Compasito - Manual for human rights education with children (3rd edition updated in 2023)) (2024)

Children are young citizens of the present, living in the 'here and now', rights holders and competent in many issues related to their lives.

Human rights education aims to establish a culture of human rights. Human rights education should have a key role in any educational processes. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child offers an invaluable opportunity for introducing human rights to children. Learning about and experiencing children’s rights helps children to understand what human rights are about, to understand that they are rights-holders themselves, and to adapt and apply their rights in everyday life. These are the key aims of human rights education with children.

Compasito is a manual designed to facilitate the practice of human rights education with children. Its primary users are adults active in formal and non-formal education with children. Compasito provides ideas, inspiration and practical help to explore human rights with children. It looks at children as young citizens of the present and as rights-holders who are competent in many issues related to their life. It builds on children’s motivations, experiences and their search for solutions.

In Compasito, children’s rights are presented within the wider context of human rights as a whole. Thus, universal human rights and children’s rights are jointly presented in such a way that by understanding their own rights, children also understand that all human beings have human rights.

The educational process builds on children’s active participation, by which they learn about human rights and understand human rights issues, acquire skills and abilities to be able to defend human rights, and develop attitudes of respect for equality and dignity.

Practitioners of human rights education will find inspiration and practical ideas in this manual to make human rights education a reality for children and for the benefit of our societies.