A/HRC/21/20 69. Upon the initiative of the Council of Europe, the International Contact Group on Citizenship and Human Rights Education was set up in 2011 with a view to ensuring close cooperation among relevant regional and international initiatives. It brings together OHCHR, UNESCO, OSCE/ODIHR, the European Commission, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, the Organization of American States and the Council of Europe. Its first meeting was held in Strasbourg, France, in March 2012. IV. Conclusions 70. With regard to the 45 countries considered and the information received, the analysis undertaken reveals that significant efforts are taking place worldwide towards integrating human rights education into education and training for all the focus sectors of the World Programme’s second phase (2010-2014) and beyond. The report contains numerous examples of specific training initiatives promoting human rights standards and developed through collaborative and complementary efforts by Governments, national human rights institutions, academic institutions and international actors. While some national initiatives appear to have been inspired by the World Programme’s global framework, in other cases existing practices emerged independently from it. Irrespective of this, they nevertheless show increasing commitment by States to advancing human rights education in all sectors. In particular, a comparison with a human rights education survey undertaken by OHCHR in 2000 (A/55/360) provides grounds for identifying an increasing trend in terms of the institutionalization of human rights education and training. The application of sound educational methodologies based on good practice and assessed through continuing evaluation, in addition to regular cooperation, networking and information sharing among all actors, represent key strategies to ensure the effectiveness of these educational efforts. 71. Given the many target sectors and various authorities and other actors involved at the national level, coherent national implementation of human rights education may present a challenge, giving priority to ad hoc initiatives. The formulation of national implementation strategies building on needs assessment and including a monitoring and evaluation process, as proposed in the World Programme’s plan of action, is strongly encouraged to maximize the long-term impact of human rights education towards the full realization of human rights. 17

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