This chapter examines the decisive role of education in promoting peace, human rights, and democracy, by emphasizing the benefits of Human Rights Education (HRE) and Peace Education (PE). It presents a broad range of key concepts, definitions, principles, objectives, skills, and attitudes associated with the content of Human Rights and Peace Education, while highlighting global initiatives and strategies that seek to realize these concepts and underscore the universality of human rights in promoting a peaceful, democratic, and resilient interconnected global community orientated toward sustainable development. Despite major political, social, and economic progress, as well as the dissemination of technology as a feature of globalization, democracy and human rights continue to be challenged by the rise of nationalism, the resurgence of ethnic divisions, unresolved armed conflicts, religious intolerance, fanaticism and extremism/terrorism, and the systematic racism, violence, and exploitation against minorities, refugees, migrants, displaced persons, and other vulnerable groups. Moreover, new forms of human rights violation have emerged or intensifies, particularly in everyday life, such as sexism, gender-based violence, child abuse and neglect, environmental degradation, socio-economic disparities, and the inequitable distribution of resources resulting from ongoing economic and health crisis—most notably, the Covid-19 pandemic, which has created new or exacerbated pre-existing inequalities. Education plays a decisive role in upholding democratic values, fostering participatory citizenship, strengthening solidarity and mutual respect, cultivating the idea of conflict resolution, raising individual and collective awareness, enhancing empathy and compassion, developing environmental awareness, and promoting social justice in various forms. Human Rights and Peace Education seek to promote social transformation through a holistic perspective, revealing the common ground of the above types of education and advancing a global framework. Transformation through Human Rights and Peace Education must be comprehensive and continuous, engage all stakeholders at all educational levels and across both formal and informal settings, foster autonomy, and take into account individual learning capacities and the diverse contextual social, cultural, economic, and political contexts. The chapter concludes with indicative proposals for pedagogical intervention activities.

Human Rights and Peace Education

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发表日期：

2026年

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Despina Karakatsani,
Vassiliki Pliogou

摘要

This chapter examines the decisive role of education in promoting peace, human rights, and democracy, by emphasizing the benefits of Human Rights Education (HRE) and Peace Education (PE). It presents a broad range of key concepts, definitions, principles, objectives, skills, and attitudes associated with the content of Human Rights and Peace Education, while highlighting global initiatives and strategies that seek to realize these concepts and underscore the universality of human rights in promoting a peaceful, democratic, and resilient interconnected global community orientated toward sustainable development. Despite major political, social, and economic progress, as well as the dissemination of technology as a feature of globalization, democracy and human rights continue to be challenged by the rise of nationalism, the resurgence of ethnic divisions, unresolved armed conflicts, religious intolerance, fanaticism and extremism/terrorism, and the systematic racism, violence, and exploitation against minorities, refugees, migrants, displaced persons, and other vulnerable groups. Moreover, new forms of human rights violation have emerged or intensifies, particularly in everyday life, such as sexism, gender-based violence, child abuse and neglect, environmental degradation, socio-economic disparities, and the inequitable distribution of resources resulting from ongoing economic and health crisis—most notably, the Covid-19 pandemic, which has created new or exacerbated pre-existing inequalities. Education plays a decisive role in upholding democratic values, fostering participatory citizenship, strengthening solidarity and mutual respect, cultivating the idea of conflict resolution, raising individual and collective awareness, enhancing empathy and compassion, developing environmental awareness, and promoting social justice in various forms. Human Rights and Peace Education seek to promote social transformation through a holistic perspective, revealing the common ground of the above types of education and advancing a global framework. Transformation through Human Rights and Peace Education must be comprehensive and continuous, engage all stakeholders at all educational levels and across both formal and informal settings, foster autonomy, and take into account individual learning capacities and the diverse contextual social, cultural, economic, and political contexts. The chapter concludes with indicative proposals for pedagogical intervention activities.