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Human Rights Day 2020 - Children’s Rights Are Human Rights
Human Rights Day is celebrated each year on 10 December, the date on which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948. On this day the NEU reaffirms its commitment to fighting for human rights around the world – which are still denied to far too many.
To mark Human Rights Day this year, we were pleased to be invited by the National Education Union (NEU) for an International Webinar to talk about how the Foundation (SSF) is advancing human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals. The SSF works with teachers and educators to deliver projects that ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all.
Thank you to everyone who attended.It was a truly international event to mark Human Rights Day with teachers attending from The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Malawi, the U.K, Northern Ireland and Ireland, resulting in some great ideas to progress Education For All.
The evening started with Jerry Glazier Chair and founding member of the SSF and NEU National Executive member, introduced the history of the Foundation and talked about the work of Steve Sinnott, in which his legacy lives on in the work of the Foundation.
Isata M Kamara talked about our ‘Positive Periods’ campaign which has reached over 60,000 girls in some of the world’s poorest countries, and Marie Antoinette Corr General Secretary of the Gambia Teachers Union (GTU) talked about GTU and SSF working in partnership on rural education.
Ann Beatty Chief Executive of the Steve Sinnott Foundation, explained how the Foundation and their partners have adapted this year to support safe learning during the pandemic and how everyone can do something to support Education for All children everywhere.
Some of the highlights of 2020:
• We have kept over 5,000 children learning in The Gambia through the provision of solar radios.
• Work is nearly complete on our 3rd Learning Resource Centre which is opening in The Gambia in the New year.
• We have sharing learning through online storytelling and setting up the Lifelong Learning webinar series. The partners and teachers we work with are doing amazing work across the globe, and we have been trialling ways to share some of this learning so it’s available to an ever-widening audience. The webinars are carefully selected to support teaching and learning and they may also support building business skills, creativity and wellbeing.
• Our Positive Periods project has had a positive effect on over 60,000 women and girls and we hope it will reach more girls. We are excited to tell you that in Havana they are starting another Positive Periods project with grandmothers teaching their daughters and granddaughters so they get to spend quality family time together too. The Positive Periods project is working in The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Malawi and Cuba and we have more countries waiting.
One thing that the Pandemic has illustrated to everyone is how connected we all are to each other. We do not exist in bubbles, our groups are made up of people in other groups, who are connected to more groups and so on. We have seen not just the virus spread rapidly through a country but also across the world. We are all connected across the world.
It’s the same for education too. If we are able to get access to quality education right in one country, the problems caused by lack of education in other countries are still going to affect everyone globally.
Lack of education, and therefore opportunities, is something we are passionate about changing, we believe that Education is a human right for all children, it should not matter where they were born, who they were born to or their gender, they should expect access to a quality education as that gives them choices for their future.
The Steve Sinnott Foundation is working at a grass roots level to make a change to education across the globe. We do this by working in partnership with teachers on the ground, who scope and manage each project locally, so it is fit for purpose, respects the local culture and is sustainable and where possible replicable. We work with teachers to create independence not dependency.
When we have problems in the UK people may be concerned about how we can fix our own problems, but without fixing problems globally, new challenges will be created, which affect us all equally.
What can you do to support our work?
• You can help us with Resources and research.
• You can write articles for Engage or our blog so we can share all teaching and learning practices globally.
• We would love to work more closely with International Solidarity Officers so please invite us to work with you.
• You can follow us on social media, like and comment to get our engagement levels up.
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
• You can share our work with any new partners who might be interested, we believe working together is winning together.
• Finally, most importantly you can ask your districts to support our work, it costs £25 for a good quality solar radio which provides lessons for at least 10 children. So, £500 would buy 20 radios and support over 200 children to access learning.
• The materials and training for a making 5 reusable period pads which last a girl up to 3 years is £3 so if you donate £10 a month that is supporting 40 girls in a year. Once a girl has learned this skill, she can manage her periods independently and with dignity and pride.
If you have any questions or comments please leave them below or email ann.beatty@stevesinnottfoundation.org.uk
The Steve Sinnott Foundation • December 14, 2020
Spring is definitely here, daffodils, blossom and crocuses are all basking in the bright sunshine. There is still a chill in the air in the shade but it's happening and all the seeds that were sown over the last few months are coming to fruition. At the Foundation, we have been planning the year ahead and our Positive Periods and Prevention of Gender Based Violence programmes got underway this weekend in Haiti and Ghana. These projects will have a long-lasting effect on the lives of the women and girls who take part: tackling the root causes of gender-based violence and enabling girls to attend school every day when they have their period, to feel safe at school and know how to take action when they are faced with violence. These are the first of many projects planned for the year ahead as we continue to work towards Education for All children everywhere.
The outlook for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) on global education is far from rosy. But a gloomy future isn’t inevitable. Disappointing statistics are the result of political choices that can be shifted and there are thousands of youth, grassroots activists and civil society organisations across the UK advocating for global education to make these changes. We need more people involved to build the momentum, we need to make a difference in challenging circumstances. You can help! Here’s how; Making global education a UK priority The UK is an important donor and champion for global education. However, education has been gradually deprioritised on the development agenda. Global education spending has plummeted from 13.5% of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2013 to just 3.5% in 2023, and education was one of the sectors hit hardest by the abandonment of the 0.7% gross national income (GNI) target for ODA. With Labour’s annual budget confirming another reduction in the aid budget, funding for global education is under threat of being cut even further unless we stand together to say this can’t happen. While education is a domestic priority for the new Government, it has yet to emerge as a strong theme in their development agenda. As the Labour Party continues to develop their approach there is a unique opportunity for advocates to connect these dots and make the case for why education must be a key part of the Government’s international plans. For the Government to take action it needs to hear demand for change. There are many issues MPs recognise are important, but if they do not hear about these issues from constituents it can be hard for MPs to be vocal about them in Parliament. Following an election where many parliamentary seats were won with tight margins, MPs need to hear from the people they represent that global education must be on their agenda. With over half of MPs elected for the first time this year, many are actively looking for a steer on what issues to work on. We can give them one! How to Get Involved Write to your MP about why global education needs to be a bigger priority for the UK Government and encourage members of groups you are a part of, such as your union branch or a local community group, to do the same. This can have a real impact on your MP’s interest and ability to act for global education. You can also connect with other grassroots activists and get resources for taking action from international development advocacy organisations like Results UK. You can learn more about Results UK’s grassroots network on our website. If you are a teacher, get your school involved in the Send My Friend to School Campaign (SMF). Send My Friend is a UK civil society coalition advocating for SDG4 which supports a mass UK schools campaign to amplify student voices calling for universal quality education in solidarity with their peers around the world. Free campaign packs are available on the SMF website for primary and secondary levels with everything teachers need to run the campaign in their school. Parliamentarians can learn more about education issues and how to act by joining the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global Education, a cross-party group that brings together Parliamentarians interested in the right to education and provides them with knowledge and resources to be champions of the issue. By joining our voices through collective action, we can make a real difference in moving the needle on this issue. Together we have a chance to rechart the course for the realisation of quality education for all. BIOGRAPHY Hannah Frisch is the Senior Policy and Parliamentary Advocacy Officer for Education at Results UK and a Co-Chair of the Send My Friend to School Policy and Parliamentary Working Group. She is a policy advisor for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Global Education in the UK Parliament.
Last year the Steve Sinnott Foundation supported the work of The Federation of Drama Schools by providing financial aid to new graduates, enabling them to take part in an industry showcase at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The showcase is an annual event for Irish graduates who have completed a professional training at one of the Federation’s partner conservatoires in the UK, introducing young actors to the industry they hope to work in. The Federation of Drama Schools partners are institutions that provide conservatoire vocational training for those who want to be professional performers, theatre makers and technical theatre practitioners. The courses they offer are for students of eighteen years and over, who have completed their school level education. In November (2024) fourteen young Irish graduates took part in the showcase and the SSF provided financial support to two graduates who may not otherwise have been able to take part in this showcase, which is a bridge between training and their professional career. Melanie Lavery from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is one of those who benefitted from this support. Melanie writes of her experience. I would like to say a huge thank you to the Steve Sinnott Foundation for the support I received, making it possible for me to take part in the Dublin Showcase 2024. The opportunity allowed me to work with graduates from across FDS schools and widen my contacts in the industry. Coming from a socio-economically deprived area, I’ve often missed out on opportunities available to my peers. I have had to spend a lot of energy during my three years in drama school working to support myself and this has meant I often don’t have time to follow up network opportunities. In receiving this sponsorship and taking part in the showcase I have been able to connect with other Irish creatives - the people I am acting opposite, directors, casting directors and agents in the industry. These industry showcases are so important for graduates. It gives us the possibility of networking with industry professionals and hopefully the opportunity of taking that first crucial step into the profession we have trained for. As I studied in Wales, it gave me the chance to return to Ireland and to reach out to creatives there. The Foundation gave me this amazing opportunity to kick start my career in my home country. On the day of the showcase, I had such pride watching my fellow Irish peers performing on stage at Ireland’s National Theatre. Working together throughout the rehearsal period, I got to know them individually and we all helped each other to grow as performers. This showcase has helped me to create my own community of actors around me. When it came to talking with other creatives after the show case, I became so much more aware of how large and welcoming the industry is in Ireland and how much work is being produced here. I think this show case is so important as it highlights how vibrant and growing the industry is in Ireland. I feel so lucky that I was able to take part thanks to the help of the Steve Sinnott Foundation. For more information on the Federation of Drama Schools, professional industry showcases, and it’s partner schools please visit www.federationofdramaschools.co.uk
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