Not only does the International Humanist and Ethical Union share the values and concerns that have inspired UNESCO's founding, it also proudly share with UNESCO its founder! UNESCO's first Director General, Sir Julian Huxley, was a founding father of IHEU which was established in 1952. IHEU works for furtherance and development of human values, cultivation of the scientific mode of thinking, loyalty to democratic principles and repudiation of anti-democratic behaviour in all social relations.

The humanist concept of human rights and duties is not based on theistic religion and rejects culture-bound limitations of it. Humanists recognise neither African, American, Asian nor European biases of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our conception of human rights is rooted in the conviction that universal human values have their basis in our common humanity and that these values need protection against violation either by the state or by individuals.

The success and progress of societies is functional upon how much opportunity they offer their members for harmonious participation in social, economic and cultural life. IHEU promotes the view that human beings are free to give meaning and shape to their lives, as long as these actions do not interfere with other people's rights. It is at school that we need to build this healthy respect for other people's rights, inculcating simultaneously a vigilant attitude which will resist erosion of one's own rights! Human Rights Education is essentially a preparation for society and in the changing face of the world, it must also be the preparation of our children for a peaceful planetary society.

The pedagogy of such a human rights education must be a rational one: pupils and students should be informed as objectively as possible of the implications of living in pluralist societies with very different religions and life stances. They must become aware that modern societies can function smoothly only in the context of a flourishing human rights culture.

Unfortunately, we see in many countries that specific religious views are being imposed upon children in the name of education. Apart from creating great impediments for the formation of a global society, mandatory religious education is a violation of the articles 18 & 19 and 26 of the UDHR. Recently, we saw such human rights violations in educational systems as different as those in Argentina, Bavaria, Canada, Iran, Norway, Pakistan and Slovakia, where religious indoctrination is being carried out in the garb of moral science and ethics classes! IHEU supports education based on universal human rights and not its violation, and we have been very concerned about recent developments in the field.

Member organisations of IHEU in my own country, The Netherlands, are organising conferences on Human Rights Education in December 1997 and March 1998. We will also be debating and discussing the importance of Values Education for the Promotion of Human Rights at our next two World Humanist Congresses in India (1999) and in Australia (2000). We have also invited UNESCO, therefore, to participate in our Congresses to advance these discussions, as well as those relating to rights and duties.

IHEU will continue to work with UNESCO to promote our common concerns either through IHEU's member organisations, or through our representation at the UN in New York, Geneva, or Vienna, at UNICEF, and at the Council of Europe and the European Union. Our firm conviction is that the defences of Human Rights must be built in the minds of future citizens; and education is the best way to do this.