The 48th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC48) took place mostly online from 13 September to 11 October 2021. Elisa Gazzotti of SGI, as Chair of the NGO Working Group on Human Rights Education and Learning, prepared and delivered an oral statement during the general debate. It emphasizes the role of human rights education in closing the existing gaps between the objectives set in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training (2011) and reality. The statement reads, in part: “Looking at the continuous human rights violations today, it is key to prioritize human rights education, to mitigate distorted information, enhance the response to violations and increase access to and protection of rights.” In addition, SGI co-signed an oral statement that was delivered by Amnesty International.

On 29 September, a High Level Panel (HLP) was held on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Declaration. During the HLP the story of Irfaan Mangera, a young human rights educator from South Africa, was previewed from the “Stories of Young Human Rights Educators: A Multimedia Educational Tool” project that is being co-produced by Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Amnesty International and SGI.