Council of Europe 3rd 'Compass' Forum on Human Rights Education was held at the European Youth Centre in Budapest from 5 to 7 October. Using the slogan “Learning Equality, Living Dignity”, the forum brought together about 120 participants, including experts with extensive experience in educating young people in human rights at local, national, and international levels. Participants discussed the progress in ensuring the quality, recognition and outreach of human rights education in Europe and beyond during the past seven years since the previous forum.

The agenda covered the challenges that professionals in formal and non-formal education face in the current social, political and economic context. The participants also looked at the implementation of the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education and made proposals for its future application in mainstreaming human rights education in youth work and youth policy.

The forum was an activity held under the Estonian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and aimed to contribute to promoting the fundamental values of the Council of Europe and to protecting rights of young people and children.

Lecturer Burcu Yeşiladalı joined the forum on behalf of the Human Rights Law Research Center. Yeşiladalı participated in the group meetings on ‘discrimination’ and ‘assessment of the impact of human rights education’.

At the closing session the participants of the forum made the final declaration that asked the Council of Europe and its member states to:

1. Increase investment in human rights education, in both formal and non-formal settings, and at local and national levels, ensuring it is accessible to all young people.
2. Prioritise the further development of educational resources and activities for citizenship and human rights education within the Council of Europe, and secure the continuity of the Human Rights Education Youth Programme.
3. Take further steps to integrate human rights education into formal education curricula and teacher training, building on practices and experiences of non-formal education.
4. Implement fully the Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education and take a leading role in implementing the Sustainable Development Goal on human rights education.
5. Put in place transparent mechanisms for reviewing and evaluating the Charter with a systematic involvement of youth organisations.
6. Take urgent measures to guarantee the access to rights of all young people and reverse the negative impact of austerity measures on them, including the full implementation of the Recommendations on Young People’s Access to Rights and on the Access of Young People from Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods to Social Rights.
7. Strengthen the Council of Europe youth sector and its co-management system by increasing investment in rights-based youth work and policy, including youth organisations.

Further information on the forum

Final declaration of the forum

Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education

The Human Rights Education Youth Programme of the Council of Europe

Compass: Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People

Photo: The Human Rights Education Youth Programme of the Council of Europe