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執筆者の写真Hiroshige FUJII

The Workshop on International Human Rights of the Children in Open Campus Summer 2024

B2 Taisho Ito


On 20 July 2024, the workshop on the International human rights of the child was held on the Open day of Utsunomiya University. The workshop on international human rights of children is a workshop for high school students organized by the International Peace and Human Rights/Humanitarian Law Study Group and the Utsunomiya International Peace and Justice (UIPJ). It is held about two or three times a year. In this workshop, high school students who are the subjects of children's rights are asked to think about the impact of conflicts on children, consider what kind of support is necessary to protect their children's rights and envision a city where their rights are protected.


Firstly, Miyu Suzuki, a third-year undergraduate student belonging to the Fujii seminar, introduced the International Peace and Human Rights/Humanitarian Law Study Group, and Hitomi Hanatsuka and Tokiwa Takahashi, third-year undergraduate students belonging to the Fujii seminar, introduced the group previous training camps in Netherlands and Ethiopia. The participants, who were high school students, were very interested in the group's activities. They listened to the introduction with great interest, and it was a good reference for them to choose their career coerces.





It's worth noting that a record-breaking 22 high school students actively participated in this workshop, making it the largest number ever. At the start of the workshop, we invited the participants to watch an introductory video to familiarize themselves with the workshop's content and the rights of children. The video, packed with useful information for the upcoming activities, was watched with great enthusiasm as the participants took notes, showing their active engagement.


Next, participants took on the role of employees of a human rights organization. They engaged in a role-play to raise funds for activities to promote community development based on children's rights in a hypothetical country where children's rights are at stake due to the outbreak of armed conflict. They formed groups and negotiated with investors, played by university students and staff, to obtain funds for community development. In the negotiations, participants are required to emphasize the importance of children's rights based on a scenario, explaining the need for funds, what specific projects they plan to implement, and what effects they expect when they are implemented. In this role play, participants explained the importance of children's rights to the funders in various creative ways and engaged in activities to obtain funds from the funders. For example, one team worked on negotiations efficiently by sharing roles with their teammates. Through this activity, the participants realized the difficulty of negotiating and obtaining funds while having fun at the same time.





Next, we conducted a community development activity. Referring to the "List of Example Projects" that we had prepared, which listed which projects needed how much funding and how much they needed, participants chose to build facilities related to children's rights or hire experts for the protection of children's rights within the funds they obtained from investors. Since funds are limited, participants must prioritize the projects they deem necessary. Furthermore, from this year's workshop, we introduced a project that allows participants to add facilities and services to their design to better reflect the flexible ideas of high school students in the conception of community development. Given the limited funds available, participants had to choose facilities and services that would protect children's rights through trial and error. University student staff gave participants advice and answered questions about community development.





The participants then presented their ideas for the city in groups. The characteristics of the cities varied from group to group and reflected their flexible ideas. For example, one of the projects listed in the "List of Project Examples" was to build a "school" as an integrated middle and high school, thereby saving construction costs and enhancing children's education and health. Another project that was not included in the list of example projects was to build an "underground shelter" near the school so that the school could be evacuated quickly in the event of an attack. Participants could learn new perspectives and ideas from other teams' ideas through the presentations. Furthermore, many of the community development ideas they came up with were ones we would never have thought of, so it was also a learning experience for the university students. After the presentation of ideas, three teams that were particularly successful in protecting children's rights were announced and given Utsunomiya University goods as prizes.





This workshop was not just about discussing the problems faced by children worldwide, but also about empowering the participants to think critically and come up with solutions. The post-workshop session, where they could interact with university students about life and entrance exams, was an added bonus, providing them with valuable insights for their future. I believe this workshop was a significant step in their journey toward understanding human rights and developing their problem-solving skills.


Once again, I would like to thank the participants, Professor Fujii, and all others involved in this workshop. We will continue to organize such workshops in the future to help children understand their human rights and strengthen their problem-solving skills.




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