Interview with Micha Ramakers, DG INTPA EU Commission
The Press Office had the opportunity to interview the Deputy Head of Unit Gender Equality, Human Rights and Democratic Governance, DG INTPA, European Commission, Micha Ramakers about his views on the importance and challenges in the field of Human Rights Education.
What is the importance that the EU gives to Education on Human Rights and Democracy? How is the European Commission’s Directorate General for International Partnerships and in particular your Unit supporting this type of education around the world in your current programmes and plans?
First, I should highlight that the EU has put education, which is a human right as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, at the heart of post-pandemic recovery, almost doubling its global spending on education to over EUR 6 billion for 2021-2027. More than 10% of its international partnerships budget for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia and the Pacific, and 10% of its humanitarian aid budget, currently goes towards education. Together with the EU Member States, in a Team Europe approach, the EU provides over half of the official development assistance to education worldwide.
Second, as required by the EU Treaties and the Global Europe legal basis for our actions, human rights, gender equality, and democratic governance are mainstreamed in our programmes and strategies, for example the Global Gateway strategy. The Commission also specifically supports Human Rights and Democracy education in many ways and forms with funding from its Human Rights and Democracy Programme, including in schools and for specific target groups, in many countries around the world. This can include, for example, civic education, raising awareness on human rights for marginalised groups, promoting gender equality, promoting political participation, and so on. Human Rights education can be delivered through civil society partners, multilateral organisations, national human rights institutions, and others.
The Global Campus of Human Rights is particularly important for the EU. The EU has been the main supporter of the Master's Programmes in Human Rights and Democratization since 1997. We’re delighted that this initiative has now grown into a centre of excellence and a world-wide network that includes over 100 universities. And we’re particularly proud of the more than 4500 graduates from the programme, who work across the globe to promote human rights and democracy, in civil society organisations, the public sector, and, increasingly, the private sector.
What are the challenges do you think the EU will need to confront in the next years related to Human Rights?
In a context of many and increasing global crises, including armed conflict on the European continent, in the EU’s neighbourhood, and in many other areas of the world, the European Union will continue to play a pivotal role in addressing pressing issues related to human rights violations and abuses, democratic backsliding, and rising to the new challenges of our ever more digitalised world.
This includes working on protecting and empowering individuals, building resilient, inclusive and democratic societies, promoting a global system for human rights and democracy, harnessing opportunities and addressing challenges and ensuring we deliver by working with partners. Our priorities are set out in the EU’s Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, which we recently extended until 2027, and which is matched by considerable financial resources from the Global Europe Human Rights and Democracy Programme 2021-2027, which has a budget of some 1.5 billion euro, roughly half of which is used for projects in partner countries and half for global and regional programmes, including support to the multilateral human rights system.
Could you give a personal message to students and professors of the Global Campus of Human Rights?
After decades of progress, we now live in a world where human rights and democracy are increasingly attacked, and narratives are developed or resurface that question the universality, indivisibility, and interdependence of human rights. There’s a backlash against many groups, including LGBTIQ persons, women, labour rights workers, indigenous peoples, and environmental human rights defenders. This backlash involves the use of pernicious new strategies and tools, notably in the digital sphere, that we had not seen before. In such a world, human rights students and professors are more than ever key actors and drivers of renewed positive change. In this great undertaking we hope to cross your paths in the future, and we wish that you can all realise your dreams and aspirations – and contribute to a world in which the human rights of all are upheld.
For more information contact our Press and Communications PR Offices:
Elisa Aquino – Isotta Esposito – Francesca Sante
pressoffice@gchumanrights.org - communications@gchumanrights.org
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