HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IS FUNDAMENTAL TO PROTECTION

DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights joins the rest of the world in commemorating International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2004. This is the day on which the Universal Declaration on Human Rights came into force in 1948.

Annually, on this day, the international community recognises the strides which have been made in the promotion and protection of human rights globally. It also acknowledges the prevailing hindrances and re-evaluates strategies for the full realisation of human rights by all. One such strategy is that of human rights education. This year marks the end of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995 – 2004).

The UN is convinced that:

“human rights education is a long-term and life-long process by which all people… learn respect for the dignity of others, and that human rights education significantly contributes to promoting equality and sustainable development, preventing conflict and human rights violations and enhancing participation and democratic processes, with a view to developing societies in which all human rights of all are valued and respected”. UN Sub-Commission on Human Rights, Resolution 2004/18

At DITSHWANELO, we incorporate human rights education as an essential and inherent component of all our programmes. In 1998, we published “Tsa Bana!: Human Rights Modules for Secondary School Teachers” which is currently on the government’s prescribed reading list for secondary schools. In 1995, we published a human rights education training manual for youth and the non-formal sectors - “Ke Tsa Rona”, in both English and Setswana. We have since 1995, supported human rights clubs in junior Secondary Schools. DITSHWANELO has produced several publications in both English and Setswana, and conducts regular training and awareness-raising seminars on human rights issues. The aim of these activities is to promote the knowledge of and respect for human rights, with a view to establishing a human rights culture in Botswana.

However, a lot still remains to be done. DITSHWANELO urges the Government of Botswana to ensure that all Batswana are aware of and have their rights protected. This is in accordance with international human rights standards and law to which Botswana has committed herself. These include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Botswana has committed herself to ensuring that individuals know their rights as a prerequisite to the protection of those rights. In order to ensure the strengthening of botho and the development of the “well-rounded character”, espoused by Vision 2016, the Government needs to have a truly renewed commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights education in Botswana.

10 December 2004
Gaborone