hreusa

June 6, 2026 at 5 p.m.: Speak Truth to Power Video Contest Screening: 

Our annual video contest encourages students to use film as a powerful tool to engage with human rights issues and create change. Filmmakers learn teamwork, research and interview techniques, and editing skills. 

Register to join for a special showcase in conjunction with the annual Tribeca Festival event in New York City.

Our annual video contest encourages students to use film as a powerful tool to engage with human rights issues and create change. Filmmakers learn teamwork, research and interview techniques, and editing skills.

Register to join us on June 6 from 5–7 p.m. for a special showcase in conjunction with the annual Tribeca Festival event in New York City.

About the Video Contest

In partnership with the American Federation of Teachers and the Tribeca Festival, Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights created the annual Speak Truth to Power Video Contest, encouraging middle, high school and college students to use film as a tool to discuss human rights issues that resonate with them. In creating these short three- to five-minute videos, whether they be documentaries, narrative films, or experimental, students not only learn about human rights but also become champions of change and social justice. Students from all backgrounds can participate in the contest without needing expensive equipment or prior video editing skills.

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

The Connect to Protect – Children & Youth at Risk Conference is an international forum dedicated to strengthening child protection and improving outcomes for vulnerable children, adolescents, and young people. Organised by IASIS NGO, the conference brings together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and organisations working across sectors to address the most pressing challenges affecting children and youth today.

The event focuses on advancing academic dialogue, evidence-based practice, and prevention-oriented policies that respond to the evolving risks faced by children worldwide.  Website is here – connecttoprotect.eu

Why This Conference Matters

Children and young people are increasingly exposed to complex and interconnected risks, including violence, neglect, exploitation, mental health challenges, social exclusion, displacement, and digital harm. At the same time, child protection systems across Europe and beyond face growing demands and significant gaps between policy frameworks and frontline implementation. Connect to Protect responds to this need by creating a space for shared knowledge, interdisciplinary exchange, and coordinated action.

Conference Approach

The conference promotes a rights-based and trauma-informed perspective, recognising children and young people as active rights holders whose voices and experiences are essential in shaping effective safeguarding systems. It highlights the importance of prevention, early intervention, community resilience, and multi-agency collaboration across social welfare, education, healthcare, justice systems, and civil society

Yvonne will be a Keynote Speaker at this conference, which has substantial international support from the EU, UN, government officials, NGOs, and celebrities who are committed to the protection of children and youth.  Think about joining us in beautiful Athens!

  Contact yvonne@theworldasitcouldbe.org if you need more information.

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

Applications for the 2026 American Civic Education Teacher Awards close this Sunday, May 31—and we don’t want a single deserving educator to miss it.

This is the nudge you’ve been waiting for.

Think about the teacher who made a student feel, maybe for the first time, that the Constitution belonged to them. The one whose classroom produces young people who ask hard questions, seek evidence, and show up for their communities. The one doing the quiet, essential work of preparing the next generation for self-government.

That teacher deserves national recognition. And if that teacher is you, apply yourself—it’s encouraged!

ACETA awardees receive: National recognition from the Center for Civic Education, IndianaUniversity Center on Representative Government, and the National Education AssociationA spotlight in local and national mediaAn honored place at the NCSS annual conferenceA platform to share promising practices with a national audience

The application takes just a few minutes.

Apply by Sunday, May 31

And if you know someone who should apply—please forward this. Right now. The end of the school year is busy, and the best educators are often the last ones to advocate for themselves.

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

The Geneva Graduate Institute and Interpeace have launched the International Geneva Peace Fellowship Programme: a new initiative to foster the next generation of leadership in peace and humanitarian diplomacy.

At a moment when conflicts are becoming more fragmented, multilateral institutions are under pressure, and pathways into peace work are increasingly difficult, investing in new leadership matters more than ever.

Over a 9-month residential programme in Geneva, 10 Fellows from around the world will work across leading institutions in International Geneva while contributing to practical initiatives on mediation, humanitarian diplomacy, youth participation, health and peace, civilian protection, and inclusive peacebuilding.

The Fellowship aims to reinforce Geneva’s position in a changing world order by fostering a new generation of leadership, building partnerships across sectors and regions, and preserving a space for dialogue, innovation, and practical cooperation.

The initiative is implemented jointly by the Geneva Graduate Institute and Interpeace, with the generous support of the Fondation pour l’Adaptation de la Genève Internationale (FAGI).

Learn more and apply here: https://lnkd.in/dZcTN3Q2

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

Know any rising 7th and 8th graders interested in a cool reading fellowship? Free books and good conversations promised! Please spread the word [participants can be anywhere in the U.S.]

Application Link here: https://lnkd.in/gPbUtPpb

The MOSAIC Middle Grade Reading Fellowship is a school-year long cohort for 7th and 8th graders residing in the USA, who will read books on themes of Migration, Origins, Solidarity, Advocacy, Identity and Community. The central goal of this fellowship is to understand and analyze contemporary issues through engaging with middle-grade literature on these themes and through a human rights lens. 

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

Applications are now open for the Online Master of Science (M.S.) in International Affairs and Diplomatic Practice, jointly offered by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Seton Hall University’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations.

This one-year programme is delivered fully online with flexible full-time or part-time study options, combining academic rigor with practical diplomatic training.Designed for mid-career professionals, the programme strengthens knowledge and skills in contemporary diplomacy, international security, policy analysis, negotiation, and conflict management.The programme also offers specialisation options in areas such as International Law and Human Rights making this programmeespecially relevant for professionals who want to connect diplomatic practice with human rights.

Explore

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.

Woven Teaching is excited to share our latest edition of Human Rights Beyond the Headlines! This month’s topic: Is Affordability a Human Right?

Created to support educators in helping young people navigate the current events that impact their lives, Human Rights Beyond the Headlines will provide background information about key current events and strategies for discussing them with young people, including how to understand them through the wider lens of justice and human rights.

Is Affordability a Human Right? Why is there so much talk lately about affordability, especially when it comes to politics? Google searches for the term “affordability” skyrocketed in late 2025. At the time, several Democrats were running for office, and they focused heavily on affordability in their speeches and messaging. In addition to Google searches, Congressional newsletters to constituents mentioned the word affordability an average of 70 times per month in the Fall of 2025.   What does it mean that affordability is “the political word of the moment”?  What does the word affordability mean to you?  Download

Are there issues that you would like to see covered in Human Rights Beyond the Headlines? Drop us a line at info@woventeaching.org!

Free Printed Materials
We are now offering printed copies of our materials free-of-charge to educators in the United States! To request lessons and curricula, please complete this order form.
To order a free Universal Declaration of Human Rights poster for your classroom, please complete this order form.
 For more information about other Woven Teaching materials and resources, please visit woventeaching.org/resources. 

HRE USA is a project of the Center for Transformative Action.