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 peoples 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 USAs 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 childrens rights,
womens 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
53 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1162
Chicago, IL 60604
Telephone:
(312) 427-2060
Fax: (312) 427-2589
Web Site:
http://www.amnesty-usa.org/education
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. CHREs
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. CHREs
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
P.O. Box 311020
Atlanta, GA 31131
Telephone:
(404) 344-9629
Fax: (404) 346-7517
Loretta
Ross, Director
E-mail: rosschre@aol.com
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 Roosevelts
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
801 Second Avenue, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10017-4706
Telephone:
(212) 907-1343
Fax: (212) 682-9185
Web Site
http://www.udhr50.org
Michael
Cooper, Director of Human Rights Office
E-mail: mcooper@unausa.org
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 USAs 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
229 - 19th Avenue South
437 Law Center
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Telephone:
1-888-HR-EDUC8
Fax: 612-625-2011
Web Site: http://www.hrusa.org
E-mail: hrusa@tc.umn.edu
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
229 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Telephone:
612/626-0041
Fax: 612/625-2011
Web Site:
http://hrlibrary.law.umn.edu/education/pihre
Marna
Anderson, Director
E-mail: humanrts@gold.tc.umn.edu
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
womens and social justice organizations to
develop and advance pedagogues for human rights education
relevant to peoples 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:
Peoples
Decade for Human Rights Education
526 West 111th Street, Suite #4E
New York, NY 10025
Phone
(212) 749-3156
Fax (212) 666-6325
Web Site
http:// www.pdhre.org
Shulamith
Koenig, Executive Director
E-mail: pdhre@igc.apc.org
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
Laws unique interactive, participatory approach develops
problem-solving, critical thinking, cooperative learning,
and communication skills, and encourages effective participation
in society. Street Laws 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 Laws international programs
empower people around the globe to participate constructively
in their societies and governments.
Contact
Information:
Street
Law, Inc.
918 16th Street, NW, Suite 602
Washington, DC 20006-2902
Telephone
202/293-0088
Fax 202/293-0089
Web Site
http://www.streetlaw.org
Edward
OBrien, Director
E-mail: eobrien@streetlaw.org