To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training, OHCHR organized a panel discussion at the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council on the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training: good practices and challenges on 14 September 2016, 3-6 pm, in Room XX of the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Click here to view the concept note of the panel.

The panel discussion aimed at highlighting the important role of human rights education in achieving the right to education and in tackling current challenges, in particular discrimination and the prevention of violent extremism, and in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The panel discussion was opened by Ms. Kate Gilmore, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, and included the participation of Mr. Jordan Naidoo, Director of the Division of Education 2030 Support and Coordination at UNESCO as well as Her Excellency Ms. Sonia Marta Mora Escalante (Costa Rica’s Minister of Education), Her Excellency Ms. Flavia Piovesan (Brazil’s Secretary for Human Rights at the Ministry of Justice), Mr. Driss El Yazami (Chair of the National Human Rights Council of Morocco) and Mr. Herman Deparice-Okomba (Executive Director of the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence in Montréal, Canada). The discussion was moderated by Ms. Cristiana Carletti, Associate Professor of International Law at the University of Roma Tre, Italy.

A segment of OHCHR’s documentary film A Path to Dignity: The Power of Human Rights Education was also shown at the event.

The report of the panel, reviewed by the Human Rights Council at its 35th session in June 2017, is available here. A summary of the panel is available here and the webcast can be viewed here (or here to view it in the original languages)

Statements of speakers and panellists:

• Ms. Kate Gilmore, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Mr. Jordan Naidoo, Director, Division of Education 2030 Support and Coordination, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• H.E. Ms. Sonia Marta Mora Escalante, Minister of Education, Costa Rica
• H.E. Ms. Flavia Piovesan, Secretary for Human Rights at the Ministry of Justice, Brazil
• Mr. Driss El Yazami, Chair, National Human Rights Council of Morocco
• Mr. Herman Deparice-Okomba, Executive Director, Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence, Montréal (Québec), Canada