Overview

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).

Time: 1 hour
Materials: Blackboard and chalk
Chart paper and marking pens
for each group
Copies of the
UDHR, complete or simplified
version
Setting: Middle school - Adult groups
Links: Fits well with Activity 6, Human
Rights in the News.
See Part IV, Taking Action for
Human Rights, for action ideas.

Procedure

PART A: Human Rights for a New Planet

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 chart paper.

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 rights.

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.

4. Discuss

 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 group’s list? How
can you explain this omission?

Going Further
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 V, Appendices.

Discuss:

 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 than others?

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?