16 - Peace Justice and Strong Institutions

is part of international network of anti-trafficking organizations devoted to protect children and end their commercial sexual exploitation. Among its many programs ECPAT-USA works with schools to train students to be advocates in their communities, educating them on the facts, misconceptions and risks of trafficking. https://www.ecpatusa.org

The Transformative Power of Children and Families. Edited by James F. Leckman, Catherine Panter-Brick, and Rima Salah

This short film is based on a rhythmic poem by Jenifer Toksvig. Jenifer was inspired by stories and first-hand testimonies from refugees forced to flee their homes and items they took with them. The film is based on a rhythmic poem entitled ‘What They Took With Them’ by Jenifer Toksvig. UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett is joined by actors Keira Knightley, Juliet Stevenson, Peter Capaldi, Stanley Tucci, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kit Harington, Douglas Booth and Jesse Eisenberg, and writer Neil Gaiman, to perform a spoken word poem in support of the #WithRefugees campaign. 5:25

Jeffrey Sachs is director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and advisor to the UN Secretary-General on the Sustainable Development Goals. This book is an impassioned diagnosis of the US's economic ills, and an urgent call for Americans to restore the core virtues of fairness, honesty and foresight as the foundations of national prosperity. It has been rated one of the year’s best books by Publisher’s Weekly and the Guardian, and he was called by the NY Times Magazine, "probably the most important economist in the world." See also his The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. (Both are available on Amazon.)

http://www.colorincolorado.org/booklist/refugee-experience-books-children

Adult. Reflects on progress in the last 40 years on improving conditions for children in the US in such areas as health insurance coverage, increasing adoptions etc. Available through the Children’s Defense Fund

An onlinr, easy-to-read magazine covering a range of UN activities, suitable for high school and above.

Aims to unfold the path to zero nuclear weapons through the accomplishments and current initiatives of various UN bodies, including the General Assembly, Security Council, Secretary-General, Office of Disarmament Affairs, International Court of Justice, Human Rights Council and others.

UNICEF High School Clubs are student-driven, and partner with the US Fund for UNICEF to educate, advocate and fundraise for children in 150 countries in the world. Clubs produce benefit concerts, write letters to elected officials, participate in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF and UNICEF Tap Project campaigns and write school newspaper editorials. Club members can also attend national conferences to share ideas about child survival and human rights issues.

Takes students on a journey where their everyday activity is connected to real-world impact.

Publishes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the rights of the child, refugees, and core UN Human Rights treaties; provides teaching materials for children, primary and up; including the ABC: Teaching Human Rights.

To abolish nuclear weapons and foster global attention to the rule of law, they run an annual poetry contest on visions of peace in three categories: adult, youth 13-18, and age 12 and under. Winners are published in Waging Peace, their quarterly report. On or around Aug. 6th, the anniversary of Hiroshima, they have a commemorative Sadako Peace Day, with music, poetry and reflection at La Casa de Maria Peace Center in Montecito, CA. (See also Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes above.) http://www.wagingpeace.org

The second episode of Omar’s journey as told in the video Life on hold. He’s about to leave the Choucha refugee camp at the Tunisian border and fly to a new life in Sweden. The short documentary films the young man’s arrival at the airport and the first steps of his resettlement in the country.  7:53

The role of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict is to strengthen the protection of children affected by armed conflict, raise awareness, promote the collection of information about the plight of children affected by war and foster international cooperation to improve their protection. Reports yearly to the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council and raises challenges faced by children in war to political bodies, such as the UN Security Council, as well as relevant Governments to maintain a sense of urgency amongst key decision makers as well as to secure political and diplomatic engagement.

A program of Stanford University’s Institute for International Studies, SPICE specializes in teacher seminars focusing on contemporary issues in the context of culture and history. The site offers over 100 curriculum units on Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the global environment, and international political economy. Materials feature primary source images and texts, and are downloadable, free of charge. http://spice.stanford.edu

Differentiates between refugees, the internally displaced, and migrants. Their Teacher Resources include games, lesson plans, learning activities, online quizzes, photos, animated and live films created by HCR and Amnesty International, and personal stories, from WWII to the present. Easy to access activities for 21 European languages, and all age levels. They also have a great poster of upturned faces in a refugee boat titled "The only thing stronger than fear is hope."

A guide to understanding the convention and child rights in general

A national program of the designed for 5th and 6th grade educators and library media specialists to integrate the teaching of tolerance into their school’s curriculum. Likewise, their Tools for Tolerance for Teens targets middle and high school students. For those unable to experience the museum directly, Bridging the Gap reaches young people across the country through video-conferencing.

Ratified by 145 States, it is the key legal document defining who can be called refugees, their rights, and the legal obligations of governments to protect them.

The Global Goals Teaching resources originating in the UK aiming to bring the SDGs to every classroom in the world. Includes lesson plans that can be customized, case studies and background information. Explains how the global dimension fits into the school curriculum and how it can be taught through every subject. http://www.globalgoals.org

Formerly known as the Education for All Global Monitoring Report this is an editorially independent, authoritative and evidence-based annual report published by UNESCO. Its mandate is to monitor progress towards the education targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) framework

Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, they welcome volunteers, and work in over 40 countries and 26 US cities. One of their most recent efforts is a partnership with Sesame Workshop, the education arm of Sesame Street. By adapting already existing Muppets programs in culturally appropriate ways, they are working to develop pre-school content to help heal the youngest. You can also go on the IRC website to read the moving stories of the 10 greatest champions of refugees, write to thank them and use their products.

Produces original investigative journalism to make institutional power more transparent and accountable; reports on topics such as toxic deception, money interests behind presidential candidates, the black market on animals, the business of war and more.

Challenges students to define culture, recognize differences in perception among cultures and question assumptions. Activities vary in age appropriateness from gr. 3-12.

Named after the North Star that guided American slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad, envisions, as its mission, a world without slavery. It does so by successfully pushing for stronger federal and state legislation, operating the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline 888-373-7888, conducting training programs and providing vital services to victims of trafficking. http://www.polarisproject.org

Uses the life, struggles and work of Nobel laureates as role models for children. Program is divided into five groups: Jrs.ages 5-11 explores the childhood of 13 Nobelists; Leaders ages 11-14, explores their adolescence; Ambassadors ages 14-19, confronts issues of peace, violence and social justice in the work of Nobel laureates; Juvenile Justice Programfor youth in prison, addresses issues of gangs, drugs, alcohol, etc. and works toward anger control, reconciliation and leadership; Scholars Program ages 18-25, for those who serve as mentors for participants at Peace jam Youth Conferences. They study international issues connected to the work of Nobel laureates, and are given opportunities for service and research. In addition, Peace Jam is available for presentations: write to jes@peacejam.orgor download a presentation request form from their website.

Deeply committed to promoting peace and abolishing war, they publish a newsletter- Peace Matters, and provide Peace Lessons from Around the World for high school students and beyond, guidelines for creating a peace lesson, as well as Learning to Abolish War: Teaching Toward a Culture of Peace, and Peace and Disarmament.

Chronicles the two -year journey of British filmmaker Jeremy Gilley to convince world leaders and the UN to create a specific date for an annual global ceasefire (Sept.21st).

Their goal is to shift the collective unconscious from a fear-based military culture to one grounded in faith and justice. One initiative is their "I will not kill" youth movement against gun violence and war. They supply videos, a fellowship magazine "Witness", a newsletter, a blog, books, pamphlets, greeting cards, postcards, music and films on the theme of peace.

A not-for-profit organization that uses the arts (specifically music and theatre) and Skype in the Classroom to foster cross-cultural understanding by connecting students in US middle and high school foreign language classes, including Arabic and Chinese, with their counterparts in other countries who are studying English. Each group writes a play in the language they are studying. It is then sent to the partner country where students perform it in their own language.

A graphic and moving portrayal of what war feels like to real people and why ending it is of utmost urgency; 1/31/14. (11 min.)

An outreach initiative of ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development), Whole Child works on behalf of institutionalized children around the world, with caregivers in orphanages to bring up children who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported and challenged. Their pilot project, begun in 2006, is in Nicaragua. ASCD is a membership organization providing annual conferences, including a virtual conference, a blog, books, videos, and a newsletter with daily briefings on top stories in K-12 education, latest information on learning and instruction, and weekly updates on policy issues.

A non-profit organization based in NY, with affiliates in Africa. Their mission is "Local Change Through Global Exchange," empowering youth to become positive agents of change in their communities. They offer leadership training and support partner initiatives, one of which enables container donations from the US of books, IT, sports equipment and medical supplies to be sent to Africa.

— A good introduction for middle and secondary school students colorful, informative, many visuals an excellent resource for teachers as well. Part of the School Kit provided by the Public Inquiries Unit, Dept. of Public Information, United Nations, NY, NY 10017. 212-963-4475. E-mail: inquiries@un.org; For online info on the UN Charter, go to http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter; for the UN flag go to http://www.un.org/en/maps/flags

Provides resources for high schools on the history and legal concept of genocide, downloadable lesson plans on the violence in Darfur and Rwanda, and an annual film festival.

Samantha Power, former US ambassador to the UN, is eloquent on the subject of refugees. Here is her 2016 speech at the US Institute of Peace.

This program addresses issues such as climate change, sustainability, world health, poverty and human rights. In addition they offer cultural excursions, internships, study abroad, service projects and activities at the UN.

A platform for a community of businesses and consumers to buy better through the use of their supply chain transparency tool called FRDM®. We started in 2011 by partnering with the United States State Department to build the world’s first ever Slavery Footprint platform, combining product data with consumer purchase data to provide footprints to close to 30 million people worldwide.

Builds networks of integrated schools and shared communities throughout the country. (See the media section for their film Bridge Over the Wadi). Also provides ideas about starting a hand-in-hand group in your community, hosting an educational event etc.

Of interest to teachers is their e. They offer a textbook series in workbook format called "Discovering the Real Me" for grades k-12.

Abbreviated version of the CRC in child friendly language. Illustrated. Also available in other languages

Links to child friendly versions of the CRC in different languages, resources for educators, media guides;

The complete document, adopted by the UN General Assembly 20 November 1989, and put into force 2 September 1990. Available from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights which has units on the CRC for different age levels, in addition to a great number of other units on global issues which can be customized to appropriate ages