YEPP EUROPE has the pleasure to present:

Children’s Rights Education through Music

CONTEXT 

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most widely (and was the most rapidly) ratified human rights treaty in history. Only three countries (Somalia, South Sudan and the USA) have not ratified this celebrated agreement. Despite this nearly universal acceptance, the violation of children’s rights is widespread and the CRC’s implementation faces a range of challenges, from cultural settings and deeply-rooted traditions to language barriers and lack of political will.

Children’s rights education and promotion in the media are some of the strategies used to spread the word, but progress on these issues seems slow. There is an urgency for new, more efficient, and creative methods in order to bring positive change into the field of children’s rights education and advocacy.

Songs for Rights is an approach to children’s rights education and promotion, which uses music as the main tool. Apart from the extensive benefits of music in education, it also represents a powerful communication tool for sharing ideas and ideologies. The informal learning method presented below is based on qualitative research and pilot programs which have been conducted since 2012.

CONCEPT

Songs for Rights unites two universal concepts: Human Rights and Music. Through Songs for Rights, children learn about the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) through music (listening, singing, playing instruments and musical games). They also discuss and exchange about the children’s rights situation in the world, as well as in their own and their peers’ community. During the workshop, the children write, compose and record their own children’s rights song, based on the discussions and what they have learned. The children go through an inspiring and motivating learning process and feel empowered and engaged by expressing their views through music.

Songs for Rights is adaptable to a wide range of settings from school classes to youth groups and/or marginalized groups such as migrants and refugees. We strongly believe that music can and should play a more prominent role in children’s rights education across the globe!

TARGET GROUPS 

Children and youth from 8 to 18+ years old

  • School classes
  • Informal groups
  • Children and youth associations or NGOs
  • After-school programmes
  • Summer schools
  • Marginalized groups (e.g. children with special needs, Roma, migrants & refugees)

OBJECTIVES

  • Raise awareness and understanding about Children’s Rights
  • Develop a culture of Human Rights and Children’s Rights
  • Empower children through understanding and living their rights
  • Foster participation, togetherness, tolerance, empathy and creativity in children
  • Exchange, learning and self-expression of children using music as the main tool

EXPECTED RESULTS

The children who participate in the workshop have the opportunity to:

  • learn and understand their rights and those of their peers
  • actively participate in discussions about rights issues which affect their own lives
  • discover and use music and arts as a learning tool and a tool of expression
  • write, compose and record their own song
  • feel inspired, empowered and engaged
  • respect other’s rights and are willing to defend their rights

PILOT

Watch the video of one of the Songs for Rights workshops and recording of the song “Respect the Children’s Rights” in Accra, Ghana:

Visit the Project website