Latvian youth are not accustomed to democratic participation. How can they be encouraged? A woman walks by the European Union House in Riga, Latvia 1 June 2024. In Latvian, the writing on the window says, “We put it here, you write it down in your calendar....
It’s been 34 years since the Soviet Union controlled Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. But the Ukraine conflict has people thinking: Are we ready for war? Two photos show Jelgava, Latvia. On the left is Jelgava before World War Two (Credit: The Archive of Jelgava...
Can we turn from plastic to paper without cutting down more trees? At 16, Valentyn Frechka decided he could make paper from fallen leaves. Trees in an urban forest. (Photo by Tom & Anna on Pixnio) This article, by high school student Danylo Bryhinskyi, was...
Millions in Russia mourn the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny but few do so openly. In Russia, grieving is an act of political defiance. A man holds a poster reading “Freedom for Seva Korolev and all political prisoners” as he comes to pay tribute...
There is an evolving global consensus that some acts of violence in warfare are not acceptable. But how in the world can we enforce that? Headquarters of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. This article was produced exclusively for News...
Headlines about today’s international conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine paint atrocious pictures of war crimes and violent attacks. Are these actions sanctioned in the eyes of international humanitarian law? Correspondent and political science professor Daniel Warner of the Graduate Institute in Geneva gives an overview.
Exercise: Using this summary document from the Red Cross, print out 30-40 articles from the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols. Cut each article out separately. Then, prepare a large board/poster for sorting and pasting the articles, divided into four sections: civilians, prisoners of war, wounded/sick, critical infrastructure. Have students read through each article and sort them within the four categories. As they learn more about the Conventions, you may consider bringing in current headlines to evaluate whether or not today’s conflicts have abided by these international humanitarian laws. Note: Consider creating 4-5 sets of article texts and sorting posters if you have a large class, or create a digital version via Google Slides.