Raising awareness of human rights
By Brendan Grehan
EARLIER this month, Lucan Community College students celebrated World Human Rights Day. It was the 70th anniversary of the UN creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights created in 1948.
The declaration, signed by over 190 nations, states the 30 basic rights and fundamental freedoms to which all human beings are entitled.
The Lucan CC Amnesty group, working with different subject departments in the school, organised a number of competitions and events to raise awareness about human rights issues.
Lucan Community College students celebrated World Human Rights Day
In Religious Education classes, senior students participated in the Global Amnesty “Write for Rights” campaign where students wrote postcards/ letters in support of the campaigns for justice for Geraldine Chacón (Persecuted for Youth Work, Venezuela), Vitalina Koval (LGBTI+ activist attacked by the far right, Ukraine), The Sengwer Indigenous People (Indigenous people forced from their ancestral home, Kenya).
Other students held ‘The Great LCC Human Rights Bake Off’ competition and Cake Sale.
There were art and photography competitions.
In English lessons, 1st and 2nd year students took part in poetry and short story competitions on the theme of human rights.
A spokesperson for the Amnesty group told The Echo: “The quality of the entries was amazing! Prizes were handed out to the winners at a special ceremony in the school hall on Human Rights Day.”
The Amnesty group made a giant model birthday cake structure, decorated with art work by First Year students.
“It highlighted the individual cases of woman human rights defenders, the spokesperson said. “We used social media to campaign on the day for justice for these women.”
