Understanding Human Rights

This Manual, an innovative tool which is now in its second edition, should contribute to Human Rights Education worldwide. It has first been elaborated in 2002/2003 on the initiative of the former Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ms. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, by the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC) based in Graz, Austria, in collaboration with HSN Partners and more than thirty institutions and experts.For the second edition of 2006, the whole text has been revised and updated.The Manual is intended as a concrete contribution to strengthening human security through human rights education and learning. Based on the universality of human rights it is sensitive to regional and cultural particularities.The Manual is addressed to human rights educators and learners worldwide and serves human rights trainers in formal as well as non-formal education. It contains a variety of pedagogical materials to be used in human rights education of either youth or adults. It is designed in an open-ended way to be completed by trainers and learners on the basis or their own experiences. The manual is available on the internet at http://www.manual.etc-graz.at in several languages.The European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC) has been established in Graz in 2000 as a competence centre for human rights education and research with the support of the city of Graz, the first Human Rights City in Europe.