International Education and Resource Network Pakistan
(A project of Society for international Education)
There are historic and important events to commemorate nearly every day of the year. Use some of these dates to boost your young child's knowledge of the world in a fun and playful way. Get your students involved in interesting iEARN project activities.
Nov 16th - International Day for Tolerance
Brief History:
Following the United Nations Year for Tolerance in 1995, the International Day for Tolerance was first observed on 16 November 1996. An International Day for Tolerance can serve as an annual occasion for tolerance education to advance human welfare, freedom and progress everywhere, as well as to encourage tolerance, respect, dialogue and cooperation among different cultures, civilizations and peoples.
Accept Others (or Me & We) – 16th Nov
iEARN Projects: Global Art-Sense of Caring & A Vision
Students in participating schools and communities will write stories/ poems or create artworks that portray tolerance and care for one another within schools, families, communities and world as well as find ways and hope to care more. Each student writes an accompanying text that further describes the sense of acceptance for others portrayed in her/his artwork or writing.
Sample for students:
1. Do you have courage to accept others?
2. Share any moment of your life when you had to show patience?
3. What were your feelings at that time?
4. What do you think are the areas of tolerance?
5. How will you show this in your drawing?
6. What message do you want to communicate?
Global Art - Forum address: - Students can share artwork in Global Art - Sense of Caring forum to showcase their thoughts on the sense of tolerance to create peace in their community or even in the world. Artwork can be submitted at this forum under the discussion “Accept others”. It can be accessed in iEARN Collaboration Centre, under the project categories “Visual &Creative Arts” or can be accessed directly at: https://media.iearn.org/node/103
A Vision – Forum address: - If students want to share their stories or poems on the topic of tolerance and acceptance with youth around the world, they can submit their views and thoughts on “A Vision – An Anthology of Creative Writing”. It can be accessed in iEARN Collaboration Centre, under the project categories “Language Arts” or can be accessed directly at: https://media.iearn.org/node/104.
Note: Project can be posted all through the months of November and December
iEARN username and password is required to access this forum. If you are not registered as an iEARN member this is time you should do so at http://www.iearnpk.org/register.htm
Direct all queries about this project and to
Join iEARN and Make a Difference to the World
www.iearnpk.org
International Day for Tolerance16 November
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/tolerance/index.html
In 1996, the General Assembly invited Member States to observe the International Day for Tolerance on 16 November, with activities directed towards both educational establishments and the wider public (resolution 51/95 of 12 December). This action came in the wake of the United Nations Year for Tolerance, 1995, proclaimed by the Assembly in 1993 (resolution 48/126). The Year had been declared on the initiative of the General Conference of UNESCO. On 16 November 1995, the UNESCO member States had adopted the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance and Follow-up Plan of Action for the Year.
The 2005 World Summit Outcome document (A/RES/60/1), outlines the commitment of Heads of State and Government to advance human welfare, freedom and progress everywhere, as well as to encourage tolerance, respect, dialogue and cooperation among different cultures, civilizations and peoples.
Links to UN and UN System sites:
United Nations
· Alliance of Civilizations
· Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
o Special Rapporteur on Human Rights on Freedom of Religion or Belief
o Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
o Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance
· Unlearning Intolerance Seminar Series. (UN Chronicle)
Unesco
· Promoting Tolerance
· Dialogue
· Interreligious Dialogue
· Intercultural Dialogue
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The additional resources links on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not necessarily represent an endorsement by the United Nations.
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
European Network against Racism
Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior
International Network of Education for Democracy, Human Rights and Tolerance
Lessons in Tolerance
College of San Francisco
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (Office for Security and Cooperation in Europe)
Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief
Prejudice Institute
Teaching Tolerance
Tolerance (Southern Poverty Law Center)
DHL Home Page / Collections / Products and Publications / Subject Guides
UN Info Quest (UN-I-QUE) / Depository Libraries / UN Pulse / Directory of Services
Return to UN Homepage
Promoting ToleranceOn the day of its fiftieth anniversary, 16 November 1995, UNESCO's Member States adopted a Declaration of Principles on Tolerance. Among other things, the Declaration affirms that tolerance is neither indulgence nor indifference. It is respect and appreciation of the rich variety of our world's cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. Tolerance recognizes the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms of others. People are naturally diverse; only tolerance can ensure the survival of mixed communities in every region of the globe.
Along with outright injustice and violence, discrimination and marginalization are common forms of intolerance. Education for tolerance should aim at countering influences that lead to fear and exclusion of others, and should help young people develop capacities for independent judgement, critical thinking and ethical reasoning. The diversity of our world's many religions, languages, cultures and ethnicities is not a pretext for conflict, but is a treasure that enriches us all.
A GLOBAL QUEST FOR TOLERANCE
1995 UNITED NATIONS YEAR FOR TOLERANCE
WHAT'S NEXT?
Upon an initiative by UNESCO, the United Nations decided to proclaim 1995, the year of the fiftieth anniversary of both organizations, the International Year for Tolerance.
International years are occasions to generate fresh thinking, debate and awareness. Most often, they focus on a specific target group, field of action or issue. The International Year for Tolerance, for the first time, put the accent on a personal virtue that is increasingly viewed as a political and legal requirement for peaceful co-existence.
The appreciation of diversity, the ability to live and let others live, the ability to adhere to one's convictions while accepting that others adhere to theirs, the ability to enjoy one's rights and freedoms without infringing on those of others, tolerance has always been considered a moral virtue. Tolerance is also the foundation of democracy and human rights. Intolerance in multi-ethnic, multi-religious or multicultural societies leads to violations of human rights, violence or armed conflict.
How do we achieve tolerance, fifty years after the signatories of the United Nations Charter resolved to "practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours", and more than two hundred years after Voltaire led his fervent philosophical battle against religious intolerance and the bigotry and injustice that it legitimized?
The Year for Tolerance was the occasion for launching and testing new and old ideas, and generating public awareness. Individual projects ranged from use of traditional and local teaching methods-such as puppet-shows for children-to the use of exhibitions, music and films to generate knowledge of other cultures, religions and ways of life.
UNESCO's tolerance-building efforts were deployed in conflict zones-a multi-ethnic television station, NTV99, was set up in Sarajevo with donations from several European countries-and in post-conflict societies-reconciliation and reconstruction projects brought old enemies in Burundi, Mozambique and El Salvador to focus on their collective needs and common future.
Schools were the year's centre of activity. UNESCO produced and sent out Tolerance: the Threshold of Peace, a teaching guide, to thousands of schools around the world and asked teachers for evaluations and suggestions. Schools everywhere organized class discussions, essay and drawing contests, information weeks, festivals and student exchange programmes around the theme of tolerance.
UNESCO created a prize for the promotion of tolerance and non-violence and another prize for children's literature in the service of tolerance. The Year also drew some very original initiatives by individuals who wanted to express their personal commitment to tolerance and contribute to the public awareness campaign. Six of the world's greatest artists designed six flags as symbols of tolerance, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Pierre Cardin, produced and offered a set of each to every country so that the flags can become timeless reminders of tolerance to millions of people.
On 14 July, another Goodwill Ambassador, Jean-Michel Jarre, drew one and a half million people to his free concert for tolerance in Paris, which was also broadcast on television to millions of viewers.
Tolerance, multiculturalism, global diversity, religious and cultural dialogue were among the topics that were debated in over fifty national, regional and international meetings throughout the year. Serving primarily as occasions to exchange views and knowledge, these meetings also worked on the definition and requirements of tolerance and negotiated lines of action to promote tolerance and counter the rise of intolerance in coming years. These efforts culminated in the Declaration of Principles on Tolerance, which was adopted and signed in Paris by UNESCO's 185 Member States on 16 November 1995.
The Declaration qualifies tolerance not only as a moral duty, but also as a political and legal requirement for individuals, groups and States. It situates tolerance in relation to the international human rights instruments drawn up over the past fifty years and emphasizes that States should draft new legislation when necessary to ensure equality of treatment and of opportunity for all groups and individuals in society.
In addition to pledging to promote tolerance and nonviolence through educational policies and programmes, Member States declared 16 November the annual International Day for Tolerance.
The Declaration will be submitted for adoption to the fifty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1996.
TOLERANCE: THE ENDANGERED VIRTUE
The most immediate goal in proclaiming 1995 the International Year for Tolerance was to generate awareness among both policy-makers and the public of the dangers associated with contemporary forms of intolerance. Since the end of the cold war, there has been a steady increase in social, religious and cultural conflicts. Too many have quickly turned into full-scale armed conflicts; too many fundamental human rights have come under direct assault, too many lives have been lost.
What does the revival of historical grudges and armed conflict in the Balkans have in common with the alarming increase in the number of racial assaults in Western Europe? What formal relationship, if any, exists between extremist or supremacist groups around the world? What does genocide in Rwanda have to do with wars led by extremist religious groups in other parts of the world? Is there any link between the violence that targets writers, journalists and artists in one country and discrimination against indigenous people in another country?
The only immediately available answer is that intolerance is on the increase everywhere and that it is killing on a massive scale. Intolerance raises many moral questions. It always has. In the 1990s intolerance also raises political questions. Intolerance is increasingly seen as a major threat to democracy, peace and security. Understandably, the issue is alarming governments and the public. Yet, any talk of intolerance raises more questions than it answers.
Intolerance has been ever present in human history. It has ignited most wars, fuelled religious persecutions and violent ideological confrontations. Is it inherent in human nature? Is it insurmountable? Can tolerance be learned? How can democracies deal with intolerance without infringing on individual freedoms? How can they foster individual codes of conduct, without laws and without policing their citizens' behavior? How can peaceful multiculturalism be achieved?
To address these questions, debates in 1995 brought together governments, social scientists, lawyers, human rights experts, artists and many others. Some solutions have been proposed, a great deal of consensus has emerged. A lot more needs to be done. There is now a formal proposal to convene a world summit on reducing hate. How much time do we have before the next crisis? As the clock ticks we hear the echo of the words of Zlatko Dizdarevic, editor of Sarajevo's multi-ethnic newspaper Oslobodenje: "In Sarajevo the very concept of the multi-ethnic community is now on trial; our fate may well become your fate."
HOW CAN INTOLERANCE BE COUNTERED?
1. Fighting intolerance requires law:
Each Government is responsible for enforcing human rights laws, for banning and punishing hate crimes and discrimination against minorities, whether these are committed by State officials, private organizations or individuals. The State must also ensure equal access to courts, human rights commissioners or ombudsmen, so that people do not take justice into their own hands and resort to violence to settle their disputes.
2. Fighting intolerance requires education:
Laws are necessary but not sufficient for countering intolerance in individual attitudes. Intolerance is very often rooted in ignorance and fear: fear of the unknown, of the other, other cultures, nations, religions. Intolerance is also closely linked to an exaggerated sense of self-worth and pride, whether personal, national or religious. These notions are taught and learned at an early age. Therefore, greater emphasis needs to be placed on educating more and better. Greater efforts need to be made to teach children about tolerance and human rights, about other ways of life. Children should be encouraged at home and in school to be open-minded and curious.
Education is a life-long experience and does not begin or end in school. Endeavours to build tolerance through education will not succeed unless they reach all age groups, and take place everywhere: at home, in schools, in the workplace, in law-enforcement and legal training, and not least in entertainment and on the information highways.
3. Fighting intolerance requires access to information:
Intolerance is most dangerous when it is exploited to fulfil the political and territorial ambitions of an individual or groups of individuals. Hatemongers often begin by identifying the public's tolerance threshold. They then develop fallacious arguments, lie with statistics and manipulate public opinion with misinformation and prejudice. The most efficient way to limit the influence of hatemongers is to develop policies that generate and promote press freedom and press pluralism, in order to allow the public to differentiate between facts and opinions.
4. Fighting intolerance requires individual awareness:
Intolerance in a society is the sum-total of the intolerance of its individual members. Bigotry, stereotyping, stigmatizing, insults and racial jokes are examples of individual expressions of intolerance to which some people are subjected daily. Intolerance breeds intolerance. It leaves its victims in pursuit of revenge. In order to fight intolerance individuals should become aware of the link between their behavior and the vicious cycle of mistrust and violence in society. Each one of us should begin by asking: am I a tolerant person? Do I stereotype people? Do I reject those who are different from me? Do I blame my problems on 'them'?
5. Fighting intolerance requires local solutions:
Many people know that tomorrow's problems will be increasingly global but few realize that solutions to global problems are mainly local, even individual. When confronted with an escalation of intolerance around us, we must not wait for governments and institutions to act alone. We are all part of the solution. We should not feel powerless for we actually posses an enormous capacity to wield power. Nonviolent action is a way of using that power-the power of people. The tools of nonviolent action-putting a group together to confront a problem, to organize a grassroots network, to demonstrate solidarity with victims of intolerance, to discredit hateful propaganda-are available to all those who want to put an end to intolerance, violence and hatred.
http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=6551&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html