9 December 2004
UNIC/PRESS RELEASE/310-2004 |
FROM
THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL
-
Human Rights
Day
-
10
December 2004
Message
of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Every
year, International
Human Rights
Day reminds us of
persisting human rights problems in our communities and in the world, and of the
enormous efforts still required to make human rights a reality for all.
Human
rights education is a vital part of such efforts, designed to equip new generations
with the knowledge of their inalienable rights, and the means to exercise and
defend them. These rights include rights to health, to education, to food, to
housing, to marry and found a family, to participate in public life, to be free
from torture, arbitrary arrest and detention -- in short, the rights needed to
be free from want and fear.
Today, the
General Assembly marks the conclusion of the United Nations Decade for
Human Rights
Education (1995-2004) with a plenary session, in which the recommendation to
proclaim a World Programme for
Human Rights
Education will be considered.
The first three years of such a Programme, from 2005 to 2007, would focus on
primary and secondary education, through integrating human
rights issues into curricula, changing educational processes and teaching
methods and, most importantly, improving the environment in which education
takes place.
Human
rights education is much more than a lesson in
schools or a theme for a day; it is a process to equip people
with the tools they need to live lives of security and dignity. On
this International
Human Rights
Day, let us continue to
work together to develop and nurture in future generations a culture of human
rights, to promote freedom, security and peace in all nations.
***