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The previous suggestions concern facilitation in
general. However, the subject of human rights education presents some
particular challenges to the facilitator.
- Help participants feel part of something
larger. Seek ways to connect the workshop to larger issues both
nationally and internationally. Include a global citizenship dimension
to the human rights topic being examined, making clear that problems
in the local community are also experienced in other parts of the
world. Build a sense of solidarity through the realization that people
across the globe are learning about and insisting upon the full realization
of their human rights. Facilitators need to be prepared with current
and relevant global examples of particular issues.
- Introduce human rights law as a "work
in progress." Everyone has a right to know their human rights,
and such knowledge can be empowering. Explicitly link people's personal
experience to human rights issues; when possible connect the issue
to specific articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
and other relevant human rights documents. However, don't emphasize
documents over experience or present them as "perfect" or
"settled." Encourage participants to examine and question
everything.
Emphasize also that each of these international documents resulted
from the efforts of men and women to codify moral principles of justice
and human dignity. And as social conditions change, new human rights
laws must be developed or existing laws adapted in response to newly
recognized needs. The ongoing participation of all people is needed
for human rights law to continue to develop and be interpreted.
- Avoid jargon and acronyms. Hearing "UDHR"
when you have only just been introduced to the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights can be confusing. Hearing about the "CRC"
when you have never heard of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
is downright insulting. Remember that human rights has its own vocabulary
that is unfamiliar to most people. Always explain whatever acronyms
and technical terms you must use: write them down and/or give people
a glossary of terms.
- Emphasize commitment to improving people's
lives. Human rights education is not just about human rights
(i.e., acquiring information). It is also education for human
rights, helping people to feel the importance of human rights, to
integrate them into the way they live, and to take action to promote
and protect the rights of others on individual, local, national, and
international levels. Human rights education contributes directly
to improving the life of both individuals and the community.
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