Ref: 94/2010

On Thursday, 23 December 2010, the
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Unit of the Palestinian Center for Human
Rights (PCHR) organized a workshop titled “Promotion of Economic and
Social Rights”. It was held in
cooperation with the Parliamentary and Democratic Education Society in Gaza in
PCHR’s Gaza City headquarters. The
workshop was attended by 19 members of the Society.

Mr. Khalil Shaheen, Director of
PCHR’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Unit welcomed the participants and emphasized
that this workshop is part of a larger series of lectures organized by the
unit. These lectures and others like
them are organized by PCHR in coordination with other NGOs in the Gaza Strip.

Mr. Bassam al-Aqra’, Director of PCHR’s
Training Unit, discussed the major concepts of human rights, primarily focusing
on their relationship with the right to education. He addressed the development of human rights
at the international level and the reasons for the adoption of human rights by
the International Bill of Human Rights. Additionally,
he highlighted the concept of the right to education as guaranteed by the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In his presentation titled “The
Right to Education”, Mr. Shaheen tackled the theoretical and normative
framework of the right to education as mentioned in the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, particularly, articles 13 and 14 of the
covenant.

The participants engaged in
discussion, commenting on the reality of education in the Gaza Strip and its
relationship with human rights. One topic of discussion was the role of the
school parliaments in expanding the outlook of pupils in order to promote human
rights in the Gaza Strip’s curricula.