Heritage

88 heritage for peace and reconciliation | manual for teacherContentsBuilding blocks for peace education based on heritageOn this International Day of Peace, let us pledge toteach our children the value of tolerance and mutualrespect. Let us invest in the schools and teachers thatwill build a fair and inclusive world that embraces diversity.Let us fight for peace and defend it with all ourmight.Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-Generalon International Peace Day, 21 September 2013Me, myself and othersBuilding block:We help children understand the enrichment brought by cultural diversity, andteach them to put themselves in the position of people who think differently, behavedifferently, or are different. We teach them that everyone has his or her owntalents and flaws, and teach them values such as solidarity and equality.Approximately 7.2 billion people live on this planet, and everybody is different. Respectingyourself and others begins by accepting cultural diversity without additionalvalue judgements. While some differences are clearly visible from the outside – gender,ethnicity, age – others, such as wishes, needs, expectations, sexual preference,personality and level of education, are less visible. Every person is a unique combinationof these different characteristics. We may sometimes be inclined to rank thesecharacteristics on different scales. It is still the case that men are placed above women,children are treated as inferior to adults, people with a disability have more difficultyearning their place in society than those without, some people believe they belong toa superior race, etc. In contrast, a non-violent attitude focuses instead on equality andsolidarity.When we approach diversity positively, we create an atmosphere where everyone feelssafe and comfortable. In the long term, emphasizing the diversity of human characteristicswill lead to a balance between people who participate in society – immigrantand indigenous, disabled and non-disabled, men and women, and those with a highereducation and those without.