My answer to prevention is the integrated holistic learning and dialogue about human rights at the community level. Imagine a world where Six billion inhabitants know and claim and fulfill their human rights; a world where women, men, youth and children learn, reflect and act to achieve civil, cultural, economic, political and social human rights for all…--assuming responsibility to eradicate poverty, violence and marginalization and move the Hierarchal patriarchal system to a horizontal human rights system.

Let us imagine a world truly based on human rights..--on the sanctity of life …-- A world where human rights form the banks of the river where life flows freely…-- A world where all people belong in community in dignity with one another, free of humiliation, participating in the decisions that determine their lives in a creative and productive way.–a world where prevention with in a human rights framework is built in the consciousness of all people… in trust and unconditional love… a world in which each one of us is a mentor and monitors of human rights

Unfortunately, it is a world one can only imagine.Instead, the world we know is a world where people exchange their human rights for survival.. It is deprivation be it physical or emotional - that leads to violence and as we know too well can grow into genocide?Is there an answer beyond analysis of cause and effect? My answer, with great conviction is: let us join to develop through education and learning a common holistic vision of human rights. Let ordinary people learn to understand human rights as a way of life and use the human rights framework as a guideline for economic and social transformation. We have no other option…-- the educational and learning process is an imperative.

It may seem uncomfortable to be optimistic at a conference that examines mass human tragedies that have happened in our own lifetime. Even in attempting to propose a solution one has to be very humble. Yet, believing as I do –from experience of 15 years in the field – that if we abandoned hope we abandon the meaning of life, and that human rights education is about hope that enables us to break through the vicious cycle of humiliation.

In the last 50 years norms and stranded where developed and ratified by most nations to make them a reality for all. Human Rights is a value system we all adhere to, protected by law. They are moral and political. Human Rights are the aggregation of the aspiration of all humanity. But the people for who human rights were enunciated and encoded know virtually nothing about it. I was Mandela who spoke of developing a new political culture based on human rights.

We must acknowledge that each one of us, women and men alike, are born into a world of privileged and underprivileged, of the powerful and the powerless…-- a system where injustice is justice…-- In these prevailing structures of society we are socialized to dominate and exclude others: women/men, minorities/majorities, children/adults, poor/rich. In order to challenge white supremacy, patriarchy, inequality and discrimination in all its forms, our analysis must not only be comprehensive but also provide solutions for a radical change. Based on our experience, the learning about human rights as relevant to our daily lives, is a tool that helps us see how the patterns of oppression shape our ideology and behaviors. Moreover, human rights learning facilitate systemic analysis…--focusing on our commonality as human beings as well as our differences, to view them as joy and not a liability

In order to combat sexism and racism as inter-dependent, we must develop a strategy to reveal and confront the patriarchal core. we must map out the effects of patriarchy and racism so that everyone takes on some responsibility for oppressive behaviors. Our task in preventing genocide is to change the structures that is dominate today in global relations, states, and communities, within the family and among individuals.

We need to identify mechanisms and specificities of oppressive systems and the structures that work within them and to search for a process and tools that will dismantle these existing structures. We want to identify human rights realization Vs. Vs. human rights violations in order to craft effective human rights education strategies. At the same time, we must acknowledge that discrimination and inequality are experienced and interconnected across a wide range of differences: age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, nationality, disability and other status. it is also important to note that oppression also occurs in a variety of settings: family, schools, communities, cities and countries. When genocide occurs all these institutions become a part of the tragedy, yet all these institutions with conviction and the recognition of the dignity of the other, can proactively and meaningfully become the champions of prevention..

Allow me to share with you my definition of who are the human rights educators that can take the people for a journey of hope:

A human rights educator is a person, women or men, who is capable of evoking critical thinking and systemic analysis with a gender perspective about political, civil, economic cultural and social concerns within a human rights framework that leads to action. It is a person who chooses human rights education as a vocation.

Nils Rosemann, a human rights educator sent me the following definition:

“Human rights education means facilitating self-realization through recognition of human rights. Human rights legitimize state authority when they are respected, and they delegitimize state authority when they are violated. Human rights education thus also serves to deconstruct power relationships and replace them with a mutually agreed upon international standard of cooperation and coexistence. Human rights education thus becomes the litmus test of a democracy."

In conclusion; Human rights education and learning is an imperative and must be integrated in all formal, informal and non-formal educational processes. When we examine the tragedies of genocides we can’t but think with great sadness: could we have prevented it and if could how? I do believe very strongly that the learning about human rights across all societies and as relevant to people’s daily lives is a powerful tool for prevention.

When participatory democracy becomes a delivery system of human rights, we may see an end of cruelty and brutality. This can come about through dialogue, outreach, and the internalizing of the fact that we were all born equal in dignity, I have seen it in my own eyes how miracles happen when people realize that they are owners of human rights.

And last but not least: it must be clearly understood that peace is a human right and in essence human rights education must replace peace education. Peace is an aspiration. We can achieve if human rights are present and sustained . Human Rights development will bring about Peace.

Allow me to suggest that you look at our website and learn about our global program for human rights cites where ordinary citizens learn human rights and shape their lives and the development of their city accordingly. http:www.pdhre.org