Resources

Compass was first published in 2002 within the framework of the Human Rights Education Youth Programme of the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe. The programme was created because human rights education – meaning educational programmes and activities that focus on promoting equality in human dignity – was and remains of incalculable value in shaping a dimension of democratic citizenship for all young people and in promoting a culture of universal human rights.

Compass has become a reference manual for many young people involved in value-based youth work and non-formal education. It is currently available in more than 30 languages, ranging from Arabic and Japanese to Icelandic and Basque. In some countries it has become part of the resources for human rights education in schools and in some others it is not possible to use it in schools. The adventures of Compass across Europe often mirror the contrasted reality of human rights education: promoted here and combated there, praised by some and despised by others.

The success of Compass has been followed by its younger sibling, Compasito – a manual for human rights education with children is already available in several languages and on the way to becoming another bestseller for human rights education. More importantly, Compass and its publication in various language versions has been the medium through which human rights education has been brought onto the agenda of youth work and into the programme of many schools. National networks for human rights education have been created in several countries, where they reinforce the work done by human rights organisations and educational professionals in making the right to human rights education a reality to more children and young people across Europe. The forum on human rights education with young people, Living, Learning, Acting for Human Rights, held in Budapest in 2009, stressed the importance of human rights education today.