49 Practical Activities and Methods for Human
Rights Education > Human Rights calendar
Human Rights calendar
The following calendar is a
first attempt to compile a list of days on which people worldwide
celebrate human rights. The key dates have been gathered from
official UN International Days, World Days recognised by NGOs,
anniversaries of historical events and birthdays of some prominent
human rights activists. It is not to be taken as a complete or
definitive list but as a starting point for work with young people.
The activities in chapter three are listed for cross-referencing.
The calendar can be copied and made into a poster to hang on
the wall to stimulate initial interest in human rights issues,
especially as it gives a good indication of their range and variety.
People can be invited to discuss selected issues and also to research
their own local and national key dates. These can then be added
to the calendar to make a resource which is personal to the group.
Each activity in chapter three has been assigned a key date.
Thus it is possible to use the calendar as a tool for developing
a year's human rights education programme. The starting point
of each week or month could be a "topical" activity.
For example on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day you could do the
activity "Front page" (page 135) or on 25 November,
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women,
you could do the activity "Domestic affairs" (page 114).
Alternatively, the group may wish to "take action" by
getting involved with events or activities being organised by
other organisations on those dates, for example with an environmental
group to celebrate Earth Day on 22 April.
If you want some initial ideas for taking action then look at
the "A-Z of Actions"
in the all different all equal education pack. For tips and guidelines
for taking effective action read chapter 3, "Taking
action" in this manual.
Just as the understanding of human rights changes and develops
every year, so should this calendar. The challenge for you - the
users of this manual - is to find new ways of celebrating human
rights every single day of the year.