This year, The Swedish Forum for Human Rights will highlight education and labour rights from a variety of perspectives. The program will illustrate how power structures and background factors affect peoples’ opportunities to partake in education and labour, as well as how the fulfilment of these rights strengthens both individuals and society as a whole.
The ability to provide for oneself and get an education are important prerequisites for living a secure and dignified life. The right to education, labour and rights within one’s labour are universal human rights, applicable to everyone, everywhere. They are also prerequisites for exercising many other rights such as the right to political participation, organisation, food, health and housing.
Countries have had their education systems wiped out by wars, pandemics or natural disasters
The right to education is essential for the development of a democratic society, social justice and conflict prevention. Education provides individuals with the knowledge necessary to claim their rights as well as those of other’s. Today, over 750 million people in the world are estimated to be illiterate, the majority of whom are women. In some countries, girls are denied the right to go to school, curbing women’s ability to participate in societal development. Other countries have had their education systems wiped out by wars, pandemics or natural disasters.
We see a backlash towards democracy and the questioning of human rights around the world
The right to education and labour are articles in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the most important rights document in the world, this year celebrating its 75th anniversary. How does the document hold up in our current time as we see a backlash towards democracy and the questioning of human rights around the world?
We are inviting your organisation to participate in building a forum that raises the level of knowledge and broadens the debate around education and labour righs. We are calling for program proposals which provide nuanced insights to current events, present new facts, and offers ways to build a society that can guarantee the right to education and labour for all.
