This activity starts with participants
personal ideas about rights as expressed in an imaginary
bill of rights. They then find correspondences between their
ideas and specific articles of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR).
PART A: Human Rights for a New
1. Read the following scenario:
A small new planet has been discovered
that has everything needed to sustain human life. No one
has ever lived there. There are no laws, no rules, and
no history. You will all be settlers here and in preparation
your group has been appointed to draw up the bill of rights
for this all-new planet. You do not know what position
you will have in this country.
2. Instruct participants, working in
small groups, to do the following:
a. Give this new planet a name.
b. Decide on ten rights that the whole
group can agree upon and list them on the blackboard or
3. Each group presents its list to the
class. As they do so, make a "master list" that
includes all the rights the groups mention, combining similar
4. When all the groups have reported
their lists, examine the master list:
- Do some of the rights overlap? Can
they be combined?
- Is any right listed on only one list?
Should it be included or eliminated?
5. Discussion questions:
- Did your ideas about which rights
were most important change during the activity?
- How would life be on this planet
if some of these rights were excluded?
- Are there any rights you would still
like to add to the final list?
- Why is making a list like this useful?
PART B: Linking Rights to the UDHR
1. When the master list is complete,
participants return to their small group and try to match
the rights listed with articles of the UDHR. Some rights
may include several articles. Others may not be in the UDHR
at all. Alternative: To save time, assign each group
specific rights from the master list to investigate.
2. As a group finishes, ask a representative
to write down the numbers of the articles they have identified
next to the right on the master list. You may need to add
an extra chart sheet next to the master list.
3. Review each right on the list.
- As participants identify a right
with a particular UDHR article, ask that they read the
simplified version of the article aloud.
- Resolve any contradictions about
which right matches which article.
- Were some of the rights on the list
not included in the UDHR? How can you explain this omission?
- Were some rights in the UDHR not
included on the groups list? How can you explain
1. Personal Preferences
At this point, especially if a natural break occurs, ask
participants to mark on the list the three rights that mean
the most to them personally. The facilitator can then tally
up the marks to see how many each right received. When the
group continues, remind participants about the interdependency
and indivisibility of rights. See Part
- Why do you think certain rights received
so many marks from this group?
- Are there special circumstances in
this community or country that make some rights more important
2. Categories of Rights
Explain the distinction between civil/political rights and
social/economic/cultural rights. See Part
V, A Human Rights Glossary, for definitions. Ask participants
to determine which rights on their list are civil and political
and which are social, economic, and cultural. Did any one
kind of right predominate? Why?
1. A New School This activity
can be adapted to imagine the creation of a totally new
school. This version could lead into an examination of the
human rights climate of the current school and the creation
of a list of "school rights," which would improve
the school or classroom environment. These might be written
as both rights and responsibilities (e.g., "Everyone
has the right to be treated with respect" and "Everyone
has the responsibility to treat others with respect").
This analysis of school problems could lead directly to
action projects. See Part
IV, Taking Action for Human Rights.
2. What If? To emphasize
the universal application of rights, the activity might
be varied by assigning some groups specific roles in the
society on the new planet (e.g., you are disabled, a member
of an ethnic minority, a millionaire) while other groups
have no roles. Did having a particular position in society
influence ideas about necessary rights? These differences
could also be included through discussion or having each
participant draw a role, for example, "What if on the
new planet you were a disabled person? Would this fact affect
your ideas about necessary rights?".
Sources: Adapted from First Steps,
96-98; Edward OBrien et al., Human Rights for All,
(St. Paul, MN: West, 1996).
The immediate task of
human rights teaching and research should be to prevent
or substantially decrease human rights violations by discovering
and applying inexpensive, practical, and effective methods
of awakening in individuals, groups, peoples, and governments
an awareness of the meaning, content, and value of human
rights; how human rights are violated; how violations
may be prevented or redressed; how human rights may be
enhanced; and the will to respect and vindicate human
rights. In short, to internalize reverence for human rights
-Dr. Josť W. Diokno, Chairman
Phillipine Presidential Committee on Human Rights