CBBC
CBBC Newsround
Overview
Afghan kids Environment experts from the United Nations say fighting has ravaged the land.
This activity allows students to imagine how they would help rebuild the country.
Learning aims
Icebreaker
Read the group the news story:
Afghan environment 'ruined' by years of war
Why should America help the Afghans?
Explain that no country can be completely independent from the rest of the world, all countries rely on each other.The events of September 11 show how problems cross boundaries.
Warm up
Will you help your neighbour?
Students imagine they are one country, and the class next door are another. What would be the consequences for their country if they didn't help the country next door in the following scenarios?
Agriculture
The farmers in the next door country can't make a decent living, they don't have the money to buy modern equipment. An easy way to get money is to
grow some illegal drugs.
Violent crime
The police in the next door country are having problems with a group of violent gangsters. They don't have enough manpower to catch them and lock them up. What will happen to your country if you don't help?
Refugees
There has been a war in the country next door, millions of refugees are on the move trying to avoid getting shot at. The refugee camps are all full and there is no money to build any more.
Healthcare
There is a dangerous disease spreading in the next door country. The health service there is not very good, and they don't have the medicines or doctors they need to stop the disease.
Jobs and money
People in the country next door have always been good customers for the products made in your factories. Now there is a recession in the country next door and many people are losing their jobs.
Ask students: What is global interdependence? The way that events in one country affect people living in other countries around the world is called global interdependence.
Main activity
Match types of aid to types of projects
The US government has made money available to rebuild Afghanistan. Students working in small groups must match the correct type of aid to the correct project.
For each project they choose from these four aid options. They should give each option a mark out of ten.
Types of Aid
The projects
Is there one type of aid that works for all projects?
Extension activity
For two of the projects write an explanation of why certain types of aid were rejected, or given a low score.
Plenary
No country is independent of global affairs - rich countries help poor countries for several reasons - recap some examples, can students think of any more?
Teachers' Background
select this link for our guide to the war in Afghanistan
select this link for our guide to life after the Taleban in Afghanistan
Germany puts the cost of reconstructing Afghanistan at about $6 billion, although an official United Nations estimate has yet to be reached.
Very little works in Afghanistan. Electricity is unreliable, many roads are unusable, and municipal water systems have been destroyed.
Less than a quarter of the population has access to safe water and only 12% of people have access to adequate sanitation.
Agriculture has been severely disrupted, with a vast number of Afghans earning a living by growing opium poppies.
The UN plans to offer them "alternative livelihood strategies".
Aid agencies plan to provide farmers with seeds and help with irrigation.
But Mr Malloch Brown says the ultimate aim is self-sufficiency.
The United Nations Development Programme has drawn up reconstruction guidelines spanning a period of five to eight years.
Rebuilding Afghanistan's shattered cities will be high on the list.
Other priorities are roads, agriculture, water, sewage, de-mining, health and education.
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