Sunday, November 25, 2012

United Nations - Disability - Google Hangouts

Many of you are already aware of the annual celebration of Human Rights Day held by the United Nations on December 10th of each year. This annual tradition was started back in 1950. This was to mark and celebrate the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th, 1948 in Paris, France.  It holds the record for being the highest translated and disseminated document in the Guinness Book of World Records - 370 languages & dialects!

As part of this year's celebrations and events, the United Nations Human Rights Office has announced a series of Google Hangout discussions focusing on specific issues related to disability. You can receive updates on everything through any of the social media sites which include Storify at this point! As mentioned much earlier in this blog, Storify.com is a unique social media site which allows people to discuss and convey areas of interests in a creative manner. The Celebration of Human Rights Day and the Google Hangout discussions are ways to be a part of the bigger discussion across the world on where we are at in terms of human rights and where we need to direct our attention and efforts. This is also a critical topic to discuss in the classroom with your students through age and developmentally appropriate materials as well as adult programs. There continues to be a strong movement to make sure people with disabilities and those minimized by society are able to have access to voting and involvement on issues which directly impact their lives. This is another wonderful place to support access and commitment to hearing the new and old voices of those who we continue to silence and talk over each day.

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