With a potential grant pool of more than ?20,000, participation from 32 student teams, continuing support from the Overseas Aid Committee and a heightened focus on the Millennium Development Goals, the One World Charity Challenge 2010-2011 programme is going from strength to strength. Now in its fourth year the One World Charity Challenge is a Freedom to Flourish initiative sponsored by the H&S Davidson Trust that aims to encourage Year 12 students gain a broader understanding of development issues. The challenge sees student teams research Manx-registered charities working overseas or ones supported by the Overseas Aid Committee. Following a series of in-school presentations to decide which charities are to be represented, the finalists make their presentations at an awards ceremony before a panel of judges who determine each team’s share of the grant pool. Ballakermeen High School (six teams), Castle Rushen High School, (two teams) King William’s College (three teams), Queen Elizabeth II High School (seven teams), St Ninian’s High School (nine teams) and Isle of Man College (five teams) have signed up to the challenge, which this year will see strong representation of charities supported by the Overseas Aid Committee. The challenge provides opportunities for students to develop research, presentation and teamwork skills. Importantly students gain an understanding of global citizenship and come to recognise how their actions can make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged people. In a move to support students’ research into their chosen charity the One World Centre has engaged the services of Manx-born humanitarian healthcare worker Claire Bader who has more than 12 years’ experience working in the developing world. Claire has been delivering in-school presentations to equip students with the skills to evaluate the work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in global development and help them make informed decisions when choosing a charity to research. ‘My aim is to encourage students to be discerning when looking at NGOs and to give the teams guidance on how to assess an NGO’s effectiveness,’ said Claire, adding: ‘As part of my presentation I arranged for the students to work in groups and asked them to identify what they felt was important to know about a charity before they made their decision. I then asked them to consider whether that decision would be affected were little or no information about their preferred organisation available.’ Claire also challenged students to look at how funds raised for overseas aid projects had been used. ‘It was a way to help students develop their critiquing skills which, in turn, stimulated discussion and debate when they met with charity representatives for the first time at an open day the One World Centre organised at St Andrew’s Church in October,’ she explained. The Millennium Development Goals will be the subject of her next series of presentations. Claire said her aim was to demonstrate how working towards the goals can help strengthen the structure, consistency and quality of a charity’s operation. She continued: ‘I shall be asking students to evaluate an NGO from the perspective of to what extent it is working towards those global targets and whether its strategic approach is aligned with the national policies and priorities of the region in which it operates. In summary the purpose is not only to help students gain a deeper understanding of NGOs, in particular in terms of accountability and transparency, but also to provide the foundations for well-researched and thought-provoking presentations at the One World Charity Challenge finals in March next year.’ For more information, contact One World Charity Challenge co-ordinator Jenni Quillin, jenni@owciom.org. The One World Centre, Thie Garey Ny Cloie, Foxdale Road, St Johns, Isle of Man, IM4 3AS. 01624 800464 (1 to 5pm weekdays only). www.oneworldcentreiom.org Ends