Education for Human Rights, Inter-cultural and Inter-religious Dialogue: The Role of UNESCO

Abstract

This chapter discusses the role of UNESCO with regard to the emerging area of work on inter-religious dialogue and education. It focuses only on those aspects which are directly related to education and schooling. As a whole, the Organization works in many spheres, promoting, for example, the creation of UNESCO Chairs around the world on inter-religious dialogue or on inter-cultural education, or convening meetings of spiritual leaders to discuss ways forward to breach misunderstanding and between peoples of different faiths. In the sections that follow, I describe the mandate of the Organization and its evolving mission and current issues. In doing so, I focus not only on the issues of cultural diversity, multiculturalism and inter-religious dialogue, but also seek to show with examples and references the way in which the discourse is interpreted and reshaped through practice.