Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Tomassi, and I'm gonna be working through with you on your citizenship lesson today.

If you've got everything you need, you're all settled and good to go, then we'll get started.

The title of today's lesson is, "What do NGOs have to do with Human Rights?" Now this forms part of the unit on "Synopticity, how do different ideas and concepts in citizenship interconnect?" So hopefully by the end of the lesson today you'll be able to explain how NGOs support and protect human rights.

So this is the link that we are looking at today is NGOs and human rights.

In the lesson there'll be three key words.

Now you'll see these in bold throughout, so if you ever need to, you can refer back to them here.

The first is human rights.

These are basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to.

The next is non-governmental organisation.

Now, you'll probably see this just referred to as NGO.

An NGO is a non-profit, voluntary group of citizens who work on a local, national, or international level to achieve a aim.

They're not controlled by the government, but will often work closely with them.

The final key word for the lesson is advocacy.

Now, advocacy is about representing or supporting a person or organisation publicly by writing, speaking, or taking action on behalf of that person or organisation.

As I said if you need to, they'll be here to refer to.

So we'll make a start with the first learning cycle.

We're gonna have a little look at why human rights are important.

So what are human rights? Now human rights are those rights that every person is meant to have.

They shouldn't be about where you are from or where you are born or your background or if the government changes and who's in charge.

It applies regardless of a country's laws.

So this idea of universal human rights, and that's why Laura says here said, "So this is why I've heard people say human rights are universal." Because it means regardless of where you go, these rights should exist.

Can you think of some examples of what these human rights might be? You'll have a little bit of time.

We just have a look on the next slide at where they've come from.

And whilst we're going through that, see if you can think of any examples.

Even better if you can think of that proper term that they are known as well.

So after World War II, the UN was set up and it was set for the world's nations to come together.

As of June, 2025, it's had made up of 193 member states.

And then there's two observer states as well.

So it is the largest international organisation in the world With the UN, in 1948, the UN introduced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, sometimes known as the UDHR.

And this was milestone because it was the first document that was really about the universal human rights.

So this was a declaration, it's not a legally binding document.

Can you think about the difference between that? If it was legally binding, what would that mean countries have to do? That would mean the countries would have to enforce it, but because it is not, the countries do not have to enforce the UDHR.

However, a lot of countries have chose to or it's been put into different laws.

So if we go back to that question I asked earlier, did you manage to think of some of those rights? And also did you manage to know what they were called? So the human rights are known as articles or rights.

There are 30 and they include a variety.

So we've got things like Article 3.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of a person.

And these the kind of things that you manage to think of.

Let's have a look at some more.

You've got Article 7, so that's about equality before the law.

Article 10 about a fair and public hearing.

Article 18, the right to Freedom, conscience and religion.

Article 19, the right to Freedom, opinion and expression.

Article 26, everyone has the right to education.

Now this obviously we've only got a few out of the 30, so some of the ones you might have thought of might not be on this list.

And as well, if you're interested to find out more about them in detail, you could go and have a look at what them other ones are.

But hopefully you managed to get that, well done if you did.

Even better if you managed to remember that they're called articles, brilliant job.

So can you identify at least three examples of human rights? How did you get on if you did so some more or if you went to do some research, you would know that there might be a few extra ones on there that are also correct as well.

Any of the articles out of the UDHR.

As we were saying, the UDHR is not legally binding, but that doesn't mean some countries have chosen to put it into their law or countries have agreed to legally binding treaties.

One example of this is the ECHR, Now it sounds very similar when we've got all these different acronyms. So especially as you're coming up to a revision, you might wanna make sure connect some links to help you remember which ones are to do with which.

Now the ECHR is the European Convention of Human Rights, the legally binding treaty that is based off of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Now, to give you a bit of an example, the UK incorporated this into its domestic law through the Instruction of Human Rights Act 1998.

So you might have heard of that and you might have when we talking said, but yeah, I know the UK has got legal protection against human rights.

That is correct, and it comes from the ECHR and the UDHR.

Why do you think it's good that these countries put human rights into its laws? The reason it's really good because it ensures that those countries are held accountable for upholding human rights? 'Cause what happens if a law's broken? What do you do? Well then you would hope that the law would be enforced.

So the same idea here is that ensuring human rights are protected and that it can be enforced if human right abuses occur.

And so this kind of follows onto what we are saying, why is it important to protect human rights? What do you think? A bit like what I was saying earlier, it helps to prevent those abuses and violations.

Now this means that people are treated with what? So they're treated with fairness, dignity, respect.

Did you manage to get them? Great job if you did.

So when human rights are protected, people can live safely, freely express themselves and have access to basic needs.

So this shows why human rights are really important.

True or false.

Protecting human rights helps ensure everyone is treated fairly and with respect.

That's true.

So now we're gonna move on to the first task for today.

So Laura is speaking about how one of her human rights was protected.

Laura says here, "I joined a peaceful organised protest about climate change in my town.

We were allowed to gather safely.

That is my right to protest being respected." Can you create three separate speech bubbles? Each containing a first person statement from someone describing how one of their human rights was protected or upheld.

So you can use Laura's as a bit of an example to give you an idea, but maybe you could think of a different human rights.

You could think of some different examples of human rights if you think back to them articles and then think about how it can be protected or upheld.

Of course, if you wanted to, you might draw out your little people.

Maybe you might give your characters a bit of description and a backstory to help demonstrate how and why their human rights were protected.

So take some time ,if you unpause when you're ready and we'll go through the feedback together.

How did you find that? Now, as I said, if you chose to draw them, brilliant job.

As you can see, the ones here are just to give you a bit of an idea of what you could include.

So we've got one speech bubble here that says, "Thanks to school being free for me to attend, I can get a good education and learn new skills every day." Did you think of one like that? Did you get the right to education or have you gone down a different route? Maybe you got one more like this.

"I can share my opinion safely 'cause I have the freedom to speak out without fear." Or maybe you went down this route and you said, "When I was unfairly accused, I was able to have a fair trial where everyone listened to my side." So hopefully that shows you three different examples there.

Now we've got a good idea of human rights, where they come from and why they're important.

We're gonna move on to the next learning cycle, which is what is the role of NGOs? Because if you remember, we are looking at how then different ideas and citizenship connect.

If we find out now about NGOs, then we can finally look at the link later on in the lesson.

So Lucas says here, "I think I remember what an NGO is.

The G stands for government.

So they work for the government, right?" What do you think about this? Is that correct? Is Lucas right here? So Andeep says, "Not quite, the G actually stands for governmental, but the N means non.

So NGOs are totally independent.

They do not work for the government at all." Brilliant job if you managed to remember that.

Now Lucas says, "Oh that makes more sense now.

So NGOs are the organisations that help people but are not part of the government?" That's correct.

So they are nonprofit organisations and they operate independently from governments.

They work at different levels to achieve their goals.

Can you think what those different levels are? Or could you think of some examples of NGOs? So they work at local levels.

So this might be specific areas, you might see some in your own local area.

An example is StreetLink.

Then you've got national.

So these operate across the entire country.

So this is an example like the British Red Cross.

And can you think what the final one's gonna be? This is now international.

So these work across multiple countries and they might be tackling global issues.

So example is Anti-Slavery International.

It's always really good leading up to the exam as well if you can think of actual examples that you can then utilise in the exam.

So these levels can actually be connected.

So just because a NGOs at a local level doesn't mean it might not work with and different level as well.

To give you a bit of an example, so the British Red Cross is actually part of the wider International Red Cross movement.

So although that's focuses on the national side, they're part of a group that is also doing international work as well.

So what is the role of NGOs? Why do we have them? Why do we need them? Why are they important? What do you think? They're really important because it allows for advocacy.

If you remember, this is one of our key words and it's really important this one, when we are linking to human rights as well.

So it's a good one to make sure you understand.

So NGOs speak up for individuals and groups and they campaign to change or influence laws and policies.

They can provide support.

This might be practical help.

So in the case of maybe a disaster, an emergency, they can provide assistance or aid.

They might also monitor and report, so they could investigate and document what is going on in sort of relation to the specific issue that is needed.

And then they can use this information to hold the government or different organisations to account.

Can you match the NGO to the correct role? StreetLink helps rough sleepers by connecting them local shelters and services.

The British Red Cross helps to make change in policies and legislation that impact people in crises.

Anti-slavery International works with the media to make sure people understand the importance of stopping modern slavery.

You obviously got the three roles there, which is advocacy, monitoring and reporting and providing support, which is which? So that first one StreetLink, is about providing the support.

The British Red Cross with the policies and legislation is about advocacy.

And then working with the media is about monitoring and reporting.

Obviously with these different examples, they will actually have some other roles as well and they might cross over, but these specific ones that have been given there link to those roles.

Now as we said, NGOs might work on different levels and now part of that might involve them working with some international organisations.

Some such as the United Nations or the UN.

How do you think NGOs link with international organisations? Why might they work with them? So they could to provide research.

They might write reports which they can then provide to those organisations.

And again, that advocacy, this could come in the form of attendant international meetings or help shaping global policy and holding international bodies to account.

You think, when each group does their own thing and they all have different strengths, if they work together, then it can help to really tackle those different issues that are going on.

So in what ways can NGOs work with or support international organisations? A, provide reports and evidence on issues? B, ignore international laws and focus only on local work.

C, advocate for change by influencing global policies.

D, they do not support international organisations.

Which one is it? Did you manage to get? It is A and it is C as well.

So this moves us on to the second task for today.

Can you create a mind map that explains what an NGO is, and shows its main roles with an example for each? Remember what we're saying, when it leading up to the exam.

If you've got them real life examples, it can really help your understanding of each topic.

You've got again, a bit of an example there of how you could structure it.

Once you are ready, if you unpause, and then we'll go through the feedback together.

So how did you get on? So it could look something like this? So we've got here what NGOs are.

So they're independent nonprofit groups that work together to solve problems and help people.

Another role is to provide support and services such as shelter and legal advice.

An example is StreetLink that helps rough sleepers by connecting them with local shelters and services.

A different role, there you've got advocacy, which is about the speaking up and then the example being the British Red Cross to make changes in policies and legislations.

And you might have also written about monitoring and reporting as well.

And it'd be even better if you've got different examples so to do with your local area or different examples of NGOs that you might have used as well.

So great job there.

Now hopefully we have a good knowledge of human rights and NGOs because now we're gonna use that to link them together.

So Laura says, "How do NGOs link to human rights?" Well, what do you think about this? 'Cause we've looked at what human rights are.

And we've looked at NGOs.

Can they connect together or are they completely separate things? Maybe start to think about some of those issues that the NGOs deal with.

So many nations chose to adopt human rights into their laws.

However, do you remember the UDHR is not legally binding? Some countries, yes, adopted it, but some haven't.

And this is when human rights violations can occur because there's no consequences if you don't follow human rights.

And this is because there's no protection by the law.

So some people might actually be denied the rights that they are meant to have.

When this happens, what could they do about it? 'Cause if you think about it, if it's not protected by law, how could they deal with this? So this is where NGOs come in.

Because some NGOs actually focus about awareness on human rights violations and supporting those that are affected.

That means they play a vital role in advocating.

So do you remember this key word? That advocacy is a really key word here that can tie NGOs and human rights together.

So how do they do it? They do it through pressuring governments, international bodies to take action.

They can support victims of human right abuses, monitor, document, and record.

So do remember that's one of the NGO's main roles here as well.

All it's doing is they're incorporating it into human rights and then providing legal aid to helping individuals access justice and campaign to change unfair laws and hold those responsible to account.

So fill in the blanks.

NGOs help protect human rights by, governments and international organisations to make positive changes.

NGOs provide to victims of human right violations such as legal advice or shelter.

NGOs and reports on human rights violations to hold those responsible accountable.

Did you manage to get them? So the first one is pressuring the governments.

The second is providing support, and the third is about monitor and report on human rights violations.

Hopefully you manage to get them.

So if we take a look at some examples now, 'cause do you remember what you're saying about leading to the GCSE? It's really good to have them solid examples.

Now you might have heard of Refugee Council.

So they are a UK based NGO that supports refugees and asylum seekers.

What they do, is they have many different roles.

So this includes providing legal aid, offering shelter support, campaigning for justice.

And again, it's a strong example of advocacy.

So they're offering advocacy to support refugees and asylum seekers.

To show you how they do this, in 2025, they led a campaign for an open letter to government opposing this decision to ban some refugees from ever becoming British Citizens.

They argued that the rights to citizenship is a fundamental human right and the policy was unfair and harmful to those seeking a new life in the UK.

So this just shows you one of the many different things that they do and how they are then supporting human rights.

Now we'll take a look at an international level.

So Amnesty International is a global NGO that investigates and exposes human rights abuses.

It is a movement of more than 10 million people in over 150 countries.

Now the main things it does is campaigning for justice, fair trials, fair release of political prisoners and pressuring governments through public awareness and activism.

Then we've also got Human Rights Watch, which is another independent organisation, has over 14 million audience members, again, monitoring human rights worldwide, publishing detailed reports on abuses, especially in conflict zones.

And they use the evidence to pressure the governments.

To give you an example of the impact that the Human Rights watch has made, Is Deciding is My right coalition in Mexico, which pushed for legal reform to protect people with disabilities and older people.

Their advocacy contributed to the abolition of guardianship laws and ensuring that all adults have the right to make their own decisions with support if needed.

Which NGO opposed the UK's government's refugee citizenship ban in an open letter? A, Amnesty International.

B, Human Rights Watch.

C, Refugee Council.

It was C, Refugee Council.

This moves us onto the final task today.

So the Oak National Academy pupils are answering this question.

Why is it important to protect human rights and how can individuals or groups ensure these rights are respected worldwide? Lucas says, "I've been looking at NGOs and human rights, but this question asks nothing about NGOs.

How am I supposed to include them in my answer?" So can you explain to Lucas how he could include NGOs in his response using examples to help him understand? So this one you might wanna take some time.

And what's a really good thing to do, when you're trying to think about the synoptic links, is draw in something like a mind map and the different ideas and thinking about how they interconnect.

So have you go back and have a look at some of that stuff that we've looked at in this learning cycle about how do NGOs and human rights connect? And then you are thinking about mainly in this part about how these rights are respected worldwide.

So what role do NGOs play in that? If you take some time to pause and then once you've got your response, if you unpause and we'll go through the feedback together.

So how did you find that? Hopefully you managed to think about what those links were and then how you would explain that to Lucas.

So you could have said something like this.

You can include NGOs in your response by explaining that they are one of the important groups that help protect human rights.

NGOs raise awareness about abuses, support victims, provide legal help and pressure governments to make fair laws.

For example, Amnesty International campaigns against human rights violations.

And the Refugee Council helps refugees understand their human rights.

Therefore, even if the question does not mention NGOs directly, you can talk about how these groups work alongside governments and individuals to protect rights worldwide.

Did you manage to get something like that? Now, if you'd like to take this one step further, you could always take the time to try and practise actually answering that question in the style that you would for an exam and include that section on NGOs in your response.

Would be really good with synoptic links to just keep practising.

The more you can practise and think outside the box about actually the real life examples and how they link together, the more natural it becomes to be able to include these different links in your responses as well.

But if you are done with that and you're ready to move on, we will do a quick summary of this lesson.

So human rights are basic rights and freedoms that all are entitled to.

They become legally binding only when a country includes them in its laws.

For example, the UK's Human Rights Act, 1998.

NGOs, independent nonprofit organisations and work on a local, national, or international level.

NGOs often work alongside international organisations to support human rights violations and have key roles such as advocacy, providing support and monitoring and reporting issues.

For example, Human Rights Watch supported the Deciding My Right campaign in Mexico, helping to protect vulnerable communities.

That brings us to the end.

Hopefully it's given you a better idea of how to make some of those links.

Thanks so much for working with me today and enjoy the rest of your day.