Teaching children about human rights

PRIMARY school children have been provided with an enjoyable way to learn about human rights.

The Committee for the Restoration of Human Rights in All of Cyprus has compiled and published a free colouring book with the aim of making the 30 articles of the Declaration of Human Rights more understandable for children.

Developed with the co-operation of the Bank of Cyprus, the book follows the adventures of a little boy and a girl Kypros (Cyprus) and Elpida (Hope).

According to the book’s foreword, “The names of the little heroes represent the hope Cyprus has in human rights for a fair solution to the Cyprus Problem.”

Committee representative Loukia Socratous said yesterday that 10,000 copies of the book had already been distributed to children at primary schools all over the island.

“This is just the first stage and the Education Ministry has been very enthusiastic about the book,” Socratous said.

She added that if the first edition proved popular, the Ministry would be taking over the book’s publishing. “The Ministry has already given us a lot of assistance in compiling the first edition; government sociologists and psychologists read it and advised us on changes and improvements.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.