One such rapporteur, for example, provided a remarkable insight into the human cost of totalitarianism in North Korea. An extensive un human rights operation in Burma, now Myanmar, tracked human rights violations, provided vital information to the world and helped nurture change in that country. Children’s rights is another area that is being actively pursued by human rights bodies and is of relevance to teachers and others in education. The un Convention on the Rights of the Child (uncrc), adopted in 1989, provides the most detailed and comprehensive explanation and protection for the rights of children. It is a remarkable example of human progress in the recognition and better defence of the rights of children. It belongs in every community and in every classroom. There are many more human rights standards that are important for teachers and other education workers. They are too often imperfectly enforced, but nevertheless they are agreed upon standards that represent the best aspirations of humankind. The institutions charged with their defence are important and go beyond governments and the un system. One of the most far-reaching and effective defenders of human, including workers’, rights is the regional human rights institution, the Council of Europe.57 The fight for the freedom of workers, as well as for education and the education profession, are intimately linked to international legal standards and principles. Unfortunately, many international standards for labour and for education are not well known, even by those in the education sector. Even when known, international standards are often ignored or attacked by governments. Education unions and others have a stake in those standards.
57 See https://www.coe.int
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