Position paper Iceland

[Mpongi]

Delegation from Iceland
Represented by Miha Pongrac

Position Paper for the General Assembly
Human rights education and world economic crisis

Iceland welcomes and firmly supports the need for the discussion about the current global financial crisis and the need for human rights education in the United Nations debate.
Iceland suffered serious consequences because of the global financial crisis. The national currency has fallen sharply in value, foreign currency transactions were suspended for weeks, and the stock exchange has dropped for more than 90%. Already, a severe economic recession is expected. The damage caused in Iceland, did and could furthermore have an affect also in other countries. Iceland is now slowly moving towards economic recovery, but much time and a firm social dialogue will be needed. We still believe that our economic foundations are strong and that we have some resources that could help us overcome the financial crisis and implement the necessary reforms. We see the solution to the current crisis in a prudent fiscal policy under which the fundamentals of the welfare system will be protected, as well as basic services to the community, while at the same time the goal will be to balance state expenditure and income. Also, a fruitful cooperation between all of the states and IMF is needed.
Referring to the topic of Human rights education, Iceland would firstly like to pride itself by saying that we have signed and ratified all of the important international documents concerning Human rights and Human rights education. Iceland is also participating in the Human Rights Education Project, which first started at the UN University for Peace in Costa Rica, in 2003. The objective of the Human Rights Education Project is to develop and distribute human rights materials that promote understanding, respect and enjoyment of human rights in the different regions of the world, particularly in developing countries. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the main topics and documents relevant to international human rights protection. We see this program as an important actor in further Human Rights education. On the other hand, we also believe that Human rights education should start in early stages of childhood (primary and secondary school) so that we could build an environment based on tolerance, equal rights, democratic cooperation, responsibility, concern, conciliation and respect for personal worth.