The Nobel Peace Prize

The Founder of the Prizes

·         In the 1890’s, Swedish, Alfred Nobel donated his large fortune to the Nobel Prizes.

·         He dedicated the award to “the Person who shall have done the most or the best work for the fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

·         The United Nations and its secretary-General Kofi Annan were chosen, “...for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world...”

The First Peace Prize

·         Henry Dunant, founder of the Red Cross, shared the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 with Frederic Passy, a leading international pacifist of the time.

·         In addition to humanisation efforts and peace movements, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded for work in a wide range of fields including advocacy of human rights, mediation of international conflicts, and arms control.

Number of Prizes

·         The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to 120 Laureates -97 times to individuals and 23 times to organizations.

The Gender allocation

·         Of the 97 individuals awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 12 are women.

·         Organizations can win the award also. Two examples are:

·           Red Cross

·         Amnesty International.  

More information can be found at http://nobelprize.org

Refugee Activity

Australia’s Refugee Dilemma!

Imagine if....

The following is an example of an imaginary scenario that can be used to encourage students to think about what it means to be a refugee.

Imagine that your mother or father arrives home from work one day and tells you that the police are about to arrive to arrest the whole family, because of your family’s religious beliefs.  You are told to pack a small backpack and be ready in 2 minutes. A family friend drives you overland to Darwin where you climb aboard a yacht. Your parents hand over thousands of dollars in cash. Six weeks later the yacht leaves you on a Japanese beach.  Police arrive and take you to a detention centre which is prison and home to refugees like yourself from various parts of the world, all speaking different languages. Only a few other people speak English.  The guards, canteen staff, doctor etc. all speak Japanese.  Your parents tell you that they are applying for refugee status in Japan, which means you will be allowed to live in the country, go to school there and eventually get a job. 

1.       What would you pack in your backpack?

-Water bottle

-Blanket

-change of clothes (e.g. warm jumper)

-Pictures of family/friends to remember

2.      What would you miss most if you had to leave your home, your school, Australia?

-My house and personal space, freedom, my warm bed, Australian ways of life, the sun, the beach, friends, any family/relatives left behind, dancing, people that speak my language.

3.      What would be some of the problems of living in a detention centre in a foreign country?

-People would not be able to communicate with me and I would not be able to communicate with them.

-Not being familiar with anyone except your family and therefore feeling unsafe.

-The worry of being split up with your family.

4.      What would be the biggest challenges for you if you and your family were accepted as refugees?

-Learning a new language

-Adapting to new ways of life and a new community.

5.      Why is this ‘imagine’ story a very unlikely one?

-Because Australia is a fair and democratic governed country were any religious beliefs are allowed to be practiced without persecution.

The Millenium Development Goals

 

The 8 Millennium Development Goals

1.        When were they formed?

They were adopted by world leaders in 2000 and aim to be achieved by 2015.

2.       Why were they formed?
They were formed to cut world poverty in half, therefore saving lives and giving people opportunities to benefit the global economy.

3.       List them + one target.

Ø  Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

·         Target 1: Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than one dollar a day.

Ø  Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

·         Target 1: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.

Ø  Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

·         Target 1: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.

Ø  Goal 4: Reduce child mortality 

·         Target 1: Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five.

Ø  Goal 5: Improve maternity health

·         Target 1: Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio.

Ø  Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

·         Target 1: Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Ø  Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

·         Target 1: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources.

Ø  Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

·         Target 1: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system.

United Nations- The Declaration of Human Rights

What are human rights?

  Human rights are also there to ensure we develop to our fullest potential. 

Human rights are the rights and freedoms that we all have.

      -  Some human rights are based on our physical    
          needs. The right to life, food and shelter.

      -   Other human rights protect us.

The right to be free from torture, cruel treatment ad abuse.

-  The right to education, work and participation in your community.

Everybody has human rights. It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from, what language you speak or what religion you belong to. You have a duty to respect the rights of others, just as they have a duty to respect yours. Nobody can take your rights away.

Why do human rights matter to me?

Human rights are important to everyone.

In the UK:

·         One in three children are poor

·         One in four children are physically abused

·         One in seven children do not have a proper home

It is vital that all young people know their rights.

Where do rights come from?

Human rights are based on the values of:

·         Dignity (self- respect)

·         Justice (fairness- affected by the legal system)

·         Respect (valuing others)

·         Equality (fair treatment)

Human rights were officially recognised as values by the world when the United Nations was set up.

What is the United Nations?

·    The United Nations (UN) is an international organisation that was established in 1945- the year the Second World War ended.

·    Its founders hoped it would be able to prevent catastrophes like the Holocaust from happening in the future.

·    Promoting human rights became an aim of the UN, along with maintaining international peace and reducing
 poverty.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is the most famous human rights agreement in the world. It contains 30 human rights.

Who wrote the UDHR?

Representatives from: Australia, China, France, Lebanon, the former Soviet Union, the UK and US.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization who aim to assist Global issues such as international security, economic development, world peace and  human rights.

Article 1

All humans are born with equality through dignity, rights and freedom, and should act respectfully towards one another.

Article 3

Everyone has the right to live in freedom and safety.

Article 4

All humans have the right to remain free of slavery and servitude.

Article 5

No one should be treated with cruelty, torture or any form of inhuman punishment.

 Article 13

Everybody has the right to move from country to country as well as leaving and returning from their own country.

Article 15

Everyone has the right to their own nationality and the freedom to change it.

Article 17

Each individual has the right to own a property alone as well as share it amongst others.

Article 19

Everyone has the right to express their own ideas and opinions and explore the ideas in the media.

 Article 20

Everyone has the right to join an association or club without being forced to.

Article 24

Everyone has the right to rest, leisure, holidays and limited working hours.

Village Space Presentation- Climate Change

Climate Change and Science

What was the issue about?

Our globe is surrounded by a blanket of gases which keeps the surface of the earth warm and able to sustain life. This blanket is getting thicker, trapping in heat as we release greenhouse gases by burning fossil fuels for energy. This impacts the world’s climate, therefore creating many changes in weather all over the world.

What is causing the issue?

·         Ice melting in the Arctic.

·         Too much carbon in the air

·         Iceland/West Antarctica ice melting.

·         Sea levels rise.

·         energy output from the sun

·         the greenhouse effect of water vapour and other trace gases

·         volcanic and meteorite activity and plate tectonics (movement of the continents).

Who is affected?

·         The environment

·         Sea animals

·         People in areas all over the world, but in particular 3^rd world countries.

What can be done?

·         Cut down on fossil fuels.

·         Consider using solar power.

·         Turn off lights and appliances when not needed.

·         Plant trees.

·         Set the thermostat lower in winter and higher in summer.

·         Recycle.