New
New
Year 11

What do NGOs have to do with human rights?

I can explain how NGOs support and protect human rights.

New
New
Year 11

What do NGOs have to do with human rights?

I can explain how NGOs support and protect human rights.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Human rights are basic freedoms everyone should have.
  2. NGOs are groups that work independently from the Government to support a particular cause.
  3. NGOs raise awareness, support victims and pressure governments to protect human rights globally.

Keywords

  • Human rights - basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to

  • NGO - a non-profit, voluntary group of citizens who work on a local, national or international level to achieve an aim; they are not controlled by the Government, but will often work closely with them

  • Advocacy - representing or supporting a person or organisation publicly by writing, speaking or taking action on behalf of that person or organisation

Common misconception

Only governments can protect and enforce human rights.

NGOs also play a vital role by raising awareness, supporting victims and pressuring governments to uphold human rights worldwide.


To help you plan your year 11 citizenship lesson on: What do NGOs have to do with human rights?, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Encourage pupils to make connections between different topics rather than learning facts in isolation. For example, when discussing human rights, prompt them to think about how NGOs, governments and international organisations all play roles in protecting these rights.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
What are human rights?

rules only governments follow
Correct answer: basic rights and freedoms everyone is entitled to
rights only people in certain countries should have
rights that can be bought or sold

Q2.
Match the term to its meaning.

Correct Answer:human rights,basic freedoms and protections everyone should have

basic freedoms and protections everyone should have

Correct Answer:NGO,an independent group that works to support causes or people

an independent group that works to support causes or people

Correct Answer:responsibility,a duty or obligation to behave in a certain way towards others

a duty or obligation to behave in a certain way towards others

Q3.
An NGO are __________ the Government to support a cause.

controlled by
dependent on
funded by
Correct answer: independent from

Q4.
Which of the following is an example of a human right?

the right to have ice cream
the right to own a pet
Correct answer: the right to vote in elections
the right to watch TV whenever you want

Q5.
Which statement best describes where NGOs operate?

NGOs only help with environmental issues
NGOs only work in the UK
Correct answer: NGOs work in the UK and internationally
NGOs work only with governments

Q6.
Which of the following is a human rights violation?

a football match is cancelled due to rain
Correct answer: a person is stopped from voting because of their religion
a shop runs out of your favourite snack
a student gets detention for forgetting homework

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the word to its meaning.

Correct Answer:human rights,basic rights and freedoms all people should have

basic rights and freedoms all people should have

Correct Answer:NGO,a group that works independently to support a cause

a group that works independently to support a cause

Correct Answer:advocacy,supporting or representing someone publicly

supporting or representing someone publicly

Q2.
NGOs often work by governments to improve human rights laws.

Correct Answer: pressuring

Q3.
Which of these is NOT a role of an NGO?

Correct answer: making laws in Parliament
monitoring and reporting abuses
raising awareness of issues
supporting victims of human rights abuses

Q4.
Why is it important that NGOs operate independently from governments?

so they can ignore laws
Correct answer: so they can freely criticise governments when needed
so they can create their own laws
so they do not have to help people

Q5.
Who can protect and support human rights?

Only governments
Only international organisations
Only NGOs
Correct answer: All of them
None of them

Q6.
The Refugee Council mainly works at which level?

local
Correct answer: national
international
global