Facts about the world

"Gradual improvements are not news. When a trend is gradually improving, with periodic dips, you are more likely to notice the dips than the overall improvement" (Hans Rosling)

Instructions

• The facilitator divides the participants into groups (3-5 persons), each issued a news item. Some proposed topics: discrimination of women, poverty, health services and vaccination.
• Each participant reads the news item and determines what the main topic is. Then the participants work together on making fact boxes containing the following:
  • 1. Statistics showing the development of the topic over time. What are the major positive trends? Are there any major negative trends?
  • 2. Information about human rights or international treaties or agreements relating to the topic.
• In addition to the factual information, the groups design a timeline showing important milestones relating to the topic from WW2 to the present. Use Prezi or other digital tools for this.
• The groups present their fact boxes in a plenary session. The facilitator gives a brief presentation with illustrations. Preferably use statistics from the website www.gapminder.org.

Reflection

• What do you think are the reasons behind a positive development in the world after WW2?
• Why do you think many people have a more negative image of the development than what is actually true?

Debriefing

Many people have a more negative image of the development than what is actually true. One explanation may be that news on television, newspapers, radio and the internet often calls attention to the sudden and unexpected, such as disasters, terror, war and crime.

Positive improvements that are the result of slow, complex change processes do not get the same attention. This does not mean that the negative news is incorrect. News has a vital function in society. Journalists and the media reporting on abuse and crime contribute vital information that helps the authorities and others to address these issues.

But one must bear in mind that negative news is part of a bigger picture. Using a historical perspective will help us to see that important development trends in the world are actually positive. Activists, international collaboration, science and technology have been important catalysts for a positive development.

Some examples:

• Infant mortality rates are declining every year.
• The situation for women has improved radically.
• Extreme poverty has been halved in recent years.
• The average life span is twice of what it was 200 years ago.

A common saying is that we must learn from history, referring to major wars or genocides. Obviously there is much to learn from these events. But we must also learn from what has been done right in history. Therefore it is important to have fact-based knowledge about the world and which means and measures support positive development.

Tips to the facilitator

Ask the participants to access Gapminder Worldview Upgrader to test what they know about developments in the world.

(English translation: John Anthony)