Every year, as part of the Wales-wide youth movement Urdd Gobaith Cymru, young people across Wales work together to share their message of peace and goodwill with the world.
The Urdd Gobaith Cymru provides opportunities for children and young people in Wales to develop personal and social skills to enable them to make a positive contribution to their community.
The Urdd has issued a ‘Message of Peace and Goodwill’ from young people in Wales every year since 1925. Young people participate in workshops and discussions to develop the message which is shared with young people throughout the world. This year the Bwrdd Syr Ifanc (youth advisory board for the Urdd) engaged with young people across Wales to develop their message of peace and goodwill.
Peace and Goodwill Message 2017 from the Young People of Wales
We invite young people across the world to join with us in our call for equality for young people
We wish to receive equality:-
In our education opportunities, in our freedom to live according to our sexuality, when dealing with our disabilities, in our life choices and opportunities, in our rights to use our own language, when tackling racism and in our freedom of religion.
Without equality and recognition of our rights, others see us in a different light.
We call for our voice to be heard, we wish that our voice is respected.
We call for the right for all of us to express our opinions and for young people to have a vote, asking others to speak with us before speaking on our behalf.
We do not have all the answers, we have our weaknesses, and we acknowledge them so that we can keep on learning.
We need to receive the correct information.
We need to be educated on social, political and international matters, and by encouragement not enforcement we are able to influence others.
Together, we can raise standards within our communities for the generations of today and the future – ensuring that equality is at the heart of decisions for the future.
A powerful message of equality, of rights being respected and voices being heard. This provides a great learning opportunity for young people. Ask your class, what would their message be? Would it be the same as the young people of Wales? What does this message really mean for our lives today and in the future? Importantly, how can we as local and global citizens take action to work towards equality?
Oxfam Education has many resources which can be used to help learners explore the causes and effects of inequality and what they can do to make a positive difference.
- More or Less Equal? explores the lives of young people around the world. Lesson plans for 11-14 year olds are available for Geography (available in Welsh), Maths and English.
- Learners can find out more about inequality and young peoples lives around the world, whilst developing numeracy skills, by using Everyone Counts which is a resource for 8-12 year olds (available in Welsh).
- Explore women’s empowerment using Bringing Data to Life for 11-14 years old and 14-16 years old learners (available in Welsh for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4).
- Raising Her Voice is an exciting series of lessons that inspire learners to explore the role of music in social change (available in Welsh).
- In Data Power learners take on an investigative role by collecting, analysing and visualising data about the lives of children in different countries. An opportunity to develop digital competencies and data handling skills.
- Republic of You is an interactive game exploring inequality. Learners create their own nations and come face to face with real world issues like tax, wages and how you pay for essential public services.
You can read the message in many languages– Welsh, Russian, French, Spanish, Swahili, Gaelic and many more.