After the Second World War, many world leaders were highly motivated to put a stop to the horrors of war and violence by a means of a joint effort. The United Nations was founded and soon after, in 1948, the famous Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted. Thinking about human rights was not in itself new, but it was brought to an international level for the first time by this epoch-making document. The Universal Declaration was mainly about civil and political rights, such as the right to freedom of opinion and freedom of religion. The declaration formed the basis for two binding treaties between the UN member states: one about civil and political rights, and later, one about economic, social and cultural rights (such as the right to food, education and housing).

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still often cited as a benchmark by which governments or international companies can be called to account for their conduct. But there is also much debate about human rights. Are they applicable and enforceable at all times and all places? Do the collective rights of peoples, such as the right to self-determination or the right to liberation from oppression and colonialism, also belong to human rights? And especially: are human rights experienced in the same way in different cultures? How universal is the current formulation of human rights in actual fact; does it represent a Western system of values or is it a matter of universal legitimacy?

Whatever the case may be: human rights are an extremely important theme in international society. They are coinfluential in global politics and in the work of many social pressure groups. The UN's millennium goals in which 189 global leaders have committed their nations to tackle poverty amongst other development goals are linked with economic and social human rights.

In global citizenship education it is essential to learn and think about human rights. They stand for fundamental values, such as the equality of all people, justice and the fundamental right of each individual to freedom and to development opportunities. What is the link between one.s own behaviour, for example as a consumer, and human rights elsewhere in the world? Where does our government stand on human rights and what do we think of this? What can we do to improve the human rights situation internationally?

Three aspects have been selected to illustrate the theme of human rights:

• Commitment to the observance of human rights worldwide, through the action of international organizations and governments and through individual behaviour. Human rights must be guarded and fought for. Window chosen: Amnesty International.
• Violations of what we now regard as human rights in the course of international history and the historic development of the struggle for human rights. Window chosen: the Amsterdam monument to slavery.
• Socio-economic rights and the support that can be offered via development cooperation to honour such rights. Window chosen: education in Kenya.