Human rights history

Aims of the tool

The main aim of Human rights history is to introduce the topic, the thinking and important moments in the evolution of human rights. It tries to show that in different parts of the wolrd, in different religions, in different times we can find core values, like human diginity, freedom, equality, helping others, etc.

Description of the tool

Human rights history is a good introductory game in human rights educational activities. It contains the most important (in my point of view) events/thoughts/processes in the history of mankind in the aspect of human rights. From Hamurabi to Kyoto Protocol. From Moses to Muhammad. From greek democracy to labour rights. This activity can be followed by a presentation of human rights (theoretical input), or creating a living statue in small groups about a concrete human right or some cooperative group work to work up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Note: there is not only one good solution for my timeline. There are some cards wich are about a longer period not for an exact date and these cards can be mixed. For me the point is not the timeline, but the thinking, of course it is important that the participnats don't mix up Martin Luther King with Martin Luther :-)

Steps:
1. Place the human rights history cards in the middle
2. Introduce the task to the group: Read all of the cards and try to create a human rights timeline (give maximum 10 minutes for that)
3. If the group is ready read out loudly the cards in the group's order. If there is a need correct the wrong parts, but remember the aim is not to prove that the participnats knowledge is little in the topic, but to wake their interest about human rights.
4. Debriefing. How do you feel about the result of the game? How did the group made decisions? Were their any new information for you on the cards? What does this activity means to you?

Tips:
Make your own cards with more topics, funnier pictures, etc. You can make small groups and compare the different solutions at the end. There is another version if you give one card to one person, you put the starting point to the middle and if somebody thinks that it is her/his turn, she/he read out the card and say an explanation why it's the next.