Human+Rights

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=The Universal Declaration of Human Rights=

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The aim of this Declaration is to prevent atrocities such as the Holocaust for happening again. The Declaration outlines the rights every human being is entitled to. This document is the most translated one in the world.

[|Click here to see the Declaration]

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=Slavery=

Throughout history many people have owned slaves while others have been slaves. A slave is someone who is owned by another person. They have no freedom, no money and no choice. A slave has to do what is asked of him by his master. This could be working in the fields or as a domestic servant. Slaves are punished for not following their master's orders, working too slowly, or attempting to runaway. When we think of slavery today we think of the black Africans who were captured, sold into slavery and taken to the Americas to work on the cotton, tobacco and sugar plantations there.

Slaves that worked in the USA were usually captured and taken from Africa. They would have to walk long distances chained together to get to slave ships. On board the ships they were faced with very harsh conditions. They very little room. Sometimes as many as 500 slaves would be on one ship. The journey from the west coast of Africa to the USA was called the called the Middle Passage. Conditions on board ship were unhygienic and many slaves suffered from scurvy, dehydration and dysentery. Slaves were chained to plank beds with no room to move. They were usually kept in the hold of the ship

. [|A Slave on 3 continents.ppt]

= = =The Stolen Generations=

The Stolen Generations is the name given to the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders taken from their families in Australia between 1909 - 1969. The children were often removed without the consent of the parents or a court order by the Aboriginal Protection Board. This board was established by the government. Under what is referred to as the White Australia policy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were ‘not of full blood’ were made to become part of wider Australian society. The aim was to 'breed out the colour' so eventually there would be no indigenous people left in Australia.

Children were taken from Aboriginal parents so they could be brought up ‘white’ and taught to reject their Aboriginality. Children were placed with institutions and from the 1950s began also being placed with white families. Aboriginal children were expected to become labourers or servants, so in general the education they were provided was very poor. Aboriginal girls in particular were sent to homes established by the Board to be trained in domestic service.

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= Apartheid =

Apartheid was the policy of racial separation that existed in South Africa from 1948 – 1993. Blacks and whites had separate schools, toilet facilities and restaurants. Marriages between blacks and whites were also banned and often jobs were advertised as ‘white only’. After 1950 all South Africans were required to be racially classified into one of three categories: white, black, or coloured. All blacks were required to carry pass books containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas.

Areas were set aside for reserves called homelands where blacks could live. The idea was that they would be citizens of the homeland, losing their citizenship in South Africa and any right of involvement with the South African Parliament. More than 80% of land in South Africa was controlled by white people despite the fact that they made up less than one quarter of the population.

Several challenges to apartheid were made by blacks. These included the Sharpeville massacre in which 69 people were killed and 180 injured after police fired on a crowd of black protesters and Soweto riots which broke out in June 1976 after clashes between protester and South African officials.

[|Apartheid.ppt] [|Apartheid Millionaire.ppt] [|Apartheid Squares.ppt]

=Child Soldiers=

Child soldiers are children under the age of 18 that are a member of or attached to government and non-government armed forces or any armed political group. Child soldiers perform a range of duties including:media type="custom" key="4698209" width="40" height="40" align="right"
 * Fighting[[image:joseph-kony.jpg width="134" height="176" align="right"]]
 * Laying explosives and mines
 * Scouting
 * Spying
 * Acting as decoys, couriers or guards
 * Training
 * Logistics and support functions
 * Portering
 * Cooking and domestic labour

 Most child soldiers are between the ages of 14 and 18. Although there have been cases of soldiers being as young as 9 years old. Some child soldiers have volunteered to enlist as a means of survival in war torn regions or to escape poverty. Others have been abducted or forced to join after seeing family members tortured or killed by government forces or armed groups. Child Soldiers are both boys and girls.

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[|Child Soldiers.ppt] [|Child Soldiers worksheet to g][|o with ppt.doc] [|Click here to watch interview with former child soldier Ishmael Beah] [|Click here to help Cyberdodo rescue the Child Soldiers]

=Child Labour=

In many parts of the world children are used as labourers in various industries such as mining in Africa. Some work with dangerous machinery, others with chemicals and pesticides. Many child labourers work as domestic servants as well. There is about 158 million child between the ages of 5 - 14 working.

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[|Click here to watch Cyberdodo rescue the Child Labourers]

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