BEIRUT: An educational program aimed at “helping children to peacefully coexist” was launched Thursday by three human rights organizations during a news conference at UNESCO Palace.
The program, titled “Play it Fair,” is an educational toolkit aimed at promoting human rights, non-discrimination and peaceful conflict resolution. It is meant to be used with children from ages 6-12, and includes some 60 games to promote and have children discuss human rights principles.
“These games reinforce positive values from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, such as fairness, inclusion, respect, responsibility and acceptance,” said Jean-Sébastien Vallée, from the organization Equitas.
“Play it Fair” was implemented jointly by Equitas – International Center for Human Rights Education, Amnesty International’s regional office and the Arab Network for Human Rights and Citizenship Education.
Vallée said the toolkit was a perfect instrument for children to “play, have fun, and at the same time talk about human rights and respect each other.”
“As part of each activity, children discover and explore a different human rights value and then discuss with other children and educational staff on how to use this value,” he continued.
He said the program, launched in 2006 in Canada, has already been implemented in several cities of Canada, in Indonesia, Jordan and Haiti and had been extremely successful until now. Over 40,000 children now participate in the project every year.
“We noticed a lot of changes in [the attitude of] children; it really made a big difference,” he said, and expressed hope the toolkit would meet the same success in the region.
As part of the program, NGO staff and other professionals working with children will be trained on the toolkit.
Eighteen 18 trainers from Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan will soon take a course in Lebanon on the toolkit.
“This is part of our work to develop tools for human rights education,” said Ahmed Karaoud, the director of Amnesty International’s regional office, who described the implementation of educational tools on human rights as a “main objective” of his organization in the region.
“There is a lack of resources of human rights educational tools in the Arab world and we’re trying to use successful experiences from other countries and to adapt it to our situation.”
In a press release issued by the three organizations, they said they hoped the program “will contribute to peaceful coexistence among children and increased respect for their rights throughout the Middle East and North Africa region.”