2.6 National plans of action for human rights education Within the framework of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004), both the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights called on States to develop comprehensive, effective and sustainable national plans of action for human rights education. To assist in this undertaking, OHCHR facilitated the development of Guidelines for National Plans of Action for Human Rights Education8 in cooperation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), several resource persons and practitioners. The Guidelines, published in 1997, include a set of principles for effective human rights education and a step-by-step strategy to develop national plans in this area. The Guidelines stress that national human rights education plans should incorporate networks, experiences and programmes already in place. National strategies should be developed and implemented through a creative mixture of governmental and nongovernmental institutions and organizations. They can include several courses of action such as the integration of human rights education into all levels of formal education; relevant training of professionals or other groups (in particular vulnerable groups); public awareness campaigns; the translation, production and revision of materials; research and legislative reform. The Guidelines also stress the importance of having monitoring and evaluation mechanisms included in the national plan. A national plan of action for human rights education should clearly form an integral part of a general national human rights action plan, as should other relevant national action plans relating, for example, to women, children, minorities and indigenous peoples. Many of the principles and strategies elaborated in the Guidelines for National Plans of Action for Human Rights Education are equally relevant and applicable to the preparation of general national human rights action plans. 3. More about national human rights action plans – general principles The idea of national action plans centres on encouraging change within each country according to the country’s own circumstances. Thus, national action plans are concerned with mobilizing the will to change and developing appropriate mechanisms. It is important to recognize that the will to change may manifest itself in various ways and that the situations in which important actors operate are often complex. In responding to this complexity, it is easier for governments to implement positive changes if they use mechanisms similar to those they employ in other areas of administration. Achievement of national human rights action plan objectives will thus coincide with achievement of linked national objectives such as social harmony and economic development. 8 United Nations document A/52/469/Add.1 and Add.1/Corr.1. This document is accessible from the home page of the OHCHR web site (http://www.ohchr.org) through “Human Rights Education and Training”. 12