UNESCO
WSPA’s International Animal Welfare Education (‘IN AWE’) Programme has been running successfully in Costa Rica since 1990. It consists of ‘Respect for all forms of life’ teacher guidelines, teacher training workshops and research into children’s attitudes towards animal welfare. Similar methods and content have been used in Brazil since 2004 and Peru (2005).
In 2006 the WSPA Education Unit established a relationship with the Ministry of Education in Chile, the National Commission for the Environment, the Woods and Forest Government Corporation and UNESCO. In November 2006 stakeholders’ support was formalised and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed and formalised with the Ministry of Education and the National Commission for the Environment to conduct teacher training workshops and research in 2007. This was a huge step forward for the implementation of animal welfare education in the Chilean curriculum.
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organisation) is an international governmental organisation which aims to improve the quality of education worldwide. WSPA sought collaboration with UNESCO to further humane education and animal welfare as part of the curriculum. We approached the regional UNESCO Education office for Latin America and the Caribbean and during a conference call in February 2007, UNESCO expressed interest in a possible endorsement.
Prior to the first teacher training workshops in April 2007 the UNESCO regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean endorsed the WSPA animal welfare education programme. Official UNESCO recognition for humane education and animal welfare as an essential component in the education of children is one of the main achievements of the ‘IN AWE’ Programme.
