Human Rights Education and the Role of the United Nations System

As one of associated schools of UNESCO, S Senior High School is expected to conduct pilot projects on four main themes such as: 1. World concerns and the role of the United Nations system; 2. Human rights, democracy and tolerance; 3. lntercultural learning; and 4. Environmental concern.
Here, I would like to point out the fact that the United Nation Systems have played a significant roll in the field of the human rights, and would like to initiate a debate on how we can improve students' prospect to their human rights.

1 Human Rights and the United Nations System
When human beings face a crisis, we either become panicked in the heat of the moment, or become cynical and cold. In this ever globalizing world, peoples are either forced to, or willing to violate or ignore the human rights of other peoples.
If we are to avoid the violent situations, we should learn how to secure our human development without harming that of others, in other words, how to support our human rights in a coordinated manner.
If we are to overcome the cynicism, we should know that we have the way to solve trans-cultural troubles and close the gaps among living standards, and that the solution is not a zero-sum game.
The United Nations systems are the best forums to enhance mutual understanding and to carry out humanitarian projects under the coordination of, otherwise, antagonistic nations.
The United Nations systems also provide universal legal standards on which people in struggles can rely. One good example might be about students' enrollment fees. Expensive fees often deprive the students from economically poor families the chance to study and to develop their human capitals. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights gives them good ground to demand their national and/or municipal governments to do some supporting measures. The covenant Article 13 says:
“ (b) Secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational secondary education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; “(c) Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education;” (http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/human/cove_econo.html)
When students know that they have a universal legal standard which guarantees their educational rights, they understand that they have the chance and the right to reverse the spiral downward of their living standards under the pressure of the global economic competition. Furthermore, by engaging that type of thinking and acting processes, the youth can progress from a claim-type mode of action and develop their ability for global governance.

2 Human Rights Education in S Senior High School
S Senior High School has had a long and productive history of its human rights education. As a part of school education of Osaka Prefecture, the school has conducted anti-discrimination education regarding the Japanese caste problem. Being in the southern part of Osaka City, the school also provided indispensable cultural education to enrolled Korean students. It is enlarging its coverage over human rights education to the wider sphere.
Having taught from the international point of view in the International Course in it, S SHS has securely and sufficiently provided a think-globally-act-locally standard of education. Now is the time to fully execute standard into its curriculum. Using the United Nation systems as a teaching tool for improving human rights is, I believe, the most effective way to achieve this goal, as well as being a UNESCO Associated school will provide a secure base for the projects related education.

3 The Better Prospects to the Human Rights, the More Understanding Students Have
Without profound prospects to better human rights, human rights education might rather sound like a decorous institution or rhetorical slogan to students. With the United Nation systems in mind, we can teach them how to escape from zero-sum games to productive win-win situations.