United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education and Public Information Activities in the Field of Human Rights

A/RES/51/104No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, published in 1997.

What subjects does this mandate have?

14 topics

Anniversaries Declarations Human Rights Education Information Centres Information Dissemination International Decades Languages Manuals Mass Media Programme Implementation Programmes of Action Public Information Reference Materials Treaty-Monitoring Bodies

What does this mandate say?

16 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the implementation of the Plan of Action for the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education,and of the report of the Secretary-General on the development of public information activities in the field of human rights, including the World Public Information Campaign on Human Rights;

Welcomes the steps taken by Governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to implement the Plan of Action, as indicated in the report of the High Commissioner;

Urges all Governments to inform their communities about the World Public Information Campaign on Human Rights and the Decade and to contribute further to the implementation of the Plan of Action, in particular by establishing, in accordance with national conditions, broadly representative national committees for human rights education and training centres for human rights education or, where such bodies exist, to strengthen them to work towards the elaboration and implementation of an action-oriented national plan for information and education in human rights;

Also urges Governments to encourage, support and involve national and local non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations in the implementation of their national action plans;

Appeals to Governments, in accordance with their national conditions, to accord priority to the dissemination in their relevant national and local languages of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 the International Covenants on Human Rights2 and other human rights instruments, human rights materials and training manuals, as well as reports of States parties under the human rights treaties, and to provide information and education in those languages on the practical ways in which national and international institutions and procedures may be utilized to ensure the effective implementation of those instruments;

Welcomes the efforts made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, together with the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat to increase cooperation with the media, including by the provision of timely and relevant information on human rights issues;

Urges the Department of Public Information to continue to utilize United Nations information centres for the timely dissemination, within their designated areas of activity, of basic information, reference and audio-visual materials on human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the reports of States parties under human rights instruments and, to this end, to ensure that the information centres are supplied with adequate quantities of those materials;

Requests the High Commissioner/Centre for Human Rights of the Secretariat to continue to coordinate the implementation of the Plan of Action to ensure maximum effectiveness and efficiency in the use, processing, management and distribution of information and educational materials and to continue to coordinate and harmonize human rights information strategies within the United Nations system;

Encourages the High Commissioner/Centre for Human Rights to continue the development of training courses and materials, including targeted training manuals for professional audiences, as well as the dissemination of human rights information materials as a component of technical assistance projects, supplemented by electronic means wherever possible, taking particular account of the human rights needs of women, children, remote or isolated communities and persons with low levels of literacy;

Requests the human rights mechanisms to place emphasis on the promotion and implementation of programmes of information and education on human rights;

Requests the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the High Commissioner/Centre for Human Rights, to consider appropriate ways and means, including the possibility of establishing a voluntary fund, to support human rights activities, including those undertaken by non-governmental organizations;

Invites the specialized agencies and relevant United Nations programmes to contribute, within their respective spheres of competence, to the implementation of the Plan of Action and the World Public Information Campaign on Human Rights;

Calls upon international, regional and national non-governmental organizations and intergovernmental organizations, in particular those concerned with women, labour, development, food, housing, education, health care and the environment, as well as all other social justice groups, human rights advocates, educators, religious organizations and the media, to undertake specific activities of formal, non-formal and informal education, including cultural events, alone and in cooperation with the High Commissioner/Centre for Human Rights, in implementing the Plan of Action;

Stresses the need for close collaboration between the High Commissioner/Centre for Human Rights and the Department of Public Information in the implementation of the World Public Information Campaign on Human Rights and the Plan of Action and the need to harmonize their activities with those of other organizations such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in the project entitled "Towards a culture of peace" and the International Committee of the Red Cross and relevant non-governmental organizations with regard to the dissemination of information on international humanitarian law;

Encourages the High Commissioner/Centre for Human Rights to consider the promotion of educational and cultural activities throughout the world in accordance with the Plan of Action and the World Public Information Campaign on Human Rights when preparing for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

Requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all members of the international community and to intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations concerned with human rights education and public information and to submit to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session a comprehensive report on the implementation of the present resolution for consideration under the item entitled "Human rights questions".

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