In an article in the recent issue of the International Journal of Human Rights, Olga Bezbozhna, RWI programme officer, and Helena Olsson, Team Leader for RWI’s People on the Move team, explore how it is possible to facilitate positive attitudinal change towards human rights across a range of different university actors, including students, teachers and managers.
“We use the concept of ‘human rights education’ not just to refer to a topic taught (education about human rights), but in the wider sense of education that has an aim to promote human rights implementation, and that should be approached and conducted in ways that represent human rights principles,” says Helena Olsson. “This has for instance been interpreted to include access to human rights education as a right in itself, and the principle of inclusiveness when it comes to who participates in and shapes global discourse on human rights. Seen from this perspective, the ‘local ownership’ referred to in the article is actually a prerequisite for human rights education that serves its purpose.”
“In this article we would like to provide an inside look of how Human Rights Education plays out in our work in the field, and what strategies and challenges we use and face when working with Human Rights Education. It was important for us to write this article since it really meant to describe the practice, while, of course, drawing on academic and theoretical discourse.” says Olga Bezbozhna.
The article can be found here: Note from the field: applying a ‘human rights cognitive style’ in the Raoul Wallenberg Institute’s work on human rights education.