My engagement in Human Rights Education: “No Hate Speech” Movement, Anti-Bullying campaigns, Council of Europe visits, using the Manuals

Human rights education is a real challenge in the modern society, the solution of which is at the center of the practical activities of the international community, every state and person. Human rights education is an important strategy for young people’s meaningful, diverse and effective engagement, empowering them to uphold their human rights and those of others. I believe that human rights are the most effective means of protecting both oneself and the values that can be destructive of the authorities.

The Topic of Human Rights was in focus of my research over time: I was studying at Lund University in Sweden within the Programme «Perspectives on Multi-level Governance, Decentralisation & Human Rights», implemented my projects on Human rights, organized workshops for the young people, took part in framework of the youth Campaign of the Council of Europe “No hate Speech Movement”, cooperate with OSCE, UNHR and other international organisations.

My work on human rights education is not only conducted for youth, but also with and by youth. It is important to take into account youth in situations of vulnerability or exclusion, promote experiential learning methodologies that enable youth to apply human rights concepts to their lives and experiences, and engage youth as protagonists in developing activities that affect them. Human rights education for young people is essential because it allows them to develop their skills and strengthen their knowledge so that they become young agents of change within their community.

“No Hate Speech” Movement

The No Hate Speech Movement is a youth campaign led by the *Council of Europe Youth Department seeking to mobilise young people to combat hate speech and promote human rights online. Launched in 2013, it was rolled out at the national and local levels through national campaigns in 45 countries.

As a representative of Movement in Ukraine I visited the headquarters of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

By example of an international organization I studied about the successful implementation of human rights and youth support. In particular, we exchanged the tools producing counter and alternative narratives (CANs: Assessing, Designing, Implementing, Evaluating), worked on ideas of future activities and networking of the “No Hate Speech” and developed educational activities in the field of human rights education (methodology for using the We CAN! Manual: practical guidance, experience, instructions on how to make it more accessible in youth work).

*The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading human rights organisation. It includes 47 member states, 28 of which are members of the European Union.

Recommendations

Working with young people, my main goal is to raise awareness in the field of Human Rights and combat Hate Speech both online and offline, reduce the level of prejudice and stereotypes in the field of human rights and resolve conflicts based on cyberbullying and violence. I usually conduct thematic sessions, creative workshops, art exhibitions.

I would like to recommend tools which I usually use in my work (tap to open it online):

· “We CAN! Taking action against hate speech through counter and alternative narratives“ — presents communicative and educational approaches and tools for youth and other human rights activists to develop their own counter and alternative narratives to hate speech.

· “Bookmarks: a manual for combating hate speech through human rights education”, was specifically created to support the No Hate Speech Movement. Bookmarks is useful for educators wanting to address hate speech online from a human rights perspective, both inside and outside the formal education system.

· “Compass: Manual for Human Rights Education with Young People”. It is a resource of information, tools and tips for HRE. Consequently it can be used in many different ways and there is no particular starting point. However, I suggest to begin by looking at the table of contents on the previous pages, dip into the manual and familiarise yourself with its general structure and content.

· “Compasito: Manual on Human Rights Education for Children“ — ideas, inspiration and practical help to explore human rights with children. Both publications support the implementation of the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education.

Human Rights Day

Every year before the International Human Rights Day (December 10), we prepare various events in partnership with the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission for the expansion of human rights, active promotion of the ideas of equality, social responsibility and mutual assistance.

Bullying

Bullying is an alarming trend, especially for today’s children’s environment. Together with my colleagues, we conduct activities focusing on campaigning and raising awareness for the problem of hate and bullying with the aim to build up competences of psychological support and empower youngsters re-integrate actively in the society.

Also we developing a compendium of good practices from different levels on how to work with the victims and targets of hate and bullying, as well as short stories from young people who have experienced this directly. In particular, we created an online course “Combating and preventing bullying in educational institutions” to help understand what bullying is, what its manifestations are, and how to properly respond to it.

Currently, there is a need of educational activities on issues of international humanitarian law, human rights protection during the war, conflict resolution and intercultural understanding. Only through the implementation of the human rights course in formal education, while supporting the development of non-formal education in the same direction, we will receive a solid systematic result in enhancing the culture of human rights. Education in the field of human rights is a study that should be conducted on an ongoing basis throughout life.

The article was prepared by Sana Lisova — journalist, researcher, public activist