UNESCO
About
In May 2001, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded the University of Connecticut the first UNESCO Chair in Human Rights in the United States of America.
The Chair joined a network of 52 UNESCO Chairs around the world, which was founded in 1992 to promote human rights through education and research and to encourage collaboration among institutions of higher learning.
Through the agreement with UNESCO, the Chair in Comparative Human Rights is mandated to:
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Promote an integrated system of research, education, training, information, and documentation in the field of human rights;
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Facilitate collaboration between high-level internationally recognized researchers and teaching staff of the University and other institutions in the United States and other countries, particularly South Africa;
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Disseminate the results of research in the field of human rights.
The Chair, in working to realize a vision of a shared common humanity, is guided by three inter-related clusters of principles that, if put into practice, will contribute significantly to the building of a global culture based on human rights.
These principles are:
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The equality, dignity and freedom of all people;
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Reciprocal respect for the dignity and rights of all people;
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The universality, indivisibility, and interdependence of all human rights.
Based on these principles, the Chair has developed an inclusive approach to human rights known as comparative human rights, which seeks to transcend the ethnocentrism of human rights dialogue and unify various concepts and practices of human rights through integrated inter-disciplinary and cross-regional inquiry.
Mission
The UNESCO Chair in Comparative Human Rights adopts an inclusive approach that seeks to bridge the gap between human rights ideals, theories and practices, and to promote international understanding based on a culture of human rights, peace, democratic pluralism, and tolerance.
The Chair will assist the University of Connecticut in realizing its strategic goal of becoming a world-class institution of higher learning by engaging a diverse intellectual community and developing effective international cooperation.
Under the leadership of the UNESCO Chair, the Institute of Comparative Human Rights will reach out to individuals and groups to help transcend the barriers of ethnocentric social conditioning and prejudice, strengthen respect for human rights, and promote understanding of ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural diversity.
The UNESCO Chair & Institute of Comparative Human Rights are committed to:
- Promoting reciprocal learning and sharing of information in issues of human rights.
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Raising moral consciousness around the ideals of human rights.
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Facilitating the preservation and writing of history related to struggles for human rights.
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Contributing to educational efforts that lay the foundation for harmonious relations between people of different backgrounds.
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Developing strategies for peaceful resolution of conflicts.
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Cultivating respect for the democratic rule of law.
About the UNESCO Chair
In May 2001 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded the University of Connecticut the first UNESCO Chair in Human Rights in the United States of America. At the time, the Chair joined a network of 52 UNESCO Chairs around the world committed to promoting human rights, peace, democracy, and tolerance.
The UNESCO Chair in Comparative Human Rights at the University of Connecticut is guided by the theme of a common humanity and is informed by the principles of reciprocal learning and respect. The aim is to bridge the gap between ideals and theories of human rights practices to accomplish positive change in human relations.
The concept of comparative human rights is born from the recognition of two fundamental historical facts: the first is that no people, region, or religion in the world has ever possessed a monopoly of virtues or vices. The second is that every society has experienced in varying degrees violations of human rights and has consequently designed some mechanisms to guard against such violations.
In order to develop effective and balanced approaches to human rights, we need not only to appreciate the different histories and philosophies of human rights struggles, but also to learn from other people’s experiences. Reciprocal learning and exchange of information about strategies to advance the cause of human rights have become an imperative, especially in the global context in which we live.
A word about our logo, which bears the faces of youngsters in each quadrant of the globe: These young people are of different ages, skin colors, and facial features, but each holds great promise. The logo is intended to convey the simple but profound reality that young people are our future: they will grow into adults who either respect or reject the fundamental rights of their fellow human beings. There is nothing more meaningful for the future of human rights than to provide young people with an education that emphasizes the common humanity of all people, regardless of nationality, social background, religion, skin color, or gender.
Amii Omara-Otunnu
A central theme of the UNESCO Chair & Institute of Comparative Human Rights at the University of Connecticut is that people everywhere share a common humanity. The program employs an integrated ecumenical approach to engage the academic community, educational institutions, human rights organizations, students, policy makers, practitioners and the public to foster a culture of human rights. The institute fashions its agenda to integrate human rights issues from around the world, though its activities are anchored by the experience of South Africa, for historical, intrinsic, and practical reasons.
In the study of human rights, no year and no country provided a greater set of contrasts than South Africa in 1948. In that year, just three years after the world had confronted the full horror of the Jewish holocaust, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which set the standards for human rights observance, and the Genocide Convention was brought into force. In the same year, 1948, the South African Nationalist Party assumed power and embarked on a comprehensive project of social engineering that was effected through a series of laws that would institutionalize the racist regime and structure the country on the principle of “racial” inequality. Yet, the adoption of apartheid in South Africa did not generate international outrage. After years of struggle, however, when Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress came to power in 1994 through the country’s first democratic elections, they initiated an extraordinary transformation of that country into a non-racist democracy, through a novel formula of conflict resolution informed by principles of truth and reconciliation. It is an approach that has inspired people all over the world and may serve as a new model of promoting human rights.
The events in South Africa present the poles which any study of human rights must confront: the efforts to give all people equal opportunity and respect, set against dehumanizing practices driven by prejudice and often born out of ignorance and fear.
The UNESCO Chair & Institute of Comparative Human Rights at the University of Connecticut works collaboratively with already existing strategic partnerships with the African National Congress (ANC), the University of Fort Hare (UFH), and the UNESCO Oliver Tambo Centre of Human Rights in South Africa. The Institute will also establish partnerships with a variety of institutions in different regions of the world, to facilitate a truly global understanding and appreciation of human rights. The overarching objective of the Institute is to provide education that prepares individuals for responsible global citizenship.
In May 2001 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded the University of Connecticut the first UNESCO Chair in Human Rights in the United States of America. At the time, the Chair joined a network of 52 UNESCO Chairs around the world committed to promoting human rights, peace, democracy, and tolerance.
The UNESCO Chair in Comparative Human Rights at the University of Connecticut is guided by the theme of a common humanity and is informed by the principles of reciprocal learning and respect. The aim is to bridge the gap between ideals and theories of human rights practices to accomplish positive change in human relations.
The concept of comparative human rights is born from the recognition of two fundamental historical facts: the first is that no people, region, or religion in the world has ever possessed a monopoly of virtues or vices. The second is that every society has experienced in varying degrees violations of human rights and has consequently designed some mechanisms to guard against such violations.
In order to develop effective and balanced approaches to human rights, we need not only to appreciate the different histories and philosophies of human rights struggles, but also to learn from other people’s experiences. Reciprocal learning and exchange of information about strategies to advance the cause of human rights have become an imperative, especially in the global context in which we live.
A word about our logo, which bears the faces of youngsters in each quadrant of the globe: These young people are of different ages, skin colors, and facial features, but each holds great promise. The logo is intended to convey the simple but profound reality that young people are our future: they will grow into adults who either respect or reject the fundamental rights of their fellow human beings. There is nothing more meaningful for the future of human rights than to provide young people with an education that emphasizes the common humanity of all people, regardless of nationality, social background, religion, skin color, or gender.
Amii Omara-Otunnu