©InfoWe offer young people across the UK the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and experience of humanitarian issues in a national competition. In 2010 and 2011, the British Red Cross in partnership with Allen and Overy LLP sponsored this competition.
Through this competition, young people aged 13 to 17 are invited to develop creative, interactive presentations on action-based projects within their school or local community. The presentations may incorporate video, photography and other media. Students may base their entries on a range of topics related to the theme of justice and fairness such as:
- child soldiers in conflicts around the world
- refugees and asylum seekers
- armed conflict and its impact on civilians.
(Note: the themes may change each year).
The competition complements students’ citizenship studies controlled assessments, and also fits with other citizenship activities in formal and informal education settings. The competition is open to teams of up to six young people. More than one team may be entered by schools or organisations.
The winning team visit Geneva to find out about the origins and the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Dates for future competitions will be posted here. If you would like to receive information about this exciting opportunity as it becomes available, please register here.
Background to the competition
Launched in September 2010, the Justice and Fairness flagship competition received entries of an extremely high standard. Entrants developed their research, technological, cooperative, independent learning and critical thinking skills, whilst taking action on their chosen issues. These were presented as written projects, informative DVDs and radio interviews. Five successful teams were invited to the live final at Allen and Overy LLP offices in London on 24 September 2010 to present their action projects in front of a judging panel. Teams explained what they had learnt about International Humanitarian Law (rules of war) and how they had made a difference in their local communities. The winning teams from 2010 were Coleraine High School, Coleraine and Gaynes High School, Essex.
In last year's competition, seven successful teams were selected from entries received and invited to present their action projects in London to an audience of over 100 teachers, youth workers and representatives of national and international organisations. The teams tackled a diverse range of issues such as water aid, child brides, human sex trafficking, homophobia, child trafficking, asylum seekers and the importance of the Millennium Development goals in defeating injustice and conflict, particularly the importance of universal education. The winning team in 2011 was George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh and the runners up were Hutchesons’ Grammar, Glasgow.