VII Kharkiv International Legal Forum

The Raoul Wallenberg Institute Takes Part in the Panel Discussion “Education in the 21stCentury: New Challenges and Solutions” at the VII Kharkiv International Legal Forum

Morten Kjaerum, Director of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, joined an online expert panel discussion on the modern trends in education evolving at both global and national levels.

The panel discussion took place within the VII Kharkiv International Legal Forum organized by Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (NLU), moderated by the Professor Volodymyr Steshenko, Chair of the Department of International Law at NLU, and bringing together Ukrainian and international stakeholders from academic institutions, public agencies, and international organizations. Several contributions of the panel discussion focused on the importance of the Revised 1974 Recommendation on Education for Peace, Human Rights and Development by UNESCO as an opportunity to revive and update the consensus around the role of education but also vital due to a significant share of world’s population living in conflict affected areas.

The importance of the Revised 1974 Recommendation was discussed by such speakers as John Packer, Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre and Neuberger-Jesin Professor of International Conflict Resolution in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa (Canada), Stig Arne Skjerven, Norway’s Deputy Permanent Representative to UNESCO, and Lutz Möller, Deputy Secretary-General of the German Commission for UNESCO and Head of its Policy Department. Other speakers such as Dr. Soon-Yong Pakfrom the Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, deliberated about the significance of the Global Citizenship education for sustainable development. Ms Laura Limperk-Kütaru, the Counsellor for Education and Science at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Estonia to the OECD and UNESCO, elaborated on the personalized approaches to learning, while Professor Ivan Nazarov, Deputy Head of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, in his speech focused on the importance of academic integrity within Ukraine’s educational system.

In his contribution to the panel discussion, Morten Kjaerum emphasized that human rights education is key to the prevention and resolution of conflicts. He also elaborated on the ways in which the Raoul Wallenberg Institute has been engaging in the promotion and implementation of human rights education in Ukraine through the three key principles outlined in the 2011 United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training: education about human rights, education through human rights, education for human rights. In terms of education for human rights, Morten Kjaerum mentioned that modern universities cannot be ivory towers and have to open themselves up for the needs of the larger society. He then spoke briefly of a project recently launched by the RWI in collaboration with universities in Ukraine and Poland aiming to identify the needs and challenges in the provision of legal assistance to both internally displaced persons in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in Poland and Sweden.

Featured image: by Kate Tepl on Unsplash

Share with your friends
Scroll to top