Education (3)

In the United States, it is hard to use direct legal action to enforce human rights obligations. The U.S. hasnot ratified the several major human rights treaties, including thoseprotecting the right to education. As a result, international treatieshave not become part of our domestic law and do not provide a cause ofaction in court. Even when the U.S. doesratify a treaty, Congress makes what are called ???reservations,??????understandings??? and ???declarations??? that prevent individuals from usingthe treaties in U.S. courts. So, what are other ways that can we use human rights in the U.S.?

The right to education can only be met when students feel safe and ableto express themselves in school. Human rights guarantee that schoolpolicies protect the child???s right to human dignity and create anenvironment in which children can learn and develop to their fullestpotential, without discrimination. These rights are protected in theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights ofthe Child, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights.

A Human Rights Approach to Parent and Community Participation in New York City Schools

Testimony to the City Council about the Right to Education in New York City

Kabul, Afghanistan - I am a member of the loya jirga'ssilent majority -- or rather, silenced majority -- who came here toAfghanistan's capital expecting to shape our nation's future butinstead find ourselves being dragged back into the past.

Human Rights Conditions

Over twenty years of successive armed conflicts and massive humanrights violations have killed at least 1.5 million Afghans and rendered6 million homeless. Even prior to 11 September and 7 October, theAfghan population suffered severe destitution and hardship: a ruinedinfrastructure, abysmal socio-economic indicators, the world???s largestpopulation of refugees and internally displaced persons, the world???shighest concentration of land mines, three years of worsening drought,a repressive government and international isolation marked by economicsanctions.