A/HRC/21/20 occurs in social sciences, humanities, philosophy, theology and health sciences. Georgian institutions teach subjects covering human rights protection and civic education. At Russian higher educational institutions, students are required to develop an understanding of the need to respect human rights in their professional lives. The Ministry of Education of the Republic of Moldova requested higher education institutions to have a framework course on human rights as an optional course in the social and humanistic component of the curricula. Extracurricular human rights activities are organized in cooperation with civil society. 17. Human rights research and graduate training are carried out in various Australian universities, including the Australian Centre for Human Rights Education (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology) and the Centre for Human Rights Education (Curtin University of Technology). Swiss higher education institutions award master’s or doctoral degrees in human rights, such as at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and the University of Zurich Competence Center for Human Rights. In Spain, master’s degree programmes in human rights can be found at, for example, the University of Granada (master’s degree in culture of peace, conflicts, education and human rights). A Human Rights Chair exists at the University of Oran in Algeria. German university departments focusing on human rights education are the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair in Human Rights Education at Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg or the Chair in Human Rights and Human Rights Policies at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg. In Germany, apart from formal instruction, seminars are often held on human rights themes and the theory and practice of human rights education. German higher institutions take part in international law competitions and engage in human rights research. Several German higher education institutions are also members of the Global Compact. 18. Human rights departments exist in numerous Russian higher education institutions, including the Moscow State Pedagogical University and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Perm State Pedagogical University and the Education Workers’ Academy for Training and Continuous Development offer courses and seminars on the theory of and methods for teaching human rights in schools, while similar courses have been held in other regions of the country. OHCHR supported the establishment of an international master’s degree in human rights in 2009 by a group of Russian universities, assisted by an inter-institutional resource centre at the People’s Friendship University of Russia. 19. While few countries referred to specific higher education policies for human rights education, several references were made to provisions for protecting rights within universities. Ecuador’s current Higher Education Act (adopted in 2010) guarantees the right to higher education and promotes universal access with no discrimination. In Australia, measures in place to protect the rights of domestic and international students and staff include the Higher Education Support Act 2003, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011 and the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000. The Code of Academic Ethics of the University of Montenegro defines rules for human rights protection. In accordance with the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany and other provisions, higher education institutions are committed to human rights and to ensuring the freedom of teaching, learning and research within a framework based on democratic principles. 20. National human rights institutions have also contributed to promoting human rights education in higher education. The National Human Rights Commission helped to establish a human rights cell at the University of Djibouti. The National Advisory Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Algeria and the Office of the Human 6