A/HRC/36/24
projects targeted children and youth outside the formal education system, for instance in
community centres.
C.
Higher education
22.
Several respondents reported that human rights were regularly taught in many
universities, either as stand-alone courses or integrated into courses on political science,
law, history, humanities, philosophy, psychology, theology, social and medical sciences
and education. In Slovenia, students at the Universities of Ljubljana and Maribor take
courses on human rights protection and human rights education in a number of departments
and staff at Maribor University receive training on human rights. Serbia noted that students
of psychology at Belgrade University take several courses on inclusive education and
student-oriented teaching. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission
worked closely with the Ministry of Higher Education and universities to implement 51
memorandums of understanding that it signed with universities and higher education
institutes during the second phase of the World Programme, to integrate human rights into
higher education courses and curricula. The Commissioner for Human Rights of Azerbaijan
highlighted courses on human rights and gender taught at universities and noted that it had
published a compilation of university lectures on human rights. In Mexico in 2015, the
National Pedagogical University included human rights themes in the curricula concerning
indigenous education and educational psychology and in some specializations. The Open
and Distance Learning University includes, as permanent features of all curricula,
programmes and materials on gender equality, human rights and the eradication of
violence.
23.
The Finnish Human Rights Centre conducted a training course on human rights
education for youth instructors in partnership with Haaga-Helia University and delivered
guest lectures on human rights education at Helsinki and Oulu Universities. In Chile, the
National Institute for Human Rights and the Red de Equipos de Educación en Derechos
Humanos, through a formal agreement between the Ministry of Education and National
Institute (2016-2020), developed, through a participatory process, a basic human rights
education course building on nationwide academic expertise. In Nicaragua in 2015, the
Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos organized human rights
sensitization activities for more than 800 university students. In 2016, with the support of
university students, the Procuraduría also organized lectures, workshops, conferences and
forums for the general public, reaching more than 9,000 individuals.
24.
Some universities have specific departments for human rights and human rights
education, and offer master’s and doctorate programmes in human rights. Turkey named 12
universities that have human rights departments, 6 with human rights master’s degrees, and
1 (Hacettepe University) offering a doctorate in human rights. The Commissioner for
Human Rights of Azerbaijan highlighted the establishment of the UNESCO Chair of
Human Rights and Information Law at Baku State University. In the Russian Federation, a
consortium of higher-learning institutions, in collaboration with OHCHR, offered a
master’s programme in human rights; in 2016, 92 students in six graduating classes
completed this degree. Universities in Germany offer master’s degrees in international
human rights, humanitarian law, genocide studies, peace and conflict research and social
work as a human rights profession. In Uruguay, a new academic unit dedicated to human
rights was created in 2016 at the University of the Republic, the country’s public university.
In Guatemala, the General Commission for the Study of Human Rights, composed of
academic authorities, professors, students and the Procuraduría, was created in 2016 at the
University of San Carlos to promote human rights studies within the university. In
Argentina, various universities have included human rights in both graduate and
postgraduate studies: for example, the University of Buenos Aires created a human rights
centre within the Law Faculty to give impetus to human rights education for legal
professionals and the National University of Lanús developed a compulsory transversal
seminar for all its students on justice and human rights.
25.
Some higher education institutions conduct research on human rights education and
facilitate networking. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea concluded an
8
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents