MANILA — Dominicans for Justice and Peace (Order of Preachers) and the Dominican Family for Justice, Peace and Care for Creation – Philippines (DFJPCC) spearheaded the launch of the handbook titled Climate Change and Human Rights Education for Youth in the Philippines (CCHRE) at the University of Santo Tomas on July 16, 2024.
CCHRE is designed to assist school administrators and teachers in integrating climate change and human rights in compulsory education. It discusses the intricate relationship between people and the environment while emphasising the crucial role of education in addressing the climate crisis and its impacts on human rights. The handbook also lays the groundwork for climate change and human rights integration on four core subjects, namely Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health or MAPEH; Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan/Technology and Livelihood Education or EPP/TLE; Science; and Social Studies. The structured approach for grade levels 3–10 is geared towards the effective mainstreaming of CCHRE with the revamped MATATAG Curriculum introduced by the Department of Education in the Philippines.
“As we started observing the impacts of climate change on the lives of people around the world, it became evident that the young generations needed to be prepared to face this new reality,” Dominicans for Justice and Peace Programme Coordinator Laurence Blattmer said as she explained the purpose and objective of the handbook.
Father Aniedi Okure, OP, Permanent Delegate of the Order of Preachers to the United Nations and Dominicans for Justice and Peace Director, highlighted the significance of CCHRE and the crucial role of the youth by saying: “It is designed to enable our children to be proactive in shaping an integral, wholesome future by preparing for it in the present, to understand the diverse ways that our human activities contribute to shaping the future.”
Following the launch of CCHRE, Dominicans for Justice and Peace and DFJPCC organised a three-day training for 35 school administrators and teachers at Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Bataan on July 17–19, 2024, to facilitate the roll-out of the handbook in Philippine schools starting this academic year 2024–2025. In 2025, training sessions for school administrators and teachers will also take place in Visayas and Mindanao.
CCHRE is a project envisioned and realised by Dominicans for Justice and Peace and DFJPCC, with the support of Misean Cara (Mission Support, Ireland), UST SIMBAHAYAN Community Development Office, and the UST Graduate School Center for Continuing Professional Education and Development.
About the Publication
Climate Change and Human Rights Education for Youth in the Philippines (CCHRE) is a handbook designed to assist school administrators and teachers in integrating climate change and human rights in compulsory education. It discusses the intricate relationship between people and the environment while emphasising the crucial role of education in addressing the climate crisis and its impacts on human rights. CCHRE lays the groundwork for climate change and human rights integration on four core subjects (namely Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health or MAPEH; Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan/Technology and Livelihood Education or EPP/TLE; Science; and Social Studies). The structured approach for grade levels 3–10 is geared towards the effective mainstreaming of CCHRE with the revamped MATATAG Curriculum introduced by the Department of Education in the Philippines. This handbook is a project envisioned and realised by Dominicans for Justice and Peace and Dominican Family for Justice Peace and Care for Creation – Philippines (DFJPCC).
About the Publishers
Dominicans for Justice and Peace (Order of Preachers) (UNOP) is a faith-based non-profit and non-governmental organization (NGO) representing the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) at the United Nations (UN). Dominicans for Justice and Peace is dedicated to the promotion and protection of the integrity of Creation and of human rights for all, as an integral element of the Order’s mission to seek truth and to bring Good News.
Dominican Family for Justice Peace and Care for Creation – Philippines (DJPCC) is a collaborative endeavor of the different branches of the Dominican Family (friars, apostolic sisters and the Dominican laity). While being anchored in the priorities of the Dominican Order in the Philippines, its aim is to preach the Gospel especially to the peripheries, promoting justice and peace and instilling transformative consciousness in the Care of Creation in the local Church setting and focusing on the needs and rights of its members in particular.
© 2024 Photos from UNOP and DFJPCC