The Democratic Initiatives Incubator NGO in cooperation with EENCE Working group “Human Rights in Civic Education” is launching the international project “HRBA in Action: Strengthening Civic Education Through Human Rights-Based Approach in the Eastern Partnership.” The project aims to support civil society organisations and educators in integrating the Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) into civic education programmes.
In the Eastern Partnership countries, civic education plays a vital role in strengthening democracy, particularly in the context of military conflicts, political instability, and increasing social polarisation in the region. At the same time, many educational programmes still do not systematically integrate a Human Rights-Based Approach, limiting their effectiveness and inclusiveness. The project seeks to help organisations move beyond a declarative understanding of human rights towards their practical application in educational activities.
The project consists of several interconnected stages:
– An open online training on the Human Rights-Based Approach for civic education providers.
– 10 organisations and initiatives will be selected through an open call to participate in an individual audit of their educational programmes with the support of international experts.
– Based on the results of the analysis, tailored recommendations will be developed for each organisation, and a universal practical tool—a checklist for implementing HRBA in civic education—will be created.
It is expected that 20 civic education professionals will participate in the introductory training, while the project’s results will reach at least 500–1,000 people through partner networks and communication activities. The developed checklist will be published in open access and will serve as a practical resource for educators, trainers, facilitators, and civil society organisations across the Eastern Partnership region.
“We see a growing interest in the Human Rights-Based Approach, but also a clear need for practical tools that support its implementation. This is why the project focuses not only on training, but also on analysing real educational programmes and jointly identifying solutions that can make civic education more inclusive, participatory, and rights-based,” notes from the team of EENCE Working Group “Human Rights in Citizenship Education”.
A distinctive feature of the initiative is the involvement of experts from different Eastern Partnership countries, who will provide consultations in local languages and take into account the specificities of national contexts. The project will also contribute to the development of a community of practice bringing together professionals working to integrate human rights into civic education and to exchange successful experiences across the region.
The project “HRBA in Action: Strengthening Civic Education Through a Human Rights-Based Approach in the Eastern Partnership” is implemented by the Democratic Initiatives Incubator NGO (Ukraine). The project is funded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung/bpb, Germany) in collaboration with the Eastern European Network for Citizenship Education.