Topic: Non‑governmental organisations protecting human rights

Author: Anna Rabiega

Addressee:

high school / technical school student

Core curriculum:

• old curriculum:

extended level:

38. A global and European system for the protection of human rights.

The student:

7) describes and evaluates the activities of selected non‑governmental organisations dedicated to protecting human rights.

• new curriculum:

standard level:

IV. Human rights and their protection.

The student:

6) identifies non‑governmental organisations dedicated to protecting human rights and characterises the activities of one of them.

extended level:

XII. Human rights and their international protection.

The student:

10) characterises the activities of non‑governmental organisations dedicated to protecting human rights, referring to examples of activities of several of them.

The general aim of education:

The student explains the specificity of human rights and freedoms as well as the basic mechanisms of their protection.

Learning outcomes:

The student:

• analyses the functions of non‑governmental organisations in the field of human rights protection.

• presents the working methods of non‑governmental organisations in this field.

• presents the activities undertaken by a selected international or national non‑governmental organisation in the field of human rights protection.

Key competences:

• communicating in a foreign language,

• digital competence,

• learning to learn,

• social and civic competences.

Teaching methods:

• discussion,

• flipped classroom,

• teaching conversation using interactive scheme, interactive exercises.

Forms of work:

• self‑learning,

• group work,

• whole‑class activity.

Material & equipment needed:

• computers with loudspeakers/headphones and internet access,

• multimedia resources from the e‑textbook,

• interactive whiteboard/blackboard, felt‑tip pen/a piece of chalk.

Lesson plan overview (Process):

Introduction:

1. Before the classes the volunteers read the abstract and prepare a quiz for their colleagues.

2. The teacher presents the goal of the lesson: You will analyse the activity of non‑governmental organisations in the field of human rights protection.

3. Classes conducted using flipped learning method. During one of the previous meetings the teacher divides the class into 6 groups, whose task is to prepare multimedia presentations on:

I. International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent,

II. Amnesty International,

III. Human Rights Watch,

IV. Doctors Without Borders,

V. Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights,

VI. Polish Humanitarian Action.

When preparing the presentation, students use abstract materials such as, among others, interactive schemes and other Internet sources. The students' task is to find (or develop) mainly visual materials (short films, photographs, schemes) and include them in their presentations. Presentations should contain as little text as possible. Each presentation should last no more than 5 minutes.

Implementation:

1. Groups give their presentations –they comment on the visual materials contained in their presentation. They can also ask other students to guess the content of the visual material in the presentation (e.g. what the activities of the organisation shown in the picture consist in).

2. After each presentation, the teacher asks the students who have been the audience to comment on the work of their colleagues: what do they like about the presentation and what could be presented in a different way?

3. The teacher conducts a short discussion on the subject: “Non‑governmental organisations are effective in combating human rights violations”. Willing/selected students present their arguments. At the end of the discussion, the teacher asks one student to summarize the discussion from his/her own point of view.

4. The teacher asks the students to do Exercise 2. Willing/selected students present their proposals for answers. The teacher corrects them if necessary.

Summary:

1. The students selected before the lesson present their quiz related to the topic of the lesson. Students answer the questions. The teacher assesses the participation and involvement of students.

2. Homework proposal:

a. Do Exercise 1. Choose an organisation other than the one you presented in your presentation during the classes.

b. Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise at the end of the chapter.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

NGOs protecting human rights

Apart from legal norms and various institutions, non‑governmental organisations stand guard over human rights. They play an extremely important role in the protection of human rights. Intensive development of non‑governmental organisations in this sector took place in the last 50–60 years.

Non‑governmental organisations exert bottom‑up pressure on individual states and international organisations. In many cases their activities are extremely effective. Today, it is difficult to even imagine the functioning of the system of human rights protection, whether at the national or international level, without the participation of non‑governmental organisations. In many situations they remain the only impartial actors and, unlike the states, they are less likely to be subjected to political or economic pressure. NGOs gather information on human rights violations and then inform the public and relevant institutions about it.

Without the activities of NGOs, we would probably never hear of human rights violations such as torture or secret detention at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In addition, non‑governmental organisations collect valuable statistical data, including the data on executed death sentences. Their tasks also include influencing the education system in individual countries and raising the awareness in the field of human rights.

Non‑governmental organisations (national and international) are very willing to cooperate with government organisations. There are many benefits of this cooperation:

• the possibility of influencing the development of international law in the field of human rights,

• the ability to influence countries that are members of the organisation,

• the ability to influence the organs of the organisation itself,

• the opportunity to present your position and the organisation's achievements.

Thanks to cooperation with government organisations, the third sector has been very successful:

• At the UN's founding conference in 1945, the participation of (at that time not very numerous) NGOs at the UN founding conference in 1945 influenced the implementation of relevant provisions regarding the protection of human rights in the United Nations Charter.

• During the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993, thanks to the activity of NGO activists (especially Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch), a decision was made to establish the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations.

• To a large extent due to NGOs, the International Criminal Court was established.

These are just a few examples of the third sector's activity, thanks to which the standards of human rights protection have improved.

Currently, there are many non‑governmental organisations. Some of them work to make the states comply with a specific law or freedom (e.g. freedom of expression), others have broader goals and work to protect the entire generation of rights. Below are some non‑governmental organisations (international and national) that work for the protection of human rights:

• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement,

• Amnesty International,

• Human Rights Watch,

• Doctors Without Borders,

• Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights,

• Polish Humanitarian Action.