Education : A Tool for the Elimination of Human Rights Violations

"Without education, we cannot see beyond ourselves and our narrow surroundings to the reality of global interdependence. Without education, we cannot realize how peoples of other races and religions share the same dreams, the same hopes. Without education, we cannot recognize the universility of human aims and aspirations."
                                         — United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan

What is Human Rights Education ?

The need for human rights education has been emphasized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international documents and treaties. Provisions from these instruments state that human rights education consists of efforts to build a universal culture of human rights through the imparting of knowledge and skills and the moulding of attitudes. Such education should be directed towards :

- Strengthening respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

- Fully developing the human personality and its sense of dignity;

- Promoting understanding, tolerance, gender equality and friendship among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups;

- Enabling everyone to participate effectively in a free society;

- Furthering United Nations activities for maintaining peace.

Education Objectives Come into Focus

A growing consensus holds that human rights education can both help reduce human rights violations and contribute to building free, just peaceful societies. Human rights, as inscribed in the Universal Declarations, form the common language of humanity.

The objectives of the United Nations in its human rights educational efforts is to teach the "common language of humanity" to people everywhere. The Organization strives to make humankind fluent in the vocabulary of human rights, and to enable people everywhere — student and farmer, police office rand soldiers, cabinet minister and teacher — to apply that vocabulary and meaning to their daily conduct. Through education, the UN proposes to build a universal culture of human rights.

Through the years, United Nations efforts to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, without regard to race, sex, language or religion, have ranged from standard-setting to monitoring, from facilitating international dialogue and cooperation to providing technical assistance, and from commissioning technical studies to deploying large-scale peace keeping missions; the universal stands, international mechanisms, and an ethical and legal foundation of rights and responsibilities of nations and peoples.

There are three dimensions to the promotion of human rights through education :

- Knowledge — providing information about human rights and the mechanisms that exist to protect those rights;

- Values, beliefs and attitudes — promoting a human rights culture through the development of these processes; and

- Action — encouraging people to defend human rights and prevent human rights abuses.

Events Organised by Indian Institute of Human Rights (IIHR) for the Promotion and Preservation of Human Rights

The Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh  discussing various methods of spreading human rights education in order to create a culture of respect for human rights, with Dr. Rahul Rai, Director Indian Institute of Human Rights.		H.E. Mr. Boutros-Boutros Ghali, Former  UN Secretary General discussing critical human rights issues with Dr.Rahul Rai, Director, Indian Institute of Human Rights at a get-together organised by the Ambassador of Egypt to India.
The then Delhi Police Commissioner presented human rights diplomas to two Assistant Commissioner of police on their successful competitions of the two years post graduate diploma conducted by Indian Institute of Human Rights.		Hon'ble Justice J S Verma the then Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India inaugurated the Indian Institute of Human Rights on the occasion of Human Rights Day on  10 December 1999.
The 9th World Human Rights Congress organised by Indian Institute of Human Rights at New Delhi on 10 December 2007 being jointly inaugurated by the Ambassador of Peru, High Commissioner of Canada, Chief Minister of Nagaland , Director, IIHR and Ambassador of Morocco		The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Nagaland Mr. Neiphiu Rio receiving the National Human Rights and Duties Award from Dr. Rahul Rai, Director, Indian Institute of Human Rights (IIHR) during the International Human Rights Day celebrations organised by IIHR on 10 December 2007 at New Delhi.
The 5th Human Rights Congress organised by the Indian Institute of Human Rights with the  theme "All Human Rights For All" was a successful event attended by Ambassadors, High Commissioners, United Nations Diplomats, Human Rights Activists and Students.

Viewing the urgent need for the establishment of a national level institution for studies, training, research, publication, conference organisation and consultancy in the field of human rights and civil liberties, the Indian Institute of Human Rights was established as a constituent unit of the World Institution Building Programme (WIBP), an International Charity incorporated in March 1990 as a Public Charitable Trust at New Delhi. The WIBP decided to accord autnomy to the Indian Institute of Human Rights by advising to get the co-sponsorship of different Universities for launching need based programmes at Bachelor's, Master's as well as Doctoral levels.

Accordingly selected Universities in India were contacted by the functionaries and authorities of the Indian Institute of Human Rights inviting them to co-sponsor the birth of IIHR and for registering the IIHR Trust. The names of the following Universities were announced during the Human Rights Day function on 10 December 1999 where the Post Graduate Programme in Human Rights of IIHR was formally inaugurated by Hon'ble Justice    J S Verma, the then Chairman, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

PGDHR of Indian Institute of Human Rights is recognised by the following universities at par with their Master's Degree.

1. Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh
2. Kuvempu University, Shimoga, Karnataka
3. Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
4. Gulbarga University, Gulbarga, Karnataka
5. Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka
6. Patna University, Patna, Bihar
7. Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh
8. Awadhesh Pratap Singh University, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh
9. Birsa Agriculture University Ranchi, Jharkhand
10. Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
11. Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh
13. Chanakya Law University, Patna
14. The Global Open University, Nagaland

Co-Sponsors

Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.
Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam.
Assam University, Silchar, Assam.
Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women
(Deemed University) Coimbatore, Tamilnadu.
Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu.
Bengal Engineering College (Deemed University), Howrah, West Bengal.
Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
Central Agricultural University, Imphal, Manipur.
Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad, U.P.
Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth, Akola, Maharashtra.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Gulbarga University, Gulbarga, Karnataka.
Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Udham Singh Nagar, U.P.
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab.
Jamia Hamdard (Deemed University),New Delhi.
Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
Kannada University, Hampi, Bellary, Karnataka.
Kuvempu University, Shimoga, Karnataka.
Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Deemed University) Manipal, Karnataka.
Mahatma Gandhi Gramoday Vishwavidyalay, Satna, Madhya Pradesh.
Mangalore University, Mangalore, Karnataka.
Mother Teresa Women's Univ., Kodaikannal.
North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon (M.S.)
Pondicherry University, Pondicherry.
Patna University, Patna, Bihar
Punjabi University, Patiala
Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded, Maharashtra.
Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar.
Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat
Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya, Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu.
S.N.D.T. Womens' University, Mumbai.
Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamilnadu
Tamilnadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, Tamilnadu.
Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam.
University of Jammu, Jammu (Tawi), J & K.
Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, W.B.

Kuvempu University