- introduce and discuss the inclusive notion of human rights education;
- disseminate the importance of human rights education for all sectors in enhancing human rights protection;
- open and promote discussion and cooperation between both public and non-governmental sectors in the promotion of human rights education: the development of sustainable and coordinated strategies, elaboration of programmes, awarenessraisingand support of on-going activities.
The Baltic Human Rights Society, a non-governmental organization, is holding the first Human Rights Education Conference on 27 November 2015, in Riga. The conference is being organized in cooperation with the Riga Graduate School of Law and with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Latvia.
The aim of the conference is to raise awareness about the importance of human rights education in enhancing respect for, and the protection of, human rights and promote further development of coordinated human rights education strategies in the Baltic region, with emphasis on the cooperation between the public and the non-governmental sector.
Human rights education can be defined as education, training and information which is aimed at building a universal culture of human rights. Effective human rights education not only provides knowledge about human rights and the mechanisms that protect them, but also develops the skills needed in promoting, defending and applying human rights in daily life. However, human rights education cannot remain isolated at the level of general standards and principles. Therefore states and non-governmental actors should intensify and join the efforts in making human rights education real and practical at the national level.
The conference will provide a forum for a diverse range of international and national leading stakeholders from public and non-governmental sectors as well as academia to voice their expert opinions to: