Explore how international trade rules are widening the gap between rich and poor countries.
International trade is now worth over £7 million a minute, and growing. But the prosperity that this trade brings is not being shared. While rich countries and businesses grab all the benefits, the world's poor countries lose out - and the poorest people become even poorer.
International trade is controlled by rules. Countries propose and agree these trade rules at meetings of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), an international institution based in Geneva, Switzerland. One hundred and forty-three countries are members, out of approximately 200 countries in the world (as of November 2001)
But at the WTO rich countries dominate meetings, while poor countries struggle to have their concerns heard. As a result, poor countries find that trade rules that are agreed often harm their interests and prevent them from choosing policies that are in their interest and could tackle the root causes of poverty.
For use with ages 16+, takes approx 1.5 hours, group size 20-50 players.
This game looks at the experiences of Ghanaian cocoa farmers and how fairtrade improves their conditions. The players will gain an understanding of the whole chocolate chain (by taking on the role of either a farmer, a manufacturer, a retailer or a shopper/journalist) and the way that the trading system affects lives of those involved in it.
For use with ages 9 to 14, takes approx 1.5 hours, group size 20-40 players
The aim of this game is to help the players understand how it is still possible to be poor if you work hard for a living. The game is set in an imaginary Latin American shanty town, where small family businesses are making training shoes to sell to the local market. Their aim is to make ends meet. However the country itself is in economic crisis and inflation is rocketing. How will they survive?
For use with ages 13+, takes approx 1.5 hours , group size 15-40 players
One quarter of the world's population live in severe poverty. Many work long hours under poor conditions to earn just enough to stay alive, often surviving on less than £1.30 per day.
For many workers there may be no employer or regular wage. Instead they work as street vendors, shoe-shiner, newspaper sellers or perhaps recycling waste materials. In the Indian city of Calcutta some people earn a living from making paper bags by recycling waste paper, such as old newspapers, and selling the bags to shopkeepers.
The Paper Bag game tries to show how hard people work, yet how little they earn. Using retail cost-of-living and wages, players can get an idea of how they would manage if they had to survive by making and selling paper bags.
For use with age 9+, lasts approx 45 minutes, group size 10-35 players
A game for younger players to illustrate how trading relationships can work for and against different countries. It explores the relationship between the resources of a country and that country's ability to feed itself and encourages children to question the injustices in the world.
For use with 8-12 year olds, lasts 2-2.5 hours, group size 20- 40 players.
A session on bananas, aimed at a smaller adult group. Includes a short game to highlight the problems faced by banana growers and a video, followed by discussion.
For use with 16+, lasts 40 minutes, group size around 10.
last update: 28/03/2004 | http://wfan.port5.com/activitiesandsimulationgames.html