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Human Rights Institute
The Human Rights Institute (HRI) of the Commission
on Human Rights (CHR) has continuously established
its presence as a premier institution to offer human
rights education in the public and private arenas, and
among the other relevant sectors. It is a product of the
long-term objective of the Commission to foster and
sustain human rights culture in the Philippines.
The HRI platform began this year and it was able to
successfully develop different human rights education
efforts. The second semester of the year was full of
sustained activities and brought forth receptive interest from the general public. The HRI was able
to conduct 19 certificate courses – both general and specialized courses – with a total number of
10, 264 enrollees, 5,345-course completers, and a high 91.71% passing rate. These numbers
translate to the growing relevance of HRI and the success of the educational programs it has been
offering to all individuals. It also garnered hundreds of successful testimonies that mark HRI’s
credibility in offering human rights education programs.
The Human Rights Institute (HRI) Facebook Page offers online
courses and features different online activities. This includes a
Webinar titled “YSpeak” – a thematic seminar conducted on the
internet every month together with “You My Rights TV.”
The said live streaming engagements were cross-posted by the
official CHR Facebook account to other social media sites and
hence provided more avenues for the promotion of human rights education activities.
The CHR has embarked on providing online learning courses as
an added option to face-to-face or in-person mode of learning.
Through a certificate program, the institution has successfully
helped educate various sectors as target participants by
removing the impediments to free, fair and readily available
sources of knowledge and skills.
As part of this objective, the Human Rights Institute of the
Human Rights Education and Promotion Office of the CHR
launched in 2022 a selected career skill course that will provide
opportunity to complete a Certificate Course. The special course on the Right to Health was
offered and opened for registration. The duration for this was from December 19 to 23, 2022. This
is a synchronous learning venture where a number of learners participate in the same class with
the same instructors. Enrollees can access and complete lectures, readings, homework, and
learning materials within the given timeframe.
B. Center for Human Rights Education (CHRE)
The Center for Human Rights Education (CHRE) is
one of the flagship programs of the Commission on
Human Rights that aims to strengthen its mandate
by developing a continuing program on research,
education, and information and by this means
enhance awareness and appreciation for the primacy
of human rights in the academe. The CHR
encourages all state universities and colleges (SUCs)
and private higher education institutions (HEIs) to
establish a CHRE to help accelerate the formation of a culture of human rights in the academic
sector and in the local communities they serve. The CHREs are a response to the various local and
international mandates, emphasizing the promotion and protection of human rights through
education. In particular, CHREs are established to address the aim of the 1996 agreement
between CHR with the CHED; with the DECs (now DepEd), and with the Amnesty International
Philippines, which is to strengthen human rights education and conducting human rights and
training programs (as per CHED memorandum Order No.31 s. 1996 in all HEIs).
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