Togo - making choices

By focusing on the themes of children’s rights and making choices, this resource sensitively introduces UK students to inequality experienced by children around the world whilst helping to prepare them to take an active approach to bringing about change.

Background:
The year 2007 will mark the bi-centenary of the abolition of slavery by the British Government, however in countries such as Togo a form of slavery still exists in the widespread phenomenon of child-trafficking.

For many children in Togo living in poverty, the offer of a bike from a child trafficker is enough to entice them away from their families and into unpaid work in far away towns and villages. Removed from education and the support of their communities, these children’s rights to a happy and secure childhood are denied.

About Plan:
Plan has programmes in 46 countries and is committed to supporting communities to create and administer their own solutions for improving lives. Children are at the centre of everything we do, so they play an essential part in the process of planning and implementing projects within their communities.

In Togo this means that trafficked children are working with Plan community staff to find solutions for how they can both reintegrate with their communities, and help prevent other young people making the same decision they once did.

Through education resources such as these Plan UK aims to help young people in the UK gain not only a better understanding of the world that they live in, but also to inspire them to play an active part in making it a fairer place.

Resource information
Togo… includes
- 4 Key Stage 2 cross-curricular lesson plans with clearly stated curriculum links.
- 4 accompanying activity sheets (photocopiable)
- 10 related photos (with access to a bank of over 100 others through website)
- Interactive whiteboard preparation suggestions