Executive Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Commission developed a Work Plan for the year to meet the objectives of its Strategic Plan covering five thematic areas of human rights involving Indigenous Peoples, Children with Learning Disabilities, Older Persons, the Business Sector, and Free Trade Agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. This was in addition to a full schedule of activities to extend appreciation and adoption of human rights across all segments of society, including embarking on fresh initiatives to widen the scope of implementation and to respond to current issues that require redress. As always, the Commission counted on partners and human rights defenders to help deliver its twin-goals to promote and protect human rights. It interacted with the Government and its agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI), representatives of United Nations (UN) agencies, professional bodies and grassroots communities. REPORT OF THE EDUCATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS GROUP The Education and Promotion Division expanded its outreach to schools through its on-going smart partnership with the Ministry of Education (MOE). As an outcome of such collaboration, the MOE set up a committee on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). It also agreed to 121 more schools participating in the Human Rights Best Practices in Schools (HRBPS) programme, bringing the total to 138. Programmes were instituted for Special Schools and under the Special Education Integration Programme to highlight relevant aspects of human rights to teachers. Similar efforts were applied in relation to educators of children of Indigenous Peoples and in Sekolah Agama Rakyat. A high point of engagement with public and private tertiary institutions was the University of Malaya’s endorsement of the Commission’s proposal to establish a Human Rights Centre on campus. The Public Relations Division stepped up understanding of human rights through press statements, interviews and response to issues of public interest. There was direct engagement of stakeholders via events such as the public release of the Commission’s Annual Report 2012, Human Rights Booklet competition under the HRBPS programme, the Human Rights Award, and a panel discussion to observe World Human Rights Day. 5