United Nations ~ 
International Consultative Conference on 
School Education in relation with 
          Freedom of Religion and Belief,
          Tolerance and Non-discrimination
          Madrid, 23-25 November 2001

The Conference,

a) Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world and all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent;

b) Recalling the United Nations Charter, article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the General Assembly resolution 36/55, dated 25 November 1981, proclaiming the Declaration on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief, which calls for tolerance and non-discrimination while recognizing freedom of religion or belief;

c) Taking into account that serious instances of intolerance and discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, including acts of violence, intimidation and coercion motivated by religious intolerance, occur in many parts of the world and threaten the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion or belief and which often generate armed conflicts and acts incompatible with human dignity ;

d) Reaffirming the call of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights upon all Governments to take all appropriate measures in compliance with their international obligations and with due regard to their respective legal systems to counter intolerance and related violence based on religion or belief;

e) Considering that it is essential to promote understanding, tolerance and respect for freedom of religion or belief and to refrain from using religions or beliefs for purposes incompatible with the United Nations Charter and relevant United Nations instruments as well as to ensure respect of the principles and objectives of the Declaration on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief;

f) Conscious of State responsibilities to reach, through education, the objectives of the United Nations Charter in order to promote international understanding, cooperation and peace as well as respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

g) Recalling the UNESCO Recommendation on education for international understanding, cooperation and peace and education on human rights and fundamental freedoms, adopted by the UNESCO General Assembly at its 18th session, on 19 November 1974;

h) Noting that tolerance involves the acceptance of diversity and that education, in particular at school, should contribute in a meaningful way to ensure tolerance and respect for religion or belief;

i) Recalling the Declaration and Plan of Action adopted by the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance;

j) Recalling that article 26.2 of the Universal Declaration of human rights states that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial, groups and communities;

k) Reaffirming the principles contained in article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, reiterated in the Declaration on the Rights of the Child, and in the Convention on the Rights of the Child ;

l) Further recalling that article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child calls for "the development of the child's personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; [Y]; the development of respect for the child's parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate and for civilizations different from his or her own; the preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin ";

m) Conscious of discriminations against women and of the necessity to ensure effective promotion of their rights and freedoms;

n) Recalling also discriminations against certain groups such as migrants and refugees, and underlining State responsibilities to protect their freedom of religion or belief;

o) Convinced that education in the field of freedom of religion or belief should also contribute to the attainment of the goals of world peace, social justice, mutual respect and friendship among peoples and to the elimination of ideologies or practices of discrimination based on religion and belief;

p) Convinced also that the education in the field of freedom of religion or belief should contribute to the promotion of freedoms of opinion, expression and research as well as to the respect of pluralism and acceptance of diversity;

q) Recognizing that the media have an important role to play for the education of the youth in a spirit of peace, justice, liberty, mutual respect and understanding in order to promote human rights, economic and social progress;

r) Considering that efforts aiming at promoting, through education, tolerance and protection of freedom of religion or belief require cooperation among States, the civil society and all individuals and that non-governmental organizations, groups and communities based on religion or belief have an important role to play in that regard;

s) Welcoming the designation by the General Assembly by its resolution 48/126 dated 20 December 1993 of the year 1995 as the United Nations Year for Tolerance and, by its resolution 53/22 dated 4 November 1998 of the year 2001 as the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations and underlining the importance of the impact that the latter may have on education to tolerance and non-discrimination in the field of religion or belief ;

t) Taking into account initiatives and actions undertaken in different international organizations, namely the United Nations within which the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has launched the Decade on Human Rights Education (1995-2004) as well as many other human rights education programmes, UNESCO which has led programmes on human rights education and peace and has developed a policy of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, and UNICEF which oversees children education programmes in many regions ;

u) In view of the numerous concerns and recommendations on education, expressed in the different reports of the United Nations conventional organs for the protection of human rights and of the Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and particularly the Special Rapporteur on Education, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief;

1. Underlines the urgent need for the promotion, the protection of and the respect for freedom of religion or belief for the strengthening of peace, understanding and tolerance among individuals, groups and nations and with a view to developing cultural pluralism, in particular through education ;

2. Deems that all religions or beliefs have their dignity and value which should be respected and safeguarded and that, in their fruitful variety and diversity and in view of the reciprocal influence that they have on each other they all belong to the cultural human heritage;

3. Considers that young people should be brought up in a spirit of peace, tolerance, mutual understanding and respect for the freedom of religion or belief of others, and that they should be protected against all forms of discrimination based on religion or belief;

4. Deems that each State should establish and apply educational policies aimed at strengthening efforts towards the eradication of prejudices and misconceptions in the field of freedom of religion or belief, with a view to ensuring respect for pluralism and the acceptance of diversity in the field of religion or belief;

5. Deems also that each State should take appropriate measures to ensure equal rights to women in the field of education and freedom of religion or belief and to strengthen in particular girls= right to education, especially for those coming from vulnerable groups ;

6. Condemns all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief and notably those which manifest themselves in school manuals and curricula ;

7. Considers that the following objectives should be regarded as major guiding principles of educational policy in the field of religion or belief:

a) The strengthening of the universal perspective in education and of knowledge in the field of religion or belief at all levels;
b) The knowledge, understanding and respect for all peoples, their cultures, civilizations, values and ways of life, including domestic ethnic cultures and cultures of other nations and particularly the study of the different religions and beliefs while favouring mutual appreciacion of their differences by teaching language and the study of their reciprocal influences with a view to promoting inter-religious understanding and tolerance;
c) The awareness of the increasing interdependence between peoples and nations and the promotion of international solidarity;

8. Deems that States should promote, in school education and eventually in out-of-school activities organized by educational institutions of any nature, the principles and objectives of the present document, in view of the fact that fundamental attitudes are essentially formed at the primary and secondary school stage;

9. Deems also that education should aim the eradication of conditions perpetuating and worsening manifestations of religious intolerance as well as the promotion of understanding and cooperation;

10. Considers also that the attitude of parents is an essential factor for the education of children, and that special attention should be paid to sensitizing, encouraging and supporting parents to fully play their role in education in the field of tolerance and non-discrimination, taking into account the provisions of the Convention on the rights of the child and article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Declaration on the elimination of all forms of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief ;

11. Encourages States and any other body or organism concerned, such as the UNESCO system of associated school, to constantly improve the ways and means of preparing teachers and other educational personnel working in the field of freedom religion or belief to enable them to play their role in pursuing the objectives of the present document, and to this end recommends that States :

a) Provide teachers with motivations for their action by supporting and encouraging commitment to the human rights values and in particular tolerance and non-discrimination in the field of religion or belief ;
b) Prepare teachers, aware of human rights values, to take an active part in devising educational programmes in the field of freedom of religion or belief, bringing about a culture of tolerance and non-discrimination ;
c) Encourage the study of different experiences in education in the field of freedom of religion or belief, especially innovative experiments carried out all over the world ;
d) Provide those teachers and students with opportunities for making direct contact with their homologues of different nationalities, confessions and schools different from their own;
e) Encourage exchanges of teachers and students and facilitate educational study and refresher courses abroad, particularly by awarding fellowships, and recognize eventually such courses as parts of the regular process of training ;
f) Encourage knowledge and research on religions and beliefs in order to promote or reinforce, as appropriate, a comparative approach on religions or beliefs as well as the establishment of specialized organisms in the areas of research and teaching on comparative religions;

12. Encourages States and other bodies concerned to increase their efforts to facilitate the renewal, production, dissemination, translation and exchange of equipment and materials for education in the field of freedom of religion or belief, giving special consideration to the fact that in many countries students receive most of their knowledge including in the field of freedom of religion or belief, also through the mass media outside the school. To this end, action should be on the following lines:

a) Appropriate and constructive use should be made of the entire range of equipment available, from traditional means to the new educational technology, including Internet, as relevant to the field of freedom of religion or belief;
b) Cooperation between States and relevant international organisms as well as media to combat the propagation of intolerant and discriminatory stereotypes in the media and Internet sites;
c) There should be a component of special mass media education in teaching to help the pupils to select and analyse the information conveyed by the mass media on freedom of religion or belief;
d) The introduction in teaching materials of a universal dimension serving as a framework for presenting local, national and international aspects pertaining to religions or beliefs and illustrating their interdependence and complementarity with a view to favouring mutual understanding among different religions or beliefs;
e) The exclusion of any element liable to give rise to intolerance, mistrust, intolerance and discrimination ;
f) The introduction of elements of awareness of the economic and cultural nexus between migration and refugee movements and racism and intolerance, which will result in the appreciation of diversity and the development of tolerance and the protection of the freedom of religion or belief of migrants and refugees ;
g) The establishment of documentation centres offering written and audio-visual material focussing on freedom of religion or belief, devised according to the objectives of the present document and adapted to the different forms and stages of education. These centres should be designed to foster the freedom of religion or belief, especially by developing and disseminating innovative ideas and materials, and should also organize and facilitate exchanges of information with other countries;
h) The adoption of measures targeting the revision of educational materials on freedom of religion or belief, in order to ensure that they are balanced, up to date and unprejudiced and will enhance mutual knowledge and understanding among different groups, peoples, religions or convictions as well as cultural diversity belonging to the cultural human heritage;

13. Deems that States should study, take advantage of, and disseminate experiences acquired by schools and other educational institutions in the world implementing educational programmes in the field of freedom of religion or belief, tolerance and non-discrimination;

14. Also believes that States should promote international cultural cooperation on education, notably by concluding bilateral and multilateral agreements relevant to freedom of religion or belief, based on the wide dissemination of ideas and knowledge, and with a view to creating a conducive climate for tolerance and non-discrimination ;

15. Considers that it is necessary that all parts of society, in particular teachers in school institutions, contribute, both individually and collectively, to the educational policies based on freedom of religion or belief;

16. Encourages all interested parties to join their efforts with a view to taking advantage of the media, and other means for self- and mutual teaching as well as cultural institutions such as museums and public libraries, to provide the individual with relevant knowledge in the field of freedom of religion or belief, stimulate his/her positive attitudes and publicise campaigns and educational programmes in the field of freedom of religion or belief as devised in line with the objectives of the present document;

17. Encourage States to prevent, through relevant measures, stereotyping ethnic, racial, national, cultural, religious or belief altérité and to promote through education impartial and well-balanced representations of others;

18. Invites institutions and organizations within the United Nations system to contribute, within their domain of competence, to the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief, based on the principles and objectives of the present document ;

19. Encourages also all interested parties to endeavour to take advantage of favourable situations and opportunities, such as the social and cultural activities of youth centres and clubs, cultural centres, religious communities, youth gatherings and festivals, events organised in connection with religious festivities, contacts with foreign visitors, students or immigrants and, in general, all exchanges of people;

20. Recommends that States:

a) apply the above-mentioned provisions by adopting, according to the Constitutional practice of each country, measures aiming at implementing the principles, objectives and recommendations formulated in the present document;
b) undescore in their relations with different United Nations mechanisms their contributions for the implementation of the principles, objectives and recommendations contained in the present document;
c) ensure the publication and dissimination of the present document.