United Nations General Assembly A/RES/58/181 Distr.: General 17 March 2004 Fifty-eighth session Agenda item 117 (b) Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 22 December 2003 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/58/508/Add.2)] 58/181. United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, 1995–2004 The General Assembly, Guided by the fundamental and universal principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1 Reaffirming article 26 of the Universal Declaration, which 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 recalling the provisions of other relevant international human rights instruments that reflect the aims of the article, Recalling the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights concerning the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, 1995–2004, Believing that human rights education constitutes an important vehicle for the elimination of gender-based discrimination and for ensuring equal opportunities through the promotion and protection of the human rights of women, Convinced that human rights education should constitute a comprehensive, lifelong process by which all people learn respect for the dignity of others and the means and methods of ensuring that respect in all societies, Convinced also that every woman, man and child, in order to realize their full human potential, must be made aware of all their human rights and fundamental freedoms and the corresponding responsibility of States, Recognizing that human rights education is essential to the realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms and that carefully designed training, dissemination and information programmes can have a catalytic effect on national, regional and international initiatives to promote and protect human rights and prevent human rights violations, _______________ 1 03 50544 Resolution 217 A (III).