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Human Rights Education and Public Information Work of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and cooperation with UNESCO
The High Commissioner is the coordinator of United Nations education and public information programmes in the field of human rights.
In conformity with the General Assembly Resolution 48/141 of 20 December 1993, the coordination of the United Nations education and public information programmes in the field of human rights is part of the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The High Commissioner disseminates information on human rights and promotes human rights education worldwide.

To provide access to human rights information, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) works closely with the UN Department of Public Information and ensures that records of the meetings of human rights bodies are available to the media. OHCHR publishes extensively and maintains a web site that makes all official documents and information on international human rights developments accessible to millions. OHCHR is working to promote human rights education by:
  • Supporting national and local capacities for human rights education in the context of its Technical Cooperation Programme and through the ACT Project, which provides financial assistance to grass-roots initiatives;
  • Developing selected human rights education and training materials;
  • Developing selected resource tools, such as a Database on Human Rights Education and Training, a Resource Collection on Human Rights Education and Training and a Web section on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
  • Globally coordinating the World Programme for Human Rights Education.

UNESCO maintains a close liaison on a vast number of human rights issues with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The first Memorandum of Understanding between the Director-General of UNESCO and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was signed in October 1995. It provided the general framework of co-operation between UNESCO and OHCHR and underlined UNESCO's role in the implementation of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995 – 2004).

In 2003, the new Memorandum of Understanding was signed between UNESCO and OHCHR. The Memorandum reflects the specific responsibilities in the field of the promotion and protection of human rights of both organizations and takes into account the United Nations Secretary-General’s Reform Programme, which affirms that “… a major task for the future will be to enhance the human rights programme and integrate it into the broad range of the Organization’s activities...”.

The UNESCO Strategy on Human Rights, adopted in 2003, calls upon the Organization to further reinforce its relations with other organizations of the United Nations system, in particular with OHCHR, in order to achieve better coordination of human rights activities and ensure their greater impact.

The UNESCO Strategy on Human Rights reconfirmed human rights education as one of the five priority areas of UNESCO's human rights workd.

Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, and Ms Louise Arbour, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, launched a joint OHCHR/UNESCO Press Release dedicating Human Rights Day 2004 to human rights education.

UNESCO has developed active cooperation with OHCHR in the preparation of the Plan of Action for the first phase (2005-2007) of the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005-onwards). The first phase of the World Programme is focused on the integration and implementation of human rights education within national school systems at the primary and secondary levels.

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