HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 10 DECEMBER 2015



Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December. It commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Many years have passed and unfortunately there is still a long way ahead to guarantee the fundamental freedoms and protect the human rights of all. However, it also has to be said that  there are many organisms and individuals who are working hard to collaborate to protect human rights. Today I would like to write about one of these individuals. Her name is  Benedetta Berti.  She  is  a foreign policy and security researcher, analyst, consultant, author and lecturer. Her work focuses on human security and internal conflicts, as well as on post-conflict stabilization/consolidation (specifically integration of armed groups, democracy/governance and crisis management and prevention).

Today I would like to share one of her video lessons  to start analyzing the complexity of this issue with students. In less than five minutes, Benedetta offers an accurate insight into the limits of the current mechanisms that aim at protecting human rights. She also highlights the need to  update the existing mechanisms if we want to preserve human rights  in the current digital world we live in. 

Therefore, I reckon it would be worthwhile spending five minutes on viewing the video above with students and I suggest  fostering  students'  discussion after viewing it. I hope you will find this lesson plan useful.  


My second proposal for classroom use  is based on  "Blowing in the wind" by Bob Dylan. Composed in 1963, its message is very much alive in 2015. The song includes a string  of provoking questions to make us aware of the fact that the largest cause of human rights violations is mental disconnection  from the reality that affects others: "how many times can a man turn his head, and pretend that he just doesn't see?" 


You can find a simple activity to carry out while students listen to the song here.

Finally, I would like to suggest some other sources that include plenty of resources for classroom use: 



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