Human Rights Education

International Expert Meeting

May 13th - 16th 2002, Munich & Ammersee

The participants of the Human Rights Expert Meeting in front of the Center for Applied Policy Research in Munich		Photos Report in our Newsletter Report (in German) Panel Discussion at the Goethe Forum (in German)
"Finally I think we cannot define Human Rights Education because its creative potential is far greater than we can imagine. Fifty years is a very short time. Let us meet again in 2048, the 100th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Perhaps than we can begin to know what Human Rights Education really is." Ending her presentation with these words, Nancy Flowers, director of the Human Rights Resource Center of the University of Minnesota gave the international Human Rights Expert Meeting a very challenging beginning. From May 13th to May 16th, experts, scientists as well as practitioners, and network members from many different countries came together to exchange theory and practice of Human Rights Education. Different approaches to the issue were subject of controversial discussions. The evening of the first day the conference was open to public in a panel discussion at the Goethe Forum in Munich. Felisa Tibbitts from the Human Rights Education Associates presented three different models of Human Rights Education in her key note. Whereas the first "values and awareness model" focuses on transmitting knowledge about Human Rights the second model, labeled the "accountability model" targets professionals and Human Rights activists. The third, the "transformations model" aims to empower the individual. Keeping that theoretical background in mind, the four panellists gave an insight in their country-specific Human Rights Education programs and implementation problems. In South Africa- as Michelle Parlevliet from the Center for Conflict Resolution in Cape Town pointed out- Human Rights Education mainly means reconciliation in the country’s transformation process from an Apartheid state to a democratic society. In the Philippines Human Rights Educators apply a social-psychological approach facing human rights violations committed during the dictatorship. Felice Yeban who spoke for the Asian region as a board member of the Asian Regional Resource Center for Human Rights Education made also clear that Human Rights often are considered as a western value system which is a key problem of Human Rights Education. In her definition Human Rights Education is cultural work as human rights educators must pay respect to the specific national cultures and correspondingly adapt their approaches to their situation. Michela Cecchini from the Council of Europe spoke of a pan-European mission to promote Human Rights. Another panel at the Center for Applied Policy Research (CAP) the next day of the conference was devoted to the question of implementing Human Rights Education programs. The four perspectives presented by Barbara Weber from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in Vienna, Rui Gomes from the European Youth Center in Budapest, Jenny Luck from Amnesty International in London and Patricia Morgado from NOVAMERICA in Rio de Janeiro/ Brazil had one important point in common: They reminded the participants that Human Rights Education is a long-term process and that their is still a greater need to implement HRE in the formal education sector. After two days at the CAP in MUNICH, the conference continued as a retreat of the network members at lake "Ammersee". There, the network members got to know examples of exercises from their network colleagues in order to learn from others by experiencing different exercises. Walter Fisher and Tanya Odom presented an exercise from the program "A world of Difference” developed by the Anti-Defamation League, Patricia Morgado did an activity on the right of expression and Susanne Ulrich demonstrated an exercise from Tolerance Education pointing out the intersections with Human Rights Education. As a suggestion for a network project David Grant from IFOR presented an idea of a simulation. This idea could be part of a Human Rights Summer School which the network members decided to design as a future work. By Eva Rendle		Nancy Flowers with Jenny Luck, two women with a lot of experience in Human Rights Education The panel at the Goethe Forum moderated b Viola Georgi (CAP) Patricia Morgado presented an exercise example developed by Novamerica / Brazil Participants (Walter Fisher, Karl-Peter Fritzsche and Felice Yeban) experience what it means not to have the right to speak Different fruits, different people: Barbara Weber and Felice Yeban holding a lemon witha face in their hands during an exercise of the ADL-Program "A world of difference" David Grant presenting his idea of a simulation project
Networkers discussing intersections between Tolerance and Human Rights Education