotes.com/?tid=484
http://josephsoninstitute.org/quotes/fairness.html
http://www.quotingthomas.com/FamousQuote_HumanRights.html
http://www.quotesdaddy.com/find/tag/human%20right/1
http://www.quotes-quotes.com/topicquotes/Rights.html
http://quotationsbook.com/tag/human_rights/
http://www.quotegarden.com/h-rights.html

Wim Taelman, VORMEN (Belgium)

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