Monitoring Human Rights in Educational Settings

Abstract

Abstract The first internationally recognized statement of modern‐day human rights is embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Ratified without objection by the United Nation General Assembly in 1948, the UDHR recognizes the “inherent dignity” and “equal and inalienable rights” of all persons. The UNHR and two subsequently adopted international human rights documents — the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) — comprise the International Bill of Rights (IBR). In addition, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989, incorporates an unprecedented array of civil, political, social, cultural, and economic rights that accrue specifically to children. Together, the IBR and the CRC, supplemented by official commentaries, represent the most widely endorsed set of articulated fundamental human rights that can serve and have served to inform and direct educational policies and practices.