Human Rights Education A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions A rights holder: • is entitled to rights • is entitled to claim rights • is entitled to hold the duty bearer accountable • has a responsibility to respect the rights of others.49 Duty bearers are individuals or institutions who are obligated to promote and protect the rights of the rights holders. As with the rights holder, a duty bearer may be such due to their relationship with someone who does not have power in that relationship. Institutionally, duty bearers are those with the role and ability to uphold the human rights of others. Being a member of the military, this project gave me a profound awareness of my job and I learned how to protect the rights of every individual. Philippines The overall responsibility for meeting human rights obligations rests with the State or legal duty bearers. This responsibility includes all the agencies of the State, such as parliaments, ministries, local authorities, judges and justice authorities, police and immigration services, defence forces, teachers, lecturers and those involved in school communities. All are legal duty bearers. Every other individual or institution that has the power to affect the lives of rights holders is a moral duty bearer. Moral duty bearers could include the business sector, private companies, local leaders, civil society organizations, international organizations and heads of households. Influencers have an important role to play in persuading the duty bearers to fulfil their obligations and the rights holders to understand and claim their rights. This group includes, among others, the media, religious leaders, tribal and ethnic leaders, unions, NGOs, human rights defenders and NHRIs. Following is a list of groups to which human rights education may be directed and why.50 Young children and their families A parent, grandparent or other significant adult, is often a child’s first teacher. Educational research51 shows that the first 10 years in a child’s life are significant to the development of attitudes about equality and human dignity. It is important then that a child’s family and community also know about human rights and how to apply them. Teachers, principals, and educators It is important that teachers have a fundamental grounding in human rights in what they teach and how they teach it. For teachers to effectively include human rights in the classrooms, they require the endorsement and support of a whole educational system. 16 49 Applying a Human Rights-Based Approach: An Inspirational Guide for Civil Society; Danish Institute for Human Rights; 2007. 50 Adapted from The Human Rights Education Handbook: Effective Practices for Learning, Action, and Change; Nancy Flowers et al; 2000. Available online at http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/edumat/pdf/hreh.pdf. 51 Early years, life chances and equality: a literature review; Paul Johnson and Yulia Kossykh, Frontier Economics; published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission; 2008 Available online at www.dcya.gov.ie/documents/childcare/diversity_and_equality. pdf and www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/research_report-7-early-years-life-chances-and-equality-literaturereview.pdf. Diversity and equality guidelines for childcare providers; Office of the Minister for Children (Ireland); 2006. Available online at www.dcya.gov.ie/documents/childcare/diversity_and_equality.pdf.