Abstract:
CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES TO HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ROLE OF
HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION
‘Human rights’ has been proclaimed as the ‘idea of our time’. Two of the landmarks
in its steady progress have been the 50-year celebration of the adoption of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 2008, and the 30-year commemoration
of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights this year. These events
occasion introspection and reflections on the future of human rights. How well do
human rights institutions and the human rights discourse stand up against the
challenges of the early 21st century? These challenges include claims to state
sovereignty in the face of international condemnation, as exemplified by the recent
events in Libya; religious fundamentalism; the legalization of politics; and the
empirically-based questioning the ‘actual difference’ particularly international
human rights has made. These challenges are considered, and the role of human
rights education in addressing them is explored.
