Human Rights Education in the Context of Global Education

Abstract

The chapter examines human rights education issues through the prism of the human rights global education, together with education for democratic citizenship and education for mutual respect and understanding, mainly from the European perspective. This chapter explores some of the issues and problems in mounting effective human rights programmes, acknowledging that we live in a diverse world with great differences among societies in terms of history, culture and ideology. Our capacity to affect human rights promotion and protection in this century is greater than before, although the considerable key questions are unavoidable. What principles should regulate a new perspective on human rights, in the context of global education, with regard to the challenge coming from an alarming resurgence of xenophobia and racial hatred since the beginning of the new millennium in Europe and elsewhere? How should the international community best respond to the use of racism and discrimination as powerful weapon encouraging fear or hatred of others in times of conflict and war, and even during economic downturns? Unfortunately, there is no single, clear and in-depth answer to these and many other questions. Today most discussions of human rights are misleading because the surface there is almost always a hidden agenda. Human rights are frequently described as a potential barrier to effective protection from terrorist acts than a precondition for genuine security. It seems that the review dealing with the human rights issue and education, should stress the point that the security is at risk more when the rights are violated. In fact, it is in this breach, not in the respect of human rights, that security is put at risk.