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Thanks to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and nations’ commitments to its principles, the dignity of millions has been uplifted, untold human suffering prevented and the foundations for a most just world have been laid.

For 75 years, the core ambition of the UDHR has been to infuse societies with equality, fundamental freedoms and justice. It solidifies the rights of all human beings and is a global blueprint for international, national, and local laws and policies.

While its promise is yet to be fulfilled, the very fact that it has stood the test of time is a testament to the enduring universality of its values of equality, justice and human dignity. 

>> Access resource

On April 19, 2024, members of the HRE USA podcast team attended the International Association for Human Rights Education (IAHRE) Conference. The 2024 IAHRE Conference: Extending Human Rights Education took place at the University College London. It built on the experiences of the WERA International Research Network on Human Rights Education and on fourteen previous International Conferences on Education and Democratic Citizenship (ICEDC) conferences.

The 2024 IAHRE Conference provided a unique opportunity to network with human rights educators from across the globe, share and discuss the latest research, and examine policy and practice relating to human rights education.

The HRE USA Podcast team offered a poster presentation based on our podcast, Human Rights Education NOW!. We shared key takeaways from our first year in production, such as the considerations that went into building a space for critical discussions and insights into the evolution and expansion of our project and the HRE USA movement in the US.

Their paper, “Elevating the Online Space for Critical Dialogue in HRE: A Human Rights Education NOW! Podcast Case Study” will be published in Human Rights Education Review later this year, and has been written by team members Bill Fernekes, Sabrina Sanchez, Jazzmin Gota, Kristi Rudelius-Palmer, Elizabeth Schwab, Jessica Terbrueggen.

Record numbers of educators are downloading Teaching the Seeds of Violence in Palestine-Israel. We’ve heard wonderful stories about the impact of the lesson, such as this one:

The most amazing aspect of this lesson was my students’ ability to recognize the common themes presented in the story of Palestine with stories of other colonial projects we had studied, including in India, the United States, Sudan, and the Congo.

Overall, this lesson helped my students understand the roots of the political issue that is Palestine and evaluate many of the common misconceptions of where the conflict comes from. — Rodrigo Palacios Tenorio, high school social studies teacher, Tempe, Arizona

Check out the lesson and more teaching stories.

Democracies around the world – including key U.S. allies – have independent bodies dedicated to monitoring and promoting human rights. In this regard, the United States is a shameful outlier. Not a single domestic agency has the mandate to coordinate the implementation of our international human rights commitments – falling woefully short of meeting international standards.

The Biden administration has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put the U.S. on a path toward compliance with international human rights obligations by establishing a federal commission to study the creation of a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI). We, the people, must do all we can to make sure this happens: Sign our petition today to tell President Biden that the time to act on a National Human Rights Institution is now.

The ACLU has long urged the U.S. government to take bold action on human rights – and now, alongside a broad coalition of civil and human rights groups and members of Congress – we are urging the White House to take this critical move toward realizing President Biden’s promise to demonstrate that our commitment to human rights starts at home.

An NHRI would help bring the U.S. in line with international human rights norms and full compliance with ratified treaties, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. It would promote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and everyone’s civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.National Human Rights Institutions look different around the world, but a NHRI would be able to:

• Promote and monitor the implementation of human rights obligations
• Provide a public forum for the investigation of violations of human rights
• Create a platform for recommendations to improve human rights compliance
• Establish mechanisms to advise and inform legislative, judicial, and executive branches on human rights standards
• Support and provide guidance to state and local human rights commissions

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Storytelling is a valuable tool for advancing social change, and an understanding of systemic oppression is incomplete without deep listening and learning from people who have experienced injustice firsthand. This webinar will offer participants an introduction to Voice of Witness (VOW), our oral history methodology, and the use of storytelling to amplify the voices of communities impacted by injustice.

We will explore the power of personal narrative as a format and discuss key elements of the oral history process, including best practices in ethical interviewing and project creation. The webinar will feature VOW staff and Katrina M. Powell, editor of the upcoming book Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia.

This free event is for anyone interested in using first-person narratives to build community and advance justice.

May 21, 2024 at 2pm (Pacific), virtual 

>> Register

Special Issue for Human Rights Education Review (2025)

Guest editors: Beate Goldschmidt-Gjerløw & Sevda Clark

For this special issue, HRER invites contributions that strengthen understandings of gender perspectives within human rights-based education, an area of scholarly work that is, to date, underdeveloped. Human rights-based education links cultural, economic and social rights to political rights, which are critical for enhancing all human beings’ empowerment.

If you would like to make a submission in response to the CfP please send an extended abstract of no more than 300 words to the Human Rights Education Review Managing Editor Kalpani Dambagolla kalpidambagolla@gmail.com by 28 May 2024.

Your abstract should include a short list of indicative literature on which you expect to draw, from the fields of both gender and human rights education. Please ensure you use the subject line: HRER: Gender perspectives in human rights education in your email. You will hear back from us by 14 June 2024. All invited manuscripts will be subject to double-blind peer review. For invited papers for this special issue, submission of the full paper is due through the journal platform by 21 October 2024. We expect to publish this Special Issue in Volume 8, 2025.

Due to the rapid and changing nature of the current crises, HRE USA is currently establishing a committee to vet lesson plans and resources on armed conflicts and displacements. We invite educators to submit human rights education resources to be considered for the forthcoming and/or existing collections.

>> Submit a lesson plan or resource

Know a group or individual – youth or adult – who is making a real difference in human rights education? Nominate them for one of HRE USA’s annual awards:

>> The 2024 O’Brien Awards recognize an individual and an organizations that has made a significant contribution to human rights education in the United States. For further information and nomination forms see https://hreusa.org/awards-and-grant-opportunities/edward-obrien-award/ 

>> To encourage a new generation of human rights activists, the 2024 Youth in Action for Human Rights Awards recognize youth leaders, one individual and one group, whose work explicitly or implicitly reflects and promotes human rights values. Because young activists must nominate themselves for the awards, HRE USA urges adults familiar with their work to urge them to apply. For further information and nomination forms see https://hreusa.org/awards-and-grant-opportunities/youth-in-action-for-human-rights-awards/

Questions? Email awards@hreusa.org

Are you a teacher of grades 4–12 and new to the We the People curricular program? The Center’s partners throughout the country are hosting professional-learning programs starting this summer! Through the We the People: Civics that Empowers All Students (CEAS) and the James Madison Legacy Project Expansion (JMLPE) grants from the U.S. Department of Education, our partners will provide educators with engaging, multiday in-person summer institutes, a yearlong professional learning community, a free set of textbooks, stipends, professional-learning credits, and more. Learn more and express interest in these opportunities on our project landing pages (CEAS, JMLPE). Keep an eye out for updates from our program sites on the immersive learning our educators will be engaging in this summer.