The UN presented in Costa Rica a guide that offers solutions to hate speech and discrimination in education and will serve as a reference tool for legislators, teachers and other key actors to ensure that hate speech is addressed and counteracted effectively. effective
The growing polarization, violence and discrimination faced by different societies around the world is becoming more evident every day. These phenomena are fully interconnected and have a common factor, each day more threatening: hate speech.
In order to address and seek solutions to this reality, the United Nations Office for the Prevention of Genocide and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) presented this Monday, March 27, in Costa Rica, the guide Fighting hate speech through education.
The guide will serve as a reference tool for legislators, teachers and others who are key to ensuring that hate speech, both online and on the street, is effectively addressed and countered through education.
Alice NderituSpecial Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, highlighted the enormous potential of education to address hate speech, particularly its root causes.
“Schools, teachers and education play a critical role in our formative years,” he said.
“The #HateSpeech they are thriving today. No country is immune.”
-Alice Nderitu @WairimuANderituYou can access the guide released today for its prevention at ??https://t.co/2BNc0GSw3k@UNESCOsanjose @mep_cr @CRcancilleria @UNCOSTARICA @UNFPACostaRica pic.twitter.com/wnoAfqFzvH
— Juan Luis Bermúdez Madriz (@juanluisbm) March 27, 2023
This is the first global education-focused guide on how to counter hate speech and will be used by policy makers to address this issue from a human rights perspective.
various strategies
The guide is a direct result of the World Conference of Ministers of Education on tackling hate speech through education, convened by the UN Secretary General, António Guterres.
UNESCO Assistant Director General for Education, Stefania Gianninipointed out at the launch of the guide that the damage caused by hate speech and the danger it entails is known.
For this reason, he stressed that the UN agency “is developing educational programs that address its root causes and counteract its manifestations.”
*Read also: Against hate, by Laureano Márquez
The guide proposes various strategies to address hate speech and discrimination explicitly and at all educational levels.
It also notes the importance of developing digital citizenship skills, strengthening social and emotional learning components, as well as addressing historical and contemporary inequities and inequities.
The document also proposes developing tools for the identification of discriminatory discourse, the promotion of gender sensitivity, the inclusion of relevant programs in professional development and the training of educators and school leaders.
The guidance identifies acting to stop misinformation, propaganda and conspiracy theories as a priority.
Why in Costa Rica?
The UN highlighted that the country was chosen as the venue for this event because of its strong democratic tradition and for being a pioneering country in research and action against hate speech and discrimination in the world.
Costa Rica was the first nation to have an Action Plan against in all of the Americas. Under the leadership of the UN and with the support of the private sector and academia, it developed three major investigations that have demonstrated the presence of these discourses in the social networks used in the country.
The latest investigation determined that incitement to hate grew by 71% during the last year driven by the political campaign. They are the Lgbtiq+ groups, migrants, women, journalists and the media, some of the most affected by hate and discrimination in Costa Rica.
As part of the response to this reality, the Ministry of Education launched the Education Route in 2023, an initiative that promotes the development of skills for responsible and supportive citizenship, for life and for decent employment.
Likewise, it promotes the establishment of peaceful, healthy and inclusive learning environments, which are essential to guarantee the full exercise of the right to education.
“We are gathered here with a common objective and commitment: the right to an education committed to peace, social cohesion, equity and the eradication of all forms of hatred and discrimination. Today we have the responsibility to add efforts, to recognize the steps that we lack. As citizens of the world we have to give ourselves the opportunity to build a future free of hate speech and discrimination. Today we can build bridges for peaceful dialogue that allow our children and young people to be defenders of peace,” said Anna Katharina Müller Castro, Minister of Education of Costa Rica.
The guide was launched at the University for Peace, San José, Costa Rica, in an event organized by the Ministries of Public Education and Foreign Relations, together with representatives of the UN Office for the Prevention of Genocide, of UNESCO and the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country.
*Read also: NGOs demand that the Public Ministry investigate hate crimes against Lgtbi people
Also participating in the launch event were Jaime Perczyk, Minister of Education of Argentina; María Brown Pérez, Minister of Education of Ecuador; João Costa, Minister of Education of Portugal; Nathalie Nikitenko, Director of European and International Affairs at the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports of France, Chakib Benmoussa, Minister of National Education of Morocco, as well as Pilar Alegría, Minister of Education and Vocational Training of Spain.
Post Views: 81
