Importance of Scottish Development Education Centres and Global Citizenship

That the Parliament recognises the important work carried out by the five Scottish Development Education Centres (DECs), including Aberdeen for a Fairer World, to raise awareness and promote understanding of global concerns and to support active global citizenship; understands that DECs provide support and valuable resources to teachers and schools that want to address difficult issues in the classroom such as promoting human rights and tackling inequality and climate change, and create the next generation of global citizens; acknowledges that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Aberdeen for a Fairer World and the other Scottish DECs have moved many of their resources online, as well as creating new resources for teachers demonstrating how they can use the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to explore issues in depth and embed global citizenship in their classrooms and schools; notes that Aberdeen for a Fairer World, which was founded in 1988 as the Third World Centre, has been working in the North East for over 30 years to promote global citizenship and the benefits of international development, and urges the Scottish Government to consult with all the Scottish DECs as part of the review into the international development programme, and to ensure that Aberdeen for a Fairer World continues to receive the funding it needs to promote global citizenship in schools in the North East.