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Amnesty International USA Human Rights Educators’ Network Amnesty International is an independent, worldwide, voluntary movement that works to prevent some of the gravest violations by governments of people’s fundamental human rights. The main focus of its campaigning is to free all prisoners of conscience; ensure fair and prompt trials for political prisoners; abolish the death penalty, torture, and other cruel treatment of prisoners; and end extrajudicial executions and "disappearances." Amnesty works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards, through human rights education programs and campaigning for ratification of human rights treaties. Amnesty International USA’s Human Rights Educators’ Network is made up of teachers from all parts of the country who, as members of Amnesty International, incorporate the teaching of human rights into various courses including English, History, Art, Science and Civics. The Network has also created a binder of lessons on topics such as children’s rights, women’s rights, human rights and literature, and death penalty. It publishes a newsletter entitled Human Rights Education: The Fourth R, which derives from a belief that teaching human rights is as basic as teaching the traditional "three Rs," and that "rights" should occupy as central a place in the curriculum as reading, writing and arithmetic. Contact Information: Amnesty International USA Human Rights Educators’ Network Telephone: (312) 427-2060 Center for Human Rights Education The Center for Human Rights Education (CHRE) is an organization that brings together an incredible diversity of human rights experts and activists from the U.S. and other countries, bridging divisions of race, religion, class and gender to work for the common purpose of human rights education. CHRE’s mission is to train community leaders and student activists to promote the full realization of human rights in the United States. Its goals are to increase human rights literacy and understanding among activists in the U.S., to improve cooperation among progressive social change movements by using the human rights framework, and to use human rights education as a catalyst for social transformation. CHRE’s strategic programs include the training and technical assistance for educators and activists, an information clearinghouse, multi-media communications, sponsorship of human rights events and collaborations, and a speakers bureau. Contact Information: Center for Human Rights Education Telephone: (404) 344-9629 Loretta Ross, Director
The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute has convened a National Coordinating Committee for the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Millions of Americans from all walks of life have joined together in a growing coalition of more than eighty national organizations to promote an Action Agenda for the 50th anniversary. Our campaign theme - IN YOUR HANDS - echoes Eleanor Roosevelt’s belief that "the destiny of human rights is in the hands of all our citizens in all our communities." Supporters of the IN YOUR HANDS campaign have decided to take the future of human rights into their own hands and to help fashion a world where the rights and freedoms of the individual are recognized and respected. We invite all people of good will to join with concerned fellow citizens in sounding a national call to action throughout 1998 - Human Rights Year. Take the destiny of human rights IN YOUR HANDS! Contact Information: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute Telephone: (212) 907-1343 Michael Cooper, Director of Human Rights Office Human Rights U.S.A. Human Rights USA is a human rights initiative of four partners: the Amnesty International USA Educators’ Network, the Center for Human Rights Education, Partners in Human Rights Education (a joint project of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center and Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights), and Street Law, Inc. Human Rights USA is funded by the Ford Foundation. Human Rights USA seeks to reach educators and students, social justice advocates and the general public to achieve a new level of awareness about the scope, relevance and meaning of human rights in the United States, commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to foster action to guarantee these rights. Human Rights USA’s primary activities include: 1) an intensive community and school-based human rights education and advocacy programs and activities in four sites; 2) national outreach to schools and social justice organizations; 3) maintaining a Resource Center with information and materials on human rights education; 4) providing an interactive Web site (www.hrusa.org); 5) conducting a media campaign to raise awareness of human rights in the United States; and 6) working with other organizations to create a national human rights network. Contact Information: Human Rights USA Resource Center Telephone: 1-888-HR-EDUC8
Partners in Human Rights Education Partners in Human Rights Education is a community education project to help students learn about human rights and practice respect for others both in and out of school. It was established by the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights and the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center in 1992. The goal of Partners in Human Rights Education is to teach rights and responsibilities through understanding the importance of human rights, and developing skills to act on this information. These concepts enable students to respect human dignity and critically question why inequities and intolerances exist in their communities and the world. Originally, 20 partnerships of classroom teachers and lawyers were paired and trained in Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding communities. Together they taught children about their human rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. The Partners program has now expanded to include teams of community resource people, lawyers and classroom teachers. The current objective is to reach 75 classrooms and more than 3,000 students each year. Contact Information: Partners in Human Rights Education Telephone: 612/626-0041 Marna Anderson, Director
Peoples Decade for Human Rights Education (PDHRE) Peoples Decade for Human Rights Education (PDHRE) is a non-profit, international service organization that works directly and indirectly with its network of affiliates — primarily women’s and social justice organizations — to develop and advance pedagogues for human rights education relevant to people’s daily lives in the context of their struggles for social and economic justice and democracy. PDHRE was founded in 1988. PDHRE is currently collaborating with a number of U.S. based NGOs on the UDHR50 in providing resources, networking, and solidarity. These organizations include Center for Human Rights Education (CHRE), FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN), Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU), the New York coalition of Jobs for Justice, and Voices 21. PDHRE developed a human rights resource kit for Voices 21 in their participation in the Multilateral Investment Agreement NGO negotiations in Paris. This resource kit mapped the human rights framework, commitments and obligations associated with globalization. The resource kit was one of the very few human rights documents available to the process. PDHRE has made similar resource kits for the human right to sustainable livelihoods, basic human rights needs, governance, indigenous peoples, women, adequate housing and land, to mention a few. These efforts are part of the Global Human Rights Education Campaign to Reclaim and Secure our Right to be Human: Solidarity, Education and Cultural Activities Towards and Beyond the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Contact Information: People’s Decade for Human Rights Education Phone (212) 749-3156 Shulamith Koenig, Executive Director Street Law, Inc. Street Law, Inc., is a nonprofit organization that educates people about law, democracy and human rights. For more than a quarter of a century, Street Law, Inc., formerly the National Institute for Citizen Education in the Law (NICEL), has been creating powerful educational programs in the U.S. and around the world. Widely recognized for leadership in education, Street Law’s unique interactive, participatory approach develops problem-solving, critical thinking, cooperative learning, and communication skills, and encourages effective participation in society. Street Law’s work is based on the idea that democratic habits are not inherited, but must instead be carefully learned and practiced by each generation in order to sustain civil society. Through its philosophy and programs, Street Law, Inc. draws real-world connections between the lives of people, especially young people, and the law, human rights, and democratic values. Its domestic programs teach practical knowledge, develop critical life skills, and provide opportunities for positive interaction with the community. Street Law’s international programs empower people around the globe to participate constructively in their societies and governments. Contact Information: Street Law, Inc. Telephone 202/293-0088 Edward O’Brien, Director
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