29 January 2015 – Philippine Permanent Delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Ambassador Maria Theresa P. Lazaro, delivered a joint statement on behalf of the Platform for Human Rights Education and Training at the Second Forum on Global Citizenship Education at UNESCO Headquarters on January 28.
The Platform for Human Rights Education and Training is an informal, cross-regional grouping of UN member states composed of Costa Rica, Italy, Morocco, the Philippines, Senegal, Slovenia, and Switzerland which strongly support the promotion of human rights education and training.
The Permanent Delegations of Austria, Brazil, and El Salvador also co-sponsored the Joint Statement.
The Platform members congratulated UNESCO for organizing the Second Forum on Global Citizenship Education and underscored that human rights education and training is a fundamental component of Global Citizenship Education.
“Human rights education and training empowers people to know and claim their rights and promotes mutual respect, responsibility, and non-discrimination through which our societies can live in greater peace, harmony and prosperity,” stated Ambassador Lazaro.
Recalling the tragic events in Paris earlier in January, Ambassador Lazaro reaffirmed the need to combat extremism and violence with respect for human rights and human dignity.
The member delegations of the Platform are establishing an informal contact group in UNESCO. The Platform seeks to bring added-value to discussions in UNESCO through awareness-raising activities, sharing of best practices, and strengthening human rights education programmes at the local, national and international levels.
The Platform members aim to contribute to the 70th year anniversary of UNESCO, and look forward to the World Education Forum and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Platform shall work closely with the Secretariat, other delegations, and relevant stakeholders in its endeavors.
The Platform for Human Rights Education and Training was established in 2007 in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Its main initiatives have been the elaboration of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2011, and the continuing promotion of the World Programme on Human Rights Education. END