MAINSTREAMING HUMANITARIAN EDUCATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN

KENYABy

JOY MORENDI

Definition• Humanitarian education focuses on the yearn to

save lives, protect human dignity and reduce suffering.

• It has its origin in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, whereby individuals are enabled to interpret situations from a humanitarian perspective and empowered to address challenges and take action in the spirit of the Fundamental Principles and humanitarian values of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

• Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies identified the opportunity to educate and empower young people to become future leaders and agents of change.

They recognized that Humanitarian Education can provide the enabling environment for empowering the youth.

Goals• Its goal is that communities increase their resilience

and that individuals and groups are more confident, able and willing to help themselves and others when faced with a crisis, emergency or impacts of a disaster.

• Education, in general, provides an avenue or channel to empower ad enable exploration of solutions for individuals and community at large, leading to a meaningful life.

• Humanitarian education therefore enables the young people to asses and interpret events, from a humanitarian perspective to bring principles and values to life.

INTEGRATING HUMANITARIAN EDUCATION IN THE CURRICULA

Kenya Secondary Schools Life Skills topicsSelf AwarenessSelf EsteemCoping with emotionsCoping with stressFriendship formation and maintenanceAssertivenessEmpathyEffective CommunicationNegotiation skillsNon-violent conflict resolutionDecision making

• Street mediation- this tool was developed by the Norwegian Red Cross in 1999 and further developed and shared on a peer-to-peer level with other National Societies in Lebanon, Belize, Romania and Denmark, to prevent against violence among young people. The youth themselves become actively involved in being agents for change in their communities

• Advocacy- recommend for humanitarian perspective in educational policies, strategies, curricula and subjects in both formal and non-formal education

• Help portal- create and launch a “room” where the youth and other humanitarians can access for educational purposes, find resource kits, initiatives, inspire others, have intergenerational dialogue and share experiences

• Voluntary service- encourage the young people to participate in humanitarian action

• Impart life skills- instill life skills in the youth through interactive process of teaching and learning which enables the learners to acquire knowledge and develop attitudes and skills that support adoption of healthy behavior. They include, but not limited to, include psychosocial, interpersonal, communication, decision-making, critical thinking, coping and self-management skills.

THANK YOU

THE END