HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Forum on Minority Issues Geneva, 15-16 December 2008 STATEMENT on the Recommendations on Minorities and the Right to Education by: ANA ELZY E. OFRENEO Director IV, Human Rights Education and Research Office and Director-in-Charge for Indigenous Peoples Commission on Human Rights, Republic of the Philippines Madame Chair: Since this is the first time that I am taking the floor, allow me to first congratulate you for chairing this pioneering Forum on Minorities and the Right to Education. Allow me further to express my appreciation to Prof. Gay McDougall, our Independent Expert on Minority Issues, for all her initiatives and works on the theme. Allow me finally to thank the organizers of this Forum, especially the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, for inviting our national institution, the 21-year old Commission on Human Rights (or CHR) of the Philippines, to participate in this very important meeting. INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS FRAMEWORKS AND CORE PRINCIPLES As you probably know, the Commission on Human Rights spearheaded the just concluded 60-day celebration in the Philippines of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We mobilized all State and non-State institutions, including cultural organizations such as film makers, to undertake meaningful commemorative activities. Discussion on the international and regional human rights frameworks and core principles has always been part of our awareness-raising campaigns. We may put in our Concluding Recommendations the following provisions on human rights education from all our core human rights instruments, to wit: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Art. 26