11The National Center for Human Rights
and Human Rights Educationin Jordan
Riyad Al-SubuhT

he National Center for Human Rights (NCHR) is a national independentinstitution that enjoys a juridical personality with full financial and administrative independence in undertaking human-rights-related intellectual, politicaland humanitarian activities. The NCHR formally started operating in 2003. NCHR
was established in 2002, but Law No. 51 redefined its powers and functions in2006. This law, in principle, aims at promotion and protection of human rights andpublic freedoms in the Kingdom of Jordan through institutional capacity building,and promoting respect for these rights by both the state and society.1
The mission of the NCHR consists of protecting human rights, disseminating humanrights culture, monitoring the human rights
situation, providing legal advise and aid for
those in need, preparing the necessary administrative and legal measures to minimize if
not prevent human-rights violations and theirconsequences; preparing studies and researches
and providing information, convening training panels and sessions, mounting campaigns,
taking positions on certain issues; issuing statements and publications and reports.
The NCHR strives to achieve the following
objectives:

lated in the international covenants andcharters.
3.	 Application of the human rights principles at the intellectual and practicallevels, and promotion of non-discrimination among the citizens based on race,language, religion or gender.
4.	 Enhancement of the democratic process
in the Kingdom by protecting freedoms,
guaranteeing political pluralism, respecting the sovereignty of the law, and guaranteeing the right to economic, socialand cultural development.
5.	 Keeping track of the developments in human-rights-related national legislations
and making proposals to ensure thatthey are consistent with international
human rights standards and instruments
to which Jordan is committed.
6.	Striving to make Jordan join the humanrights-related Arab and international
charters and agreements.

1.	 Protection of human rights and freedoms
in the Kingdom.
2.	 Dissemination and promotion of human rights principles in the Kingdom
by drawing on the tolerant message ofIslam, the values of the Islamic and Arabheritage, the rights enshrined in theConstitution, and the principles stipu-11

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HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLSThe activities of the NCHR and the implementation of its policies are entrusted to aCommissioner General who is appointed by theCouncil of Ministers, upon the recommendation of the Board of Trustees of NCHR. The
decision on the appointment of the Commissioner General is subsequently embodied in aRoyal Decree.
The NCHR works to realize its goals andcarry out its human-rights-related activities
through the following units:a. The Complaints and Legal Services Unit - It
receives complaints of human rights violations from any person in Jordan, and seeks
to eliminate these violations in cooperation
with the government authorities.
b. The Reform and Rehabilitation Centers Unit
- It monitors the situation of inmates andprisoners in the reform and rehabilitation
centers in Jordan, and seeks to address any
violation of their human rights.
c. Research and Documentation Unit - Itundertakes legal and analytical studies onhuman rights. This Unit relates to an officein the NCHR that coordinates international
projects and links, and another office thatlooks after the protection of the rights ofthe child, persons with disabilities, and theelderly.
d. Advocacy and Training Unit - It works on
the development of the human rights concept and on increasing public awareness ofhuman rights through its national humanrights awareness programs. It supports theteaching of human rights principles, theenhancement of the human rights concepts
as well as the exercise of these rights, theadoption of specialized training programs
to educate various professional groups onthese rights. It aims to achieve the following objectives:
1.	To develop the training skills and capacities of the members of the Unit andother NCHR staff regarding appropri-

ate ways of communicating with thetargeted sectors in society.
2.	To acquire human-rights-related professional skills that suit formal and non-formal education activities through various
forms of training.
3.	To increase public awareness on human rights through panel discussions,lectures, and distribution of printed andaudio-visual materials.

Human Rights Education
The NCHR puts special importance to human rights education at the formal and nonformal levels. Human rights education is oneof the seven components of NCHR’s Strategic
Plan for 2005-2008.
For the non-formal education activities,
the NCHR held several training sessions fortargeted groups such as judges, lawyers, police
officials, parliamentarians, and media people. Itis developing its role as a catalyst and facilitator for capacity-building of non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) working in the field of
human rights. It has already built a networkwith the local human rights NGOs in an effort
to co-ordinate, synchronize, and support theon-going initiatives of civil society organizations
working in the field. These NGOs now look tothe NCHR for more support.b
The NCHR has already initiated community-based programsc covering the different
regions of the country. It has implemented
many programs that address basic human rights
issues and raise awareness regarding the maininternational human rights instruments that
Jordan has ratified. Furthermore, it is committed to having its activities under media coveragein order to reach a larger segment of the Jordanian population. To implement its strategicplan, it aims to develop an effective and efficient
media strategy and to produce media resources
aimed at promoting both general and specifichuman rights issues.

The National Center for Human Rights and Human Rights Education in Jordan  13

In addition to the NCHR Strategic Plan forthe years 2005-2008, human rights educationin the formal education system is also provided
in the new Strategic Plan for the years 20092011.
In the 2005-2008 Strategic Plan, humanrights education is the first among the sevenmajor components. The human rights education component has the main objective of integrating human rights concepts into school andhigher education curriculums. This component
thus focuses on the educational curriculums,
their development in conformity with the international standards, and human rights concepts
integration into the primary, secondary, anduniversity curriculums.
This component has the following subobjectives:
1. To analyze the content of the educationalcurriculums
2. To identify the contents and suitablemeans for incorporating human rights
concepts into the educational curriculums
3. To evaluate the impact of educational
output of human rights education in theJordanian society
4. To raise the awareness of decision-makers, teachers, education officials, and thepublic on the importance of integrating
human rights concepts and principles inthe educational curriculums.
The activities to be undertaken are thefollowing:
1. A survey to analyze human rights concepts in the primary and secondary
curriculums, and identify contents andmethods necessary for integrating human rights concepts into the curriculums in accordance with international
standards.
2. A pre- and post-implementation survey
targeting a sizable representative sampleof students.

3. Three panel discussions with decisionmakers (parliamentarians, education
officials, and officials of the Ministry ofCulture, Ministry of Political Development, Ministry of Higher Education).
4. Two training of trainers’ (TOT) workshops to prepare forty trainers from theMinistry of Education.
5. Working meetings (at least two) for
people from the Ministry of Educationand the Ministry of Higher Education
for the purposes of identifying mechanisms for the implementation of thestudy results.
6. Three televised seminars on implementing the integration of human rights concept into the educational curriculums.
The activities are meant for the relevant
education officials, teachers, students, school
head masters, and education advisors.
The following are the sub- objectives:
1. To form a steering committee and another technical committee that represents major partners to lay down thework agenda.
2. To identify concepts and educational
values that are inconsistent with humanrights principles and are still embodiedin school curriculums.
3. To formulate suggestions and recommendations indicating which programs
should be used for the purposes of integrating human rights concepts into thecurriculums.
4. To make decision-makers and educational
authorities commit to the compliancewith the national action plan on the integration of human rights concepts intoeducational curriculums.
The NCHR, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Instruction, began tocomplete the work that the Ministry has began
several years ago in integrating the concepts

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HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLSof human rights into the school curriculums.
A training session was held for the staff of thecurriculum and training departments of theMinistry to build the capacity in integrating
the human rights concepts into the school
curriculums.
The NCHR has also followed–up on the efforts of the Ministry of Education and Instruction in establishing the National Committee for
Human Rights Education, which is composedof the following government bodies: the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Ministry of Political Development,
the Ministry of Islamic Trust, Affairs and HolyPlaces, the Ministry of Culture, and the HigherCouncil on Youth. The NCHR representativein the National Committee acts in the capacityof liaison officer. An ambitious national planon human rights education for the years 20082011 was prepared in compliance with theUnited Nations General Assembly resolution
on the United Nations World Programme for
Human Rights Education (WPHRE).
In support of the First Phase Plan of Actionof the WPHRE, the NCHR prepared a studyof the current situation of human rights education in the Jordanian schools system. The study
enumerated the achievements in the area ofteaching human rights, and the most important
challenges and deficiencies.
The annual report of the NCHR contains
a section on human rights education in theschools and universities. It contains several
points relating to the teaching of human rights
and the recommendations to improve thequality of education and the infrastructure ofschools that will contribute to the enhancementof the teaching of human rights.
The Fourth Annual Report - Situation of
Human rights in the Hashemite Kingdom ofJordan (2007) has the following update:4
The concepts of [human rights have been integrated into the] school curricula had been[integrated], particularly the rights of both thechild and the woman. This covered all classes inmore than one subject either in the form of direct
lessons specialized in human rights or in the form
student activities. Gender concepts related to therole of men and women have also been boosted
in school curricula, thus enabling students toparticipate in evaluating curricula and textbooks.
An electronic mail has been issued under thename “The Student Mission” to enable students
to express their views.	The NCHR appreciates the efforts made by
the Ministry [of Education] to include the teaching of human rights in its curricula. We wish tostress the need to go ahead with these efforts andof working towards developing them. It further
stresses the need to pay special attention to thenecessity of training teachers on human rights
concepts.

In the same report, the NCHR noted thecontinuing occurrence of violence in schoolamong students and between students andteachers despite the existence of a hotline
regarding complaints on such violence and a
project to protect students from abuse. TheNCHR recommended to the Ministry of Education and Instruction to activate the follow-up
and monitoring procedures in cooperation with
it and other institutions (such as the FamilyProtection Department/Public Security and
the National Council for Family Affairs) andthe enhancement of human rights culture in
the schools.5
The NCHR has held several education–related sessions, one of which dealt with higher
education and human rights. One of its recommendations stressed the necessity of teaching
human rights and democracy through a special
course to the students or integrating this into
the major courses.
The NCHR is looking forward to working
alongside the Ministry of Education and Instruction in the implementation of the national
action plan on human rights education that
contains several activities revolving around thefollowing themes:

The National Center for Human Rights and Human Rights Education in Jordan  15

1.	Follow up on the integration of human rights
concepts into the curriculums by examining
the overall framework of the curriculumsand textbooks, comparing the results ofthis examination with the international human rights standards and the matrix of theconcepts of human rights and the cultureof peace, and the common universal values
that was prepared by the Ministry of Education and Instruction, holding awarenessworkshops for the members of the curriculum development committee regarding theconcepts of human rights, survey of students
and teachers and presentation of the survey
results to experts and arbitrators, preparation of teaching activities to be introduced
to the secondary school textbooks.
2.	Training of the staff of the Ministry ofEducation and Instruction on human rights
especially by implementing the human rights
training of trainers program. The activities
can include training of forty field trainers
on teaching human rights, preparation oftraining manuals, and a session regarding
the right to education for the officials of
the Ministry of Education and Instruction
and the Ministry of Higher Education andScientific Research.
3.	Continued organizing of current extracurricular activities on human rights such ascompetitions, camps, poster-making, andestablishment of human rights clubs. NHRC
also proposes the establishment of special
human-rights-related clubs in the schools
like:• Information clubs/internet to connect with students all over the world,
exchange ideas with them, acquainting
them with human rights in general,or those relating to specific categories(women, children and persons with disabilities).
• Environment-care clubs that help thestudents exercise their right to live in ahealthy environment and preserve thesame.

• Clubs that collect human-rights-related
documents, hold panel discussions, givelectures, and distribute publications,etc.
4.	Educational information: television panel
discussions regarding the integration of theconcepts of human rights into the school
textbooks.
As for the other sectors, the NCHR is also
looking for ways to cover important categories
in the society outside the formal education
system, like the young people, Islamic scholars
and preachers, civil society, and the government
ministries that deal with education, culture,information, and teaching materials.
The NCHR and the Ministry of Education
and Instruction will sign a memorandum of
understanding to implement the national action plan, while both sides will look for foreign
funding in order to execute it.
As for non-formal education, the NCHR
has held since the start of its operations various sessions, panel discussions, studies, andtraining guidelines that benefited thousandsof Jordanians and Arabs from the various
Ministries, personnel of security departments,
judges, teachers, university students, and NGOworkers. The most important projects that wereimplemented focused on the following:•	The refugees and human rights•	Non-governmental organizations capacity building• Enhancement of justice for the judges
and Islamic sharia judges•	University students and violence againstwomen• Civil and political rights for university
students•	Trainers training for the employees ofthe Higher Council of Youth• Good governance and human rights forthe young•	Opportunity for all persons with disabilities

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HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS•	The right to a healthy environment• Preparation of shadow report regarding
the fulfillment of state obligations under
the Convention on the Rights of theChild.
In conclusion, the NCHR stresses thathuman rights education is a national causethat needs the efforts of all. It is an importantand a continuous work for the enhancementof human rights in Jordan. It transforms theapplication of human rights from the path ofprotection towards that of prevention.

Endnotes
1
Introduction of the NCHR Strategic Plan(2005-2008) available in http://www.nchr.org.
jo/pages.php?menu_id=19&local_type=0&local_id=0&local_details=0&local_details1=0&localsite_branchname=NCHR
2
Shaher Bak, APF Member Reports – Jordan,
10th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Forumof National Human Rights Institutions (APF),
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, 24-26 August 2005.
3Ibid.
4
Page 79 of the report.
5Ibid.