World Concerns & the United Nations

TOC UN Index We Organize Where Are We Going More & Less Serving The World Equal Dignity & Worth The Peace Process

Where Are We Going grades: 7-9 (ages 12-15) Areas of Study Regional Studies, Contemporary Affairs, Art, Architecture, Writing Skills Themes World Changes Related UN Work The UN as an Instrument for Change Objectives To help pupils to: Widen their interest and curiosity in the world beyond their local communities Become aware of the slow evolution towards a world community and the UN's central part in this movement Suggested Time Three or more class periods Helpful Tools Basic Facts about the United Nations; UN Chronicle; if possible, materials from the United Nations on-line educational service at, the following address: www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus Suggested Procedures To the Teacher The purpose of this unit is to introduce students to the United Nations: first they identify world concerns and then they begin to learn about the work of the UN in these areas. An imaginary (or real) visit to UN Headquarters is used to show the principles and dynamic evolution of the UN and its part in the remarkable world changes of this last half century. World Concerns Have the students form cooperative groups. In their groups, students should reach agreement and select three major concerns facing all people currently. One student in each group should act as a recorder. Recorders for each group will list the findings on the chalkboard. Combine lists and add additional information. The final world concerns list should contain 6-7 topics, such as: population, health, environment, food, natural resources, cultural diversity, conflict and trade. Each group will then decide which one of the concerns they will focus on. After identifying the concern, each group is to research and prepare a group report on the following: which United Nations agency (or agencies) are working to deal with these concerns? some of the current projects of this agency A Visit to the United Nations (Real or Imaginary) If possible, the teacher might plan a visit to the United Nations Headquarters or to the headquarters of specialized agencies, regional offices, or the nearest UN Information Centre. Students should gain an impression of the range of global concerns, learn the UN's principal fields of work (peace, sustainable development, human rights, humanitarian assistance) and perceive what international cooperation can accomplish. If a real visit is not possible, this description of an imaginary visit to United Nations Headquarters is derived from the actual experiences of many school groups. It is described as though seen through the eyes of a student between 13 and 15 years old. You may wish to assign this as a reading or to read it aloud yourself, adapting the season, programme and names so they fit your class's circumstances and adding your own details to make the imaginary visit realistic and exciting. Prior to the reading ask students to complete the handout View the reading Summary-What the UN Means to Me Look again at what you wrote at the beginning. Note here (or in the original text) any ways your ideas may have changed. On the visit I was surprised to discover that _____________________________________________ At the Headquarters I was most impressed by _____________________________________________ I was disappointed in _____________________________________________ I now think that international cooperation _____________________________________________ I would like to learn more about _____________________________________________ Other Ideas The Local Community It is important that this unit's overview-with its vast range of UN concerns and work-be followed with something more focused and closer to the daily lives of your students. This will give them a more balanced and truer idea of UN activities. You may wish to do this by taking up another unit. To people in the bulk of the countries the UN is important not per se but because of the UN agencies' services which better everyday life on the spot. People experience the UN spirit at work through those bodies that have established contacts with the masses rather than with mere governments. Comments Feelings Although a UN visit may not make this apparent, the UN deals with deeply emotional human concerns. Effective international education depends on students' caring about the well-being of often far-off people and happenings which seem to have no relation to their lives. Consequently teachers need to use affective as well as cognitive and behavioral approaches and methods. Hazards Although feelings are necessary to international education, they must always be handled carefully. Teaching about today's greed, waste, and environmental desecration should not compound student's feelings of anxiety and helplessness. Affective techniques in ethnic teaching can lead to intolerance; pride in one's country may be used to motivate war. Feelings, knowledge and positive action always need to supplement one another. Teachers must also watch that such teaching does not turn into advocacy. They can try to bring alive the emotions associated with peace, development, human rights and development and people's need to become involved, but that does not mean convincing the students that there is a single answer to human difficulties. Guilt too is a hazard (see poem below). With current teaching, students so often feel that they carry the blame for historical injustices: slavery, colonialism, racial hierarchies, and even the havoc wrought on countries by the industrial revolution. Their ancestors accepted these horrors as "the way of the world" but today such practices are condemned. Those who have inherited privileges derived from exploitation have special responsibilities. Instead of guilt, they should admit what has been done and why, and act with particular vigor to rectify those wrongs. Self Realization -Priti Rana I saw the hands Hideous hands Hands of a monster. Tearing apart This world. Our world. Scraps of green trees, seas, meadows, snowflakes, raindrops and dewdrops pressed down underneath the finger nails. Gone are we. Gone are our gardens Our streams, Our beaches, Our tomorrows. All gone. But the hands remained, Still itching for more destruction. I saw the hands. The hands... Were mine. My tears fell to nothing Nothing. "Oh mother what have I done?" There was no one left to blame.