Human Rights Day 2008
3. How has international human rights developed?
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) is considered a useful starting point for research in international human rights law. Many other treaties and conventions have been agreed to since then. There have also been many human rights issues raised around the world.
Research
Use your research skills to find out more about the history of international human rights from 1948 onwards. Identify ten - fifteen significant events.
Some places to start are:
International human rights conventions
Awards and ceremonies that recognise human rights achievements
Key people that have lobbied for change
Changes to law and policy in Australia for the benefit of all
The following list of links might be useful:
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission - http://www.humanrights.gov.au
United Nations Cyberschoolbus - http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/res.html
Amnesty International - http://www.amnesty.org/
Human Rights Watch - http://www.hrw.org/
Human Rights Internet - http://www.hri.ca/
The Human Rights Council of Australia - http://www.hrca.org.au/
Australian Human Rights Centre - http://www.ahrcentre.org/
Universal Rights Network - http://www.universalrights.net/
Create a timeline
Design a human rights timeline (either in your group or on your own). Consider the following design elements before you start:
Spatially – how will you set out your timeline on the screen/page so
it best conveys your information?
Textually – how much textual information will you include? Try to
summarise the information about each point of your timeline to convey the most
important facts.
Visually – how will you incorporate colour, pictures and other means
of visual information? Have you got sample designs to guide you?
Be creative in your choice of media. As long as the important facts are there, your timeline could be presented as a:
Power Point presentation
web page
photographic essay with captions
play
a piece of journalism
artwork
Be selective about the information you include in your timeline. For each event, one paragraph of information is generally enough.
Class discussion
As a class, discuss what you’ve discovered about the history of international human rights. Make a case for the information you’ve discovered – explain why each event/development is important. Listen to your classmate’s selections.
Is there an event you left out?
Make notes about major
events/developments that you didn’t include in your timeline that perhaps
others did.
Human rights in Australia
Are some events more significant for certain groups of people? Are some
events more significant in Australian history than others?
Discuss the
relevance of each idea to the development of human rights in Australia.
Add a ‘layer’ or ‘thread’ of events/developments relating to human rights in Australia to your timeline. Make it clear if they are directly or indirectly linked to international developments in your design. For example, Australia becoming a member of the UN in 1945 has a ‘direct’ link to our progress in human rights.
Human rights heroes
Collect a series of images for a display on human rights heroes.
Every day different people work tirelessly to promote, protect and respect human rights. Every year the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission recognise human rights advocates at the annual Human Rights Medal Awards ceremony (see www.humanrights.gov.au/awards).
Identify ten images of human rights heroes that you think deserve to be on your display. Use the scaffold below to explain why each of your ten should be nominated. (This could be presented using Power Point or on your own school wall display).
For definitions on human rights see humanrights.gov.au/education/hr_explained/.
(insert image of person) |
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Author (of photo/image) |
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Person in image (human rights advocate) |
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Context (when and where) |
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Content (message in image) |
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Justification (why you chose it) |
Human rights image library
Collect a series of images for a display on the importance of protecting human rights.
Throughout history many photographers and artists have captured images that reflect various human rights issues. Identify ten images that highlight the importance of protecting human rights in Australia.
Use the scaffold below to explain why each of your ten has been chosen. (This
could be presented using Power Point or on your own school wall display).
(Insert image) |
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Author (of photo/image) |
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Title |
|
Context (when and where) |
|
Content (message in image) |
|
Justification (why you chose it) |
Word Format.
