Minister Sherlock presents WorldWise Global Awards
21/4/15Minster Sherlock presents WorldWise Global Awards
Minister of State for Development, Trade Promotion, and North South Co-operation, Seán Sherlock, TD, presented the first WorldWise Global Passport Awards to secondary schools at the Aviva Stadium today at an event attended by 300 students.
Minister Sherlock presented 25 schools with the Global Passport Award, which is part of an initiative by WorldWise Global Schools to recognise the work of schools in development education and global justice. WorldWise Global Schools is Irish Aid’s programme for supporting development education in post-primary schools in Ireland.
Speaking at today’s conference, Minister Sherlock acknowledged the work of both students and teachers and the importance of development education:
“Irish Aid provides support to schools to engage students on the issues that affect the world’s poorest nations - such as hunger, poverty, and climate change.
“Development education, through WorldWise Global Schools, raises awareness of these major global issues As a Government, we want to ensure that every person in Ireland will have access to educational opportunities to understand their rights and responsibilities as global citizens as well as their potential to effect change for a more just and equal world.
“This year, Ireland will play a key role in agreeing the negotiations to agree a new set of development goals. For this universal agenda to be agreed, each country needs to be clear on their objectives and engage with their citizens. Irish Aid supports this
engagement through our support for Development Education through WorldWise Global Schools.”
ENDS
Press Office
21 April 2015
Notes to editors:
• Irish Aid is the Government’s overseas development programme. It is managed by the Development Cooperation Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. www.irishaid.ie
• Photos issued by Photocall Ireland.
• This is the second Annual Conference organized by WWGS.
• The theme for the conference is ‘The World We Want’ and is organised as part of the 2015 European Year of Development.
• The WWGS Global Passport was launched in 2014 and today’s conference will see the presentation, for the first time, of Global Passports to a variety of schools from around the country. The Global Passport is an accreditation for schools, which is self-assessed, to recognise their engagement with development education.
• This event provides an opportunity for secondary schools, funded through WWGS, to showcase learning from their projects and collaborate with peers through a variety of interactive workshops and activities.