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Press Release - December 10, 2001
Teachers Workshop
Fiji Human Rights Commission Workshop:"Human Rights Education in Fiji - Towards a National Plan of Action"December 10, 2001, Tradewinds Convention Centre, Suva."The immediate task at hand is ... to build a human rights culture in this country through a process of education and dissemination of information. This will require the efforts of civil society groups and established institutions. Unless this is done, the structures of the democracy and accountability upon which we rely for good governance will not develop," said the Chairperson of the Fiji Human Rights Commission, Justice Sailosi Kepa, at the opening of the 'Human Rights Education in Fiji - Towards a National Plan of Action' Workshop, December 10, 2001, Tradewinds Convention Centre, SUVA.
The one-day workshop held in partnership with the Fiji Teachers Confederation also marks the FHRC's celebration of 53rd Anniversary of World Human Rights Day, December 10. Over 80 teachers from the formal and non-formal educational sectors from all over Fiji participated in the workshop with the aim of developing a National Plan of Action for Human Rights Education. NGO groups, Government officials, International and Regional organizations representatives and the Speaker of the House of Representatives attended as observers.
The workshop participants discussed a number of human rights issues with respect to education, such as the role of the Fiji Human Rights Commission in protecting the human rights of individuals and groups in society, international human rights laws and instruments and objectives of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that everyone has the right to education and that education should be directed to the full development of the human personality. The participants also noted that parents had a prior right in determining the kind of education their children should receive."The Commission will not be going any further than facilitating the formation of a National Plan of Action for Human Right Education. We envisage that this exercise will take at least a year to complete.
We are hoping that human rights education will become a part of the formal curriculum in schools, but we also expect that educators in the non-formal sector will feel encouraged to embark on human rights curriculum as soon as possible," Justice Kepa said.Funding and technical assistance for the workshop was provided by the New Zealand Overseas Development Assistance Fund, the Fiji Government and the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions.
At the end of the day the following agreement was reached between the participants and the Fiji Human Rights Commission: CONCLUDING STATEMENT
1. Participants recalled the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the various international human rights instruments and treaties which emphasize that human rights education is "essential for the promotion and achievement of stable and harmonious relations among communities and for fostering mutual understanding, tolerance and peace".
2. Participants welcomed the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education and the development of Guidelines for National Plans of Action for Human Rights Education.
3. Participants endorsed the need for Fiji to develop a National Plan of Action for Human Rights Education. Participants therefore decided to request the Fiji Human Rights Commission to facilitate a National Committee for Human Rights Education comprised of a broad coalition of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders including the Ministry of Education and other relevant Ministries with responsibility for developing and implementing a comprehensive, effective and long-term sustainable national plan of action for human rights education.
4. Participants requested that the National Committee for Human Rights Education consider the involvement of and recommendations from all interested parties when developing a national plan of action for human rights education.
5. Participants called for the National Plan to encompass all levels of society through the provision of formal and non-formal education, specialized educational and training programmes for vulnerable groups, professional and other groups most likely to affect human rights advocacy as well as those entrusted with upholding human rights.
6. Participants called for the National Plan to address teacher-training curriculum and educator training at all levels to enable the effective implementation of a National Plan of Action for Human Rights Education.
7. Participants requested that the Ministry of Education revisit the present education system including the exam-oriented curriculum to facilitate the introduction of human rights education in schools.
8. Participants called for the commitment of relevant Ministries to allocate sufficient resources to ensure a National Plan of Action for Human Rights Education is implemented.
9. Participants requested that the Fiji Human Rights Commission approach the Ministry of Education on behalf of the Fiji Teachers' Confederation recommending that human rights interventions could be made at all levels utilizing the existing school curriculum while a National Plan of Action for Human Rights Education is being developed.
10. Participants agreed that the Fiji Human Rights Commission will provide access to human rights information and teaching strategies for teachers and educators to assist them to provide human rights education within their existing educational programmes.
11. Participants requested that the process of developing a National Plan of Action for Human Rights Education be started as soon as possible and that the Plan be completed by the end of 2002.
12. Participants adopted the above mentioned the concluding statements on 10 December 2001, World Human Rights Day