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Assembly: 'How young people can create change'
- 2. 2 Can young people create big change in the world?
- 3. 3
- 4. 4
- 5. 5 “Education to us wasn’t just maths, science, history, it was understanding ‘who do I want to be when I grow up? Where do I want to go? Who do I want to be like?’ That is all shut down now, and all you can imagine is day to day survival, and all you can see is this endless war. Without school, my whole future changes. Without school there is no hope.” - Sara, 12 years old, Yemen
- 6. 6 Today we’re going to think about one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a child : Yemen.
- 7. 7 Yemen is a country in the Middle East, to the south of Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia
- 8. 8 Yemen is now the largest humanitarian crisis in the world 20.7m people in Yemen need humanitarian assistance. Half of them are children. That’s 82% of the population!
- 9. 9 Children are victims of Yemen’s war
- 10. 10
- 11. 11 “I was working near to the Ministry of Education when it happened. A group of GCSE age students had their exams coming up. Their school had recently been bombed and lessons had been suspended. Amazingly, they had come to the Ministry of Education with a teacher, to find a safe space to revise quietly. I was there when the bombs fell. 14 children and their teacher were killed, and the building was in pieces. These are children that have the same everyday worries about exams, friends, and boys/girls as UK teenagers. All they wanted to do was revise for their exams. They have no part in this war, yet they were targeted. What is happening in Yemen, with the bombing of children represents a new low for humanity. We need to stand up for Yemen’s children, because nobody else is.” - Mark Kaye, Humanitarian worker in Yemen, Save the Children
- 12. 12 91% of people harmed or killed when explosive weapons are used in towns and cities had nothing to do with the war. About half of these are children.
- 13. 13 There are lots of countries and groups involved in the conflict in Yemen. The UK is not involved in the war directly. However we do sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, who are part of the conflict. These weapons are being used to kill and injure children.
- 14. 14 So what can we do?
- 16. 16 Campaigning is : 1) Using your voice to speak up for what you believe is right. 2) Acting together to influence key decision makers to bring about change.
- 17. 17 Young people are using their voices to create change - right now!
- 18. 18 Your MP is your voice in parliament Theresa May Prime Minister Your MP Boris Johnson, Foreign Office Penny Mordaunt, International Development
- 19. 19 Stand up for Yemen’s children
- 20. 20 Our voices are being heard! We campaigned to get the Saudi Arabian coalition on a United Nations list of groups who have committed crimes against children.
- 21. 21 We’re making progress on Yemen Young people have been raising their voices about the blockade in Yemen, and people are taking notice. Save the Children campaigners gathered outside Parliament to demand action from the UK government on the Yemen blockade… …130 empty dinner plates were arranged on the ground to represent the number of children dying each day… …Many of these plates featured messages from British school children to the UK government. With young people’s voices joining this campaign, the UK government can no longer ignore this crisis and are being forced into action. Thanks to children like you!
- 22. 22 Hopefully this will make the UK govt listen to us and reconsider… ….but we need to keep standing up for children in Yemen
- 23. 23 Take Action! Yemen Crisis Appeal September 2017
- 24. 24 There are lots of different ways you can campaign! Tweet your MP Postcard Video Write a letter Write an article Short play Create a meme Photo diary Poem Hold an assembly Write a song Flash mob! Artwork Photo stunt Poster Meet your MP
- 25. 25 Use your voice to tell the UK government to stop selling bombs that are dropped on Yemen’s children ● One thing you have learned today ● Your wish for Yemen’s children
- 26. 26 Can young people create big change in the world?
- 27. 27 Want to do more to help children in war? ●Take your campaign to your school or community! ●Learn more about Children’s Rights and how you can create change ●Campaigning ●Fundraising
Editor's Notes
- Disclosure: Firstly, I’d like to say that we are going to talk about some big problems going on in the world today, and how we can do something about them. If there’s anything I say that worries you, please do take a second to step outside, get some air, and you can talk to a teacher or pastoral support team afterwards. Hands up - Yes / No? Opening Statement: It’s easy to feel powerless in the face of this conflict. However, today, on International Day for Disaster Relief, we are going to think about what we can do, as young people, to change the world for the better.
- Question to pupils: How do you feel when you see this image? Does it feel familiar? Expect answers like: “boring” / “Monday morning” / “normal” Do you want to be going into that school?
- Question to Pupils: How do you feel when you see this image? Does it feel familiar? Do you want to be going into that school? What can we do to change this? This is actually a picture from a school in northern Yemen, where there is a war. It is important to note that even in wars, there are clear rules that schools and hospitals should not be bombed, and civilians and children should not be attacked. In Yemen, as you can see, these rules are clearly being abused, and children are suffering as a result. I’ll come back to this image in a little bit, but I just wanted to get us to reflect on the reality of school for children living in warzones.
- Sara*, 12 (blue headscarf in the next slide), is from Haradh district in Hajja, northern Yemen. She and her family had to flee their home when the conflict escalated and airstrikes targeted Haradh; she has now been out of school for almost 2 years. She looks forward to going back home, to her original school and to fulfilling her dream of becoming a police officer. When schools close Maybe this doesn’t feel like such a bad thing for a couple of days, even a week, over the summer holidays, but imagine if you can’t go back for longer than that. You actually forget about your own future, so you actually forget that another future is possible. Think about what you’re doing if you’re not going to school in Yemen; you’re not playing with friends in the park, playing sports or arts or video games. Education is actually much more than maths, science, history. It is a route towards: “who do I want to be when I grow up?”. “where do I want to go?” “what do I want to do with my life?” That is now all shut down, and all you can think about is day-to-day survival, and all you can see is this endless war. If you take education, and hopes and dreams away from children, they actually begin to emulate what they see around them. In places like Syria, what children see around them and on the streets is lots of men fighting, some horrible things that children should never have to witness. Without an education, your whole future changes. We asked children affected by crisis what matters most to them. 99% said education….
- We’re now going to think about the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, and one that is in the news right now, where the highest amount of children’s rights are violated because of war. We don’t have videos of these children, because the war means it’s not safe for journalists and cameramen to travel freely in Yemen, but they do exist, and we don’t want their suffering to continue unnoticed.
- Background on Yemen: •Before the conflict started, Yemen was already the poorest country in the Arab world •54% of the population were already living in absolute poverty •The average girl stayed in school until age 9 •Lots of political conflicts with different groups in disagreement. This led to a war starting in March 2015
- Humanitarian assistance is providing the basic things that we need to survive when we are at our most desperate and have lost everything: enough food to eat, water, shelter, medical supplies. Many ports have been blocked – The conflict has directly impacted upon schools and hospitals blockades preventing vital supplies from entry to support those remaining in the country. Around 6,000 people have reportedly been killed 747 children killed and over 1,100 wounded 168,000 people have fled the country - The continuing violence and lack of aid getting into the country has pushed thousands to seek refuge in neighbouring countries, with over 2,500 Yemenis refugees fleeing across the Red Sea to Somalia alone. 2.5 million are internally displaced These are the confirmed figures – with the situation continuing, they could be higher. Activity: 82% of the population need humanitarian assistance - 10 children in the front row stand up. These 10 represent Yemen. 2 of the 10 have access to some food, shelter, and water. The rest of you are left with nothing. How does that feel?
- 30 seconds onwards. 30-3.27 OR 2.21-3.27 i.e. 2 minute duration
- Teacher to read out: “I was working near to the Yemeni Ministry of Education when it happened. A group of GCSE age students had their exams coming up. Their school had recently been bombed and lessons had been suspended. Amazingly, they had come to the Ministry of Education with a teacher, to find a safe space to revise quietly. I was there when the bombs fell. 14 children and the their teacher were killed, and the building was in pieces. These are children that have the same everyday worries about exams, friends, and boys/girls as UK teenagers. All they wanted to do was revise for their exams. They have no part in this war, yet they were targeted. What is happening in Yemen, with the bombing of children represents a new low for humanity.” Mark Kaye, Humanitarian worker in Yemen, Save the Children
- Student to read out
- Most people don’t know that even whilst the UK government sends Aid to the children of Yemen, it is selling bombs to the Saudi Arabian coalition that are being dropped on children and fuelling the conflict. Save the Children is calling on everyone to stand up for Yemen’s children, and ask the government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia. See Yemen Information sheet for more info. See ‘Made in Britain’ clip for information on the UK involvement in the war.
- Give the students these definitions - or ask for some suggestions about what they think campaigning is before giving the definitions dependent on prior knowledge/understanding Notes: Charities like Save the Children do lots of campaigning to fight for the rights of children like Saja around the world. ((However we can’t campaign without fundraising, so raising money for charity is still really important in creating long term change.)) *NB. It is a key part of creating that longer term change but also creating change in future.
- Give the students these definitions - or ask for some suggestions about what they think campaigning is before giving the definitions dependent on prior knowledge/understanding Notes: Charities like Save the Children do lots of campaigning to fight for the rights of children like Saja around the world. ((However we can’t campaign without fundraising, so raising money for charity is still really important in creating long term change.)) *NB. It is a key part of creating that longer term change but also creating change in future.
- You might think that young people can’t create change, but we’re going to show you that young people are using their voices to create change right now (worksheet). Indeed, in the General Election this year, it was thought that the mass turnout of young voters influenced the outcome of the election. It was the highest number of 18-25 year olds to vote since the 1997 election 20 years ago. http://vimeo.com/154096501 - Use 03.22-05.45 OR SEE VIDEO LINK Students to spend 2 minutes after the video asking the class for answers to the questions: What problem are they trying to address? Who has the power to create the change? How many children are involved? What do you think makes this a successful campaign? (Answers we want to prompt are: Identifying who has the power to make the change, acting as a movement, using their voice creatively to make their message stand out, the fact that they are children standing up for other children’s rights around the world.) How many children are involved? What have they done to make this a creative campaign? Which powerful people are the children ‘targeting’ with this campaign? Additional teacher notes on this campaign - why was it successful? 1.Makes sense – children speaking out about children’s issues (that education is important for all children) in an education setting – adds real value 2.Led and OWNED by children (sixth former presenters) thus more powerful 3.Successful! Campaigned for UK govt to put £330m into Education Cannot Wait fund. Nearly 100 MPs contacted and succeeded in pressuring govt to put money into pot badly needed for refugee education.
- Teacher note: you may feel that your students have a good grip on this area already and therefore don’t need to cover this in great detail Q. Ask the students if they know what their MP does and who they are A. Your MP - Member of Parliament, works for you to raise your needs, questions, issues with key people in government e.g. the Prime Minister or The Foreign Secretary (You know they work for you because the website to find who your local MP is = theyworkforyou.com) :) They are your voice in parliament - they represent you and your community. What do they think their MP does all day? (Present some answers) What do they do for you? Who in their community might they listen to? Reading list: Add guide to MP / Parliament Shown above are: Boris Johnson - Foreign Secretary Theresa May - Prime Minister Priti Patel - Secretary of State for International Development (Head of DfID) (On who has the power: Who is the most powerful person in the UK? Why?)
- Send my Friend to School was last year… Remember we talked about the fact that the UK government sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, and these bombs are then dropped on children. Save the Children wants to do something about that… This year you can get involved in the campaign to protect children in Yemen What we want: We want the UK government to stop selling bombs which are dropped on children We also want the Foreign Office to use its influence to ensure children and their families have unimpeded access to humanitarian aid in Yemen Something which currently isn’t happening.
- We are making progress on this. As you may have seen in the news, the UN Secretary-General has finally ‘named and shamed’ the Saudi Arabia-led Coalition in Yemen for grave violations against children. This is something we have all been campaigning on for over six months, after the Saudis used their political influence to be removed from the ‘Children in Arm conflict report’ last year, despite clear evidence of killing children and attacks on schools and hospitals. This is a crucial victory in stopping the bombing of children in Yemen. The UN has clearly stated that it will not let the Saudi coalition get away with deliberately harming children, increasing international pressure on the Saudis to stop bombing children.
- *130 Children statistic is accurate as of November 2017 “people are taking notice” link - http://www.itv.com/news/2017-11-28/boris-johnson-yemen-facing-human-catastrophe-of-biblical-proportions/
- Now we’ll be making the case to the UK government to that they shouldn’t be supporting states who have been blacklisted for violations against children. Let’s keep standing up for children’s rights all over the world. Together we really can make a difference!
- You can also campaign with us and take action together. Here’s just a few things you could do- Sign and Share our petition to Boris Johnson Increase the pressure on Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, by signing and sharing our petition with your friends, calling on Boris Johnson to protect Yemen’s children and help bring this brutal war to an end. Sign the petition yourself, and share the link with 10 friends and family members, and get them to sign and pass it on to another 10 people. Run a local campaign We want to build a movement of people campaigning on behalf of children in Yemen in their own communities. This means getting out into the local community, highlighting the issues and recruiting new people to the campaign, and getting them to take action with their local MP. Raise money for children in Yemen. We’re working around the clock to help children by: Treating malnutrition and delivering food and vitamin supplements Distributing hygiene kits to stop the spread of cholera and setting up treatment centres and oral rehydration points Supplying communities with safe drinking water, hygiene kits and money for food Giving them safe spaces where they can learn, play, and begin to come to terms with everything they've been through.
- This activity will take up the majority of the rest of the lesson What do your learners want to communicate to their MP about why they think it’s important to Protect Children in War? The slide shows a range of suggested activities so you can tailor the lesson dependent on how much time is left at this point. You can choose which activity best suits your class. FOR ALL ACTIVITIES: Learners to return to your criteria for a successful campaign: As a movement / Using your voice creatively / YP 4 YP (Young People for Young People) / Targeting decision makers In pairs or threes, come up with a powerful message to send to your MP about why every child should have the right feel safe, even in war. Consider: What did you find interesting you about what you’ve learned so far? How did you feel when hearing about Sara’s life? How does it make you feel thinking about protecting children in war? Why do you think it’s important? How could you connect pupils in the UK with the lives of pupils in poorer countries? What do you want to tell the decision maker (e.g. MP)? Statistics / feelings video, Provide links to powerful messages - Extra Activities: Below are a series of quick, simple activities as example campaigning actions if you have 5-10 minutes. NB. One person in the group should have the task of researching your MP - who are they, which party do they represent, what’s their email address, address and twitter handle. What kind of approach might appeal to them? Use this website and put in your school’s postcode to find your MP: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mps/ Give students a choice of activities if they have time: INDIVIDUAL / PAIRED ACTIVITY 1 - Tweet + Image Split the class into groups of 2-3. Half to compose a tweet to send to their MP - how can you communicate the importance of this issue in 140 characters and a hashtag. Half the class to draw a picture, postcard or poster on why they think it’s important to protect children in war. Put the images with the tweet that best corresponds to the image. Look up your local MP here: https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mps/ Find their twitter handle and tweet them – https://action.savethechildren.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=7&ea.campaign.id=60631&_ga=2.32145150.1533642810.1509007889-257003298.1505392041 INDIVIDUAL / PAIRED ACTIVITY 2 - Create a postcard. Write a letter, poem, rap, song on the back about why it’s important to protect children in war. INDIVIDUAL / PAIRED ACTIVITY 3 - Children’s Rights Bunting Every child gets their own StC bunting flag, see template here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B7bx6ksnjdyMdk95SjhocUdxczA On the undecorated side, write or draw “Why do you think it’s important to protect children in war” Connect them with piece of string and ask them to create bunting to hang up around the classroom, corridor, or around the school. OR send directly to your MP, with a cover letter. One group of children can write the covering letter, or teacher can. GROUP ACTIVITY - Group photo Print out the poster here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XCF4GLY1-tLyjboY2ZMVcWR9R5O3HIeDbYbo_ypCpdw/edit Ask all children to write or draw their message around the edge of the poster - why is this message important to them. Take a class photo with them holding the poster. Email, tweet or send it to their MP as a poster or postcard. Speaker note: When this task is complete, you may suggest that the teacher could send them to their local MP or to Save the Children (during pilot/testing phase)
- Optional: Petition - print out in A3 and stick up around the room for children to sign
- Ask children to raise their hands: Yes / No? Hopefully “Yes”
- Chance to galvanise children to go away taking action on behalf of other children: Take your campaign to your school or community! Encourage children to share their findings about children’s rights issues with their classmates and wider school community Fundraising - get involved in Den Day or Christmas Jumper day. (Contact us at Save the Children for more information)