October 2007
| In a recent interview given to the newspaper Le Monde, the philosopher Pierre Hassner provided a geopolitical analysis of the global tensions and conflicts in which the Western powers find themselves particularly caught up. According to Mr. Hassner, what is most disturbing at the moment is “the multiplication of civil wars, whether permanent, intermittent or virtual, whether religious, ethnic, political or economic, which threaten to merge together either by extension or by contamination, and to overwhelm entire regions, such as Western Asia, the Middle-East, the Horn of Africa or the Great Lakes.” Nevertheless, with tempered optimism, Mr. Hassner sees within today’s troubled environment some possible roads to calm and peace on the horizon. In this regard, he maintains that “only the prospect of reciprocity, however imperfect, and interpenetration, however partial, between nations and cultures can bring out the tolerance that is within the opponents and encourage the transnational solidarity that, at a time of heightened national identification, provides the best chance for humanity.” We agree with this statement, emphasizing as it does the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding. This is an approach with which civil society ought to be associated and which should also be used in the field of education. If education ought to lead to non-violence and peace, it is clear that in reality it can easily be aimed at quite the reverse. Learning to live together is an injunction that is far from unanimously accepted. Xenophobia has not disappeared from within education and it continues to be taught here and there, with the help of history text-books that render official a reprehensible vision of the past and even the present. It is deplorable that intellectual honesty and a sense of morality are not always found within education. Nevertheless it is encouraging that the new UN Council of Human Rights has retained the promotion of human rights education as one of its primary objectives. This should motivate its State members to address head-on some questions that are sometimes dealt with only after-the-fact, when it is already too late. The prevention of intolerance, like the prevention of violence, is without doubt one of the major challenges facing education. Peace in the world depends strongly on it. Reference: Hassner, Pierre. Le siècle de la puissance relative. Le Monde, 2 octobre 2007. http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3232,36-962033,0.html (in French only) |
Last October 2 marked the celebration of the first International Day of Peace, in conformity with a United Nations resolution. October 2 is the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, who campaigned for the independence of India and was a believer in non-violence. http://www.un.org/events/peaceday/2007/index.shtml
November 20 is the day on which is celebrated the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on November 20, 1989. The Swiss Foundation Education and Development is observing the event by offering a resource manual entitled “Universal Children’s Day 2007” to children and teachers http://www.globaleducation.ch/english/pagesnav/frames.htm (resource manual not available in English)
The Swiss section of Amnesty International is holding its letter marathon this coming 3 – 10 December. During this event, two former prisoners who were liberated as a result of Amnesty International letter campaigns will be in Switzerland testifying about their experience. |
The authors of this website invite you to sign the “Appeal for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty”. Five million people have already signed it. http://www.worldcoalition.org/petitions/index.php?petition=
Every four seconds a person dies of hunger in the world. “Action contre la faim” (Action against Hunger) highlights this sad reality and invites the public to make a donation. http://ems6.net/a/?E=XTC-U6L-JIN7F-DD-GP9XV5 http://www.actioncontrelafaim.org/ (in French only) |
“This reference book is intended to help teachers, teacher administrators, policy makers and others deal with the important issue of religious diversity in Europe’s schools. The religious dimension of intercultural education is an issue that affects all schools, whether they are religiously diverse or not, because their pupils live and will work in increasingly diverse societies.” http://book.coe.int/EN/ficheouvrage.php?PAGEID=36&lang=EN
UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning has dedicated a part of its July-September letter to providing a brief sketch of the Millennium Objectives for Development. |
In Iraq, the new school year has seen six million Iraqi children return to school. Taking into consideration the enormous difficulties experienced last year, “this represents a remarkable achievement due to extraordinary efforts by parents, teachers and local officials to keep Iraq’s schools open and functioning”. http://www.unicef.org/media/media_41138.html
The increased shortage of qualified teachers constitutes one of the major obstacles to making education accessible to all, according to UNESCO. The organization adds that eighteen million new teachers must be recruited between now and 2015, of which 4 million are needed for the African continent alone. |