Gathering in Sorgenti Arena at
Chestnut Hill College on October 24, 2001, more than 350 students and teachers from 21
local schools prepared to participate in UN Day. The day began with
Registration, followed by the Opening Plenary at 9:30 AM. Dr. Sara Kitchen, both
a Professor at Chestnut Hill College and GEM’s
Ms. Stamatopoulou spoke to the assembly, encouraging all in attendance to take
action to make “words into deeds,” thereby focusing on the Day’s theme. Her address dealt with
empowerment and commitment and she led everyone is a pledge to fight racism. It was the pledge
issued by Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights on the anniversary of the
International Day for the Mobilization against Racism. The pledge stated:
“As
a young citizen of the world community, I stand with the United Nations against racism,
discrimination and intolerance of any kind. Throughout
my life I will try to promote equality,
After her inspiring address,
the students dispersed to various classrooms for small discussions on topics such as:
Gender Issues, Xenophobia, Religion, Prejudicial Attitudes, Child Labour, Education,
Health/HIV-AIDS, Sustainable Development & Discrimination, Refugees & Internally
Displaced Persons, Ethnic & Racial Intolerance, Minority Rights and the Role of the
Media.
In the small groups, facilitators encouraged the students to discuss the issue in
depth, but also, and most importantly, to focus on what they can do to improve the
problems surrounding their topic.
The Afternoon Plenary proved to be greatly successful as a follow-up to the
morning’s group discussions. Students from each
group presented a brief summary of their discussions, and reported the suggestions their
group found on what they can do to help concerning the issue. Many of the
small group representatives spoke about their issues and what they were planning to do in
their schools to change the negative impacts of their issues. The representatives
from Gender Issues A uniquely described the differences in the lives of the fictitious
Miss America and Miss Afghanistan. Their suggestion was
to encourage awareness. The
representatives from Child Labour B suggested awareness, fundraisers for UNICEF, boycotts
of products made by child labourers, and addressed the power of voters. Overall, the afternoon
was informative and inspirational.
Finally, Mr. Rick Grier-Reynolds gave the closing remarks to the group saying that
all of the students in the Arena could be heroes. He encouraged them to
do something, to make a difference and therefore, find that inner hero. The day ended on a
note of encouragement and enlightenment.
Archbishop Carroll HS,
Radnor, PA, Akiba Hebrew Academy, Merion Station, PA, Cardinal Dougherty HS,
Philadelphia, PA, Chestnut
Hill Academy,
Philadelphia, PA
UNDAY | Student Conference on Human Rights | Bringing the World Into the Classroom |
Living in A Changed World | World Game | About GEM | Affiliations
Chestnut Hill College, 9601
Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118
Tel: 215-248-1150, Fax: 215-248-7056
E-Mail: [email protected] Url: gem-ngo.org