Part III Human rights education in practice 10.2. PROMOTING COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN RIGHTS Building community awareness of and support for human rights is a fundamental first step towards preventing violations and discrimination from occurring. National and international human right laws set out clear standards that promote and protect the rights of individuals and place on States the responsibility to uphold those rights. By educating the community about these standards, and the mechanisms in place to protect their rights, individuals: • are better able to assert their own rights • are empowered to stand up for the rights of others • can hold governments and decision-makers to account for their actions and advocate for changes to laws, policies and practices. The Paris Principles require NHRIs to “publicize human rights and efforts to combat all forms of discrimination” by “making use of all press organs”.162 Working with the media can be a very effective way of reaching a large number of people with information about human rights, especially given the financial constraints that many NHRIs face. Not only is media coverage “free”, it is also generally seen as being more reliable than the information presented in advertising or promotional campaigns. NHRIs can use media coverage to pursue a range of interconnected goals, including: • exposing systemic discrimination or human rights abuses and building community awareness of the issues • challenging negative stereotypes that exist within the community, particularly in relation to vulnerable or marginalized groups • advocating for changes to laws, policies and practices and explaining why this is necessary • encouraging the public to take action on a particular issue or to contribute to the work of the NHRI. Each NHRI, no matter how long it has been established, should seek to leverage media coverage to explain its role, functions and priorities to the community. For example, it can describe the types of human rights complaints it is able to receive, how individuals can make a complaint and the process it follows to resolve those complaints. Regular media coverage can also help to strengthen the reputation of the NHRI within the community as an independent, authoritative and trustworthy contributor to public discussions. In an era of “fake news” and misinformation, it is essential that NHRIs seek to communicate consistently and with credibility in order to build and maintain community trust. While the media plays a central role in reflecting and shaping community values, it is important to recognize that it is only one part of a complex system of social exchange that contributes to social and attitudinal change. In other words, while the media can raise issues, tell stories and promote public debate, media coverage can only do so much to change the “hearts and minds” of individuals. As such, NHRIs should see media engagement as one part of a comprehensive and integrated human rights education programme. 162 Paris Principles; 3(g). Chapter 10: Working with the media | 93