ABSTRACT
The scope of human rights education was broadened in 1993 by the Montreal International Congress on Education for Human Rights and Democracy, which established a key link between human rights and democracy. Education for human rights is ‘essential for the promotion and achievement of stable and harmonious relations among communities and for fostering mutual understanding, tolerance and peace’. Key challenges for human rights education include universalization, interconnection, diversification and specification. The spread of human rights education across the globe can be analysed from the perspectives of formal and non-formal education. The insertion of human rights information into formal education varies according to the levels of such education. There is most direct insertion at the higher or tertiary level and least insertion at the pre-school, primary and secondary school levels. In all regions of the globe, there are a multitude of initiatives on human rights education beyond the school setting, often propelled by non-governmental organizations.
