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Let's explore Humanitarian Law (Theater/Movie)

Belfast, NORTHERN IRELAND

Let's Explore Humanitarian Law (LEHL) is a set of educational modules for adolescents, developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The project is oriented toward spreading out humanitarian concepts among young people of different countries of the world in order to help them integrate appropriate behaviors to face violence or urgency situations. In Northern Ireland, the project has taken the form of a theatrical piece played by the students of a Belfast school. A movie has also been made and used as one of the LEHL program's modules.

Developed at the Malone school in Belfast, the theater project of the Irish Committee of the Red Cross has been an important tool of LEHL in Ireland. Given the success of it during the campaign, it has served as a base for a movie. In fact, the Committee has seen in it an appropriate educational means that could contribute to developing its initiative. In its development, this innovation starts by a two-week voluntary group of students of several model schools. These students become familiarized with the basic theater techniques and at the same time with the subject of Humanitarian Law. The plays performed deal with conflicts (economic and environmental consequences, individual level traumatisms) and their solution. The filmed service will allow the production of a ten-minute video, which is going to be part of the final module of HL training. The interviews of students are also carried out in order to receive their point of view on the program and the teachings taken from the experience.

For the ICRC, the ethical explorations around Humanitarian Law appear as a pertinent component of young people's education, regardless of their own armed conflict experience. The LEHL has shown that they may contribute to the change of attitudes on the basis of the principles of respect for life and human dignity, civic responsibility and solidarity. The LEHL project in Northern Ireland intends to sensitize people differently on Humanitarian Law. To better attain its objective, it uses theater to show its great mobilization and sensitization potential in a violence context like that of Northern Ireland.

Robin de Baere
Irish Committee of the Red Cross
Belfast Section
125 University Street
Belfast BT7 1HP
Tel.: 028 9032 2325
Fax: 028 9043 4667
E-mail: RdBaere@redcross.org.uk
Web site: http://www.redcross.org.uk

Institutional Partners
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
Public Information Center
19 Avenue de la Paix
CH 1202 Geneva
Tel.: ++ 41 (22) 734 60 01
Fax: ++ 41 (22) 730 20 82
Web site: http://www.icrc.org

The theater project started in October 2000