[ti:Blair Urges UN to Support Tolerance Programs] [ar:Jerilyn Watson] [al:Education Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:02.62]this is the Education Report. [00:05.87]Former British prime minister Tony Blair [00:09.42]recently urged governments around the world [00:12.23]to support tolerance programs for young people. [00:16.14]Mr Blair told the United Nations Security Council [00:20.19]that such programs make it possible for students [00:23.65]to accept people of different cultures and religions. [00:27.96]The former British leader described education [00:31.65]in the 21 century as a security issue. [00:35.90]He made the appeal last month at a meeting [00:39.15]of the Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee. [00:43.41]Tony Blair served as prime minister from 1997 to 2007. [00:50.21]He currently heads the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. [00:54.46]The group seeks to help prevent prejudice, [00:57.62]conflict and extremism. [01:00.31]It operates tolerance programs [01:02.76]in more than 1,000 schools worldwide. [01:06.52]Mr Blair said the world faces extremism based on [01:10.92]what he called "a perversion of religious belief." [01:15.12]He said this way of thinking abuses religion [01:18.62]to justify violence against innocent civilians. [01:22.67]The former prime minister said [01:25.19]people like to belong to something. [01:27.24]And that belonging can provide a sense of identity. [01:31.98]But he believes that misguided sense of belonging [01:36.09]can make people think of others [01:38.29]who are different as opponents. [01:41.19]He said the wide contacts of today [01:45.72]deepen and add greatly to extremism, [01:49.02]because people now meet many others [01:51.82]who differ from themselves. [01:53.89]"The challenge then is to show our young people, [01:57.83]who are vulnerable to appeals from terrorists, [02:00.09]that there is a better way to live your life, [02:03.04]a better path to having your voice heard, [02:06.05]a more meaningful way to engage with the world. [02:09.30]And we must address the extremists' funding and support [02:13.16]so that they have less ability to teach and promote hate, [02:16.76]persecution and murder," said Blair. [02:18.91]He also said the Tony Blair Faith Foundation [02:23.36]has operated its school programs for 4 years. [02:27.67]This Face to Faith program as it is called [02:31.47]now reaches 50,000 students between the ages of 12 and 17. [02:37.33]Some of the students live in western countries, [02:41.03]such as Australia, Canada, Italy and the United States. [02:46.19]Others live in Egypt, India,Indonesia, Jordan, [02:51.29]Pakistan and Philippines. [02:55.36]Mr Blair said the students [02:57.31]learn the skills needed to prevent conflict [02:59.95]by breaking down religious and cultural misunderstandings. [03:04.82]He says Face to Faith teaches what he calls "religious literacy." [03:10.72]Basically, it works, he said, they love it [03:14.87]and it changes their minds and the mindsets. [03:18.22]He said many tolerance programs exist, [03:21.42]but Mr Blair urged governments to start many more. [03:24.93]"Let the young people in your country [03:27.52]experience firsthand an opportunity to learn about the world [03:31.65]and to form a relationship with someone far away [03:34.79]who may not look like them, [03:36.14]but for whom, [03:37.51]once they have been schooled in cross-cultural education, [03:40.65]they may see themselves in," said Blair. [03:42.50]And he said his Foundation is willing to work [03:46.71]in any country that invites it. [03:49.42]From VOA Learning English, that's the Education Report. [03:56.18]I'm Jerilyn Watson. [03:57.93]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com