Human rights cannot be defended and promoted by legal instruments alone. Human rights education – learning about, learning through and learning for human rights – is essential to make sure that they are understood, upheld and promoted by everyone.
Human rights education cannot be the responsibility of NGOs and youth organisations alone. Neither can it be carried out solely by volunteers. States have a major responsibility to implement human rights education. It needs to be embraced, supported and sustained by them in ways that foresee a role for the formal and non-formal education sectors.