Student Conference on Human Rights

	Webcast Watch a webcast (video archive) of the conference on December 5, 2003.
	When December 5, 2003 Where United Nations Headquarters, New York For Whom Intermediate and Secondary Students (grades 5-12) Theme Education for All

how to participate

35-45 delegates from the United States, Canada, and Mexico will meet at UN Headquarters in New York on 5 December to draft a Plan of Action related to this year's theme: Education for All. Additional classrooms from other countries around the world will be linked by videoconference and webcast.

Students participating in the conference can post their preliminary Plan of Action in our interactive forums.

The 2003 Student Conference on Human Rights forums are now closed. An archived version of the 2003 forums will be available soon.

Please join the new forums for the 2004 Student Conference on HIV/AIDS. This year's discussion wil focus on moving "From Awareness to Action."

On Friday, December 5, Cyberschoolbus will post a form for students to use to submit their thoughts and questions directly to the students who are moderating the proceedings at the UN.

Resources

Students participating in the conference and Interactive Forums should be familiar with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Education for All goals, International Literacy Decade documents, as well as the Millenium Goals. Here are some resources to help students prepare for the conference:

UNESCO Education for All (EFA) site: http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/index.shtml
EFA background docs: http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/ed_for_all/background/background_documents.shtml
EFA Global Monitoring Report 2002: http://portal.unesco.org/education/ev.php?URL_ID=11283&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201
EFA Week 2003: http://portal.unesco.org/education/ev.php?URL_ID=13229&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201
UN Cyber Schoolbus http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/unintro/unintro5.htm. Provides a comprehensive overview of the UN, its history and structure http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/about.asp . Provides curriculum materials for teaching human rights http://www0.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/resources/universal.asp. Provides a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human rights http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/student/2002. Provides an overview of the 2002 conference. http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/student . Provides an over view of 2001 conference. http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/humanrights/about.asp . Provides curriculum materials for teaching human rights. http://www0.un.org/cyberschoolbus/index.html . In conjunction with the beginning of the UN Literacy Decade, 2003-2012, Nane Annan narrates a slide show about the importance of providing basic education to all children. http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals Provides information on the millennium goals.

Guiding Questions for Participating Students

Who in your community does work on basic education or literacy?
How can you support EFA abroad? Nationally? Locally?
What percentage of your GNP (Gross National Product) does your country contribute foreign aid? How does this figure compare figures for other countries?
How much does your country contribute to literacy and education efforts abroad?
What are some obstacles to reach the goals of Education for All?
Why has female literacy been identified as a key variable in development strategies?
How is Education for All central to problems such as poverty alleviation, sustainable development and the avoidance of war?

Model Plan(s) of Action

Students participating in this year's conference should consult Plans of Action submitted at the end of previous conferences to see how they are structured:

http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/student/plan.html 2001 http://www0.un.org/cyberschoolbus/studentconf2000/declaration.asp 2000

Please note that a ‘Plan of Action’ usually includes:
1. Introduction
2. Preamble
3. Achievements
4. Challenges
5. Goals
6. Strategies
7. Appendix (if needed)