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Online Workshop: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples

by hreusaFebruary 13, 2023Leave a comment

Would you like to have a better grounding in Native American history? An opportunity to offer dynamic interactive workshops about Indigenous peoples’ rights in your classrooms? On Sunday March 12, 2-4 pm MOUNTAIN time, Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples is offering its online workshop, “Roots of Injustice, Seeds of Change: Toward Right Relationship with Native Peoples.” Register here.

During this 2-hour participatory workshop,we experience the history of the colonization of Turtle Island, the land that is now known as the United States. The story is told through the words of Indigenous leaders, European/American leaders, and Western historians. We engage with this history through experiential exercises and small group discussions. And we consider how we can build relationships with Indigenous peoples based on truth, justice, and an understanding of Indigenous peoples’ collective human rights.

This workshop is presented by Native and non-Native facilitators working together. It is appropriate for high school students and adults. Register here for the next online workshop, or contact co-director Paula Palmer (paulaRpalmer@gmail.com) for more information.

Some sample responses to recent Toward Right Relationship workshops:

From Native participants:

“Everything that went into this experience and the presentation is so deeply meaningful.”

“This workshop is the tool I’ve been searching for to begin imagining a new way forward.”

“This workshop is an innovative and impactful step towards healing.”

From non-Native participants:

“This is a wonderful model for fostering conversations that lead to more understanding among peoples.”

“I am thankful for the discomfort and what it opened up.”

“Wow – that was an excellent workshop. Best zoom educational experience I have had!”

“I’ve known and thought about indigenous peoples’ history for a long time. Now what I can do is much more in the forefront of my mind.”

Kimberlé Crenshaw: Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality & the Right-Wing War on Public Education

by hreusaFebruary 10, 2023Leave a comment

“Nobody can be surprised when suddenly this effort to stomp out critical race theory turns out to be an effort to make antiracism unspeakable, to make queer studies undoable, to make intersectionality — one of the most widespread concepts across the disciplines — something that college-directed students cannot take or can only take if the states allows them to. Anybody who’s concerned about our democracy, anyone who’s concerned about authoritarianism has to wake up and pay attention to this, because this is how it happens.” — Kimberlé Crenshaw on Democracy Now! Watch here

Hear more from Kimberlé Crenshaw on February 15 for the African American Policy Forum AP African American Studies Briefing and Call to Action.

Memory Keepers Story Hour on Zoom

by hreusaFebruary 10, 2023February 8, 2023Leave a comment

Tamar Ben-Simon, HHREC GenerationsForward Speaker

Thursday, February 16, 2023

6:45 PM Gathering for Family and Friends

7:00 PM Program

REGISTER HERE

Tamar Ben-Simon is the daughter of Joseph Obstfeld, a Dutch Holocaust survivor. Tamar tells the riveting story of her grandparents and her father, who was barely five years old at the time of the Nazi invasion into the Netherlands in 1940. It is a story of love vs. hate, evil vs. kindness, despair vs. hope and above all, about the few extraordinary, courageous people who stood up for their beliefs and morals and made a difference.

In 1942, the Nazis stormed Into her grandparents’ apartment in Amsterdam, and it changed their lives forever. In 1944, her father’s mother was scheduled to be sent to Auschwitz, but due to a transportation error, she arrived and was imprisoned in Theresienstadt. Her father’s father, was deemed a “Free Jew” by the Nazi regime due to being forced to work for them as a furrier, while he secretly joined the underground resistance.

Since Tamar was a young adult she has been sharing her father’s Holocaust story about the treasured family heirlooms that serve as a testament of the Holocaust atrocities and defy those that deny it.

Russia and Ukraine: A Year of War Crimes and Genocide

by hreusaFebruary 9, 2023February 6, 2023Leave a comment

February 23, 2023, 7:00 – 9:00 pm CT

We are proud to co-sponsor World Without Genocide’s webinar, “Russia and Ukraine: A Year of War Crimes and Genocide,” on Thursday, February 23, 2023, 7:00-9:00 pm CT on Zoom.

The webinar examines the atrocities perpetrated in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022 and highlights efforts at international, regional, and national levels to investigate and prosecute these crimes.

Registration is required by February 23, 2023, 6:00 pm CT at

www.worldwithoutgenocide.org/ukraine

UN counterterrorism expert to visit the United States and Guantanamo detention facility

by hreusaFebruary 8, 2023Leave a comment

GENEVA (1 February 2023) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, will undertake a technical visit to the United States commencing 6 February 2023.

Between 6 and 14 February, the independent expert will visit Washington D.C. and subsequently the detention facility at the U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Over the course of the subsequent three-month period, Ní Aoláin will also carry out a series of interviews with individuals in the United States and abroad, on a voluntary basis, including victims and families of victims of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks and former detainees in countries of resettlement/repatriation.

The visit takes place in accordance with the Terms of Reference for Country Visits by Special Procedures Mandate Holders.

An end-of-mission statement of the Special Rapporteur’s findings and recommendations will be issued following the end of the technical visit.

Ms. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin was appointed as Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism by the United Nations Human Rights Council. She took up her functions on 1 August 2017. Ms. Ní Aoláin is concurrently Regents Professor and Robina Professor of Law, Public Policy and Society at the University of Minnesota Law School and Professor of Law at the Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Her mandate covers all countries and has most recently been renewed by Human Rights Council resolution 49/10.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

For more information and media requests please contact: Ms. Michelle ERAZO (+41 22 917 9449; michelle.erazo@un.org).

For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.

The HRE USA Edmonds Fellowship Committee: Edmonds Fellowship Project Proposals

by hreusaFebruary 6, 2023Leave a comment

The HRE USA Edmonds Fellowship Committee is seeking proposals for 2023 fellowship projects. This year, the Committee has selected a theme, Protecting Democracy, Promoting Human Rights, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognize the necessity of protecting a democratic and civil society. The theme this year seeks timely and topical fellowship proposals that demonstrate human rights education (HRE) as essential for participation in an inclusive, democratic society. The committee welcomes diverse ideas for fellowship projects and offers suggestions for proposals to address areas such as:

increasing youth participation in human rights education,
training and other opportunities to engage in HRE and/or civic action,
improving, creating, or compiling HRE resources,
implementing a collaborative project(s) among HRE USA members and other organizational partners,
increasing capacity to further the mission, guiding principles and values, and priorities of HRE USA.

Fellows will commit 100 hours over roughly 10 weeks to address the topic identified in your proposal. The Committee is exploring summer and fall fellowship opportunities, with dates to be determined. With this year’s theme in mind, as well as the goals and priorities of HRE USA, we invite you to submit your Edmonds Fellowship Project Proposal using the application form by February 10, 2023 to kristi@hreusa.org.

The approved Edmonds Fellowship projects and application process will be online March 1st. The fellowship submission deadline will be March 24, 2023.

The HRE USA Edmonds Fellowship Committee
Edmonds Fellowship Project Proposals

The HRE USA Edmonds Fellowship Committee is seeking proposals for 2023 fellowship projects. This year, the Committee has selected a theme, Protecting Democracy, Promoting Human Rights, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognize the necessity of protecting a democratic and civil society. The theme this year seeks timely and topical fellowship proposals that demonstrate human rights education (HRE) as essential for participation in an inclusive, democratic society. The committee welcomes diverse ideas for fellowship projects and offers suggestions for proposals to address areas such as:

increasing youth participation in human rights education,
training and other opportunities to engage in HRE and/or civic action,
improving, creating, or compiling HRE resources,
implementing a collaborative project(s) among HRE USA members and other organizational partners,
increasing capacity to further the mission, guiding principles and values, and priorities of HRE USA.

Fellows will commit 100 hours over roughly 10 weeks to address the topic identified in your proposal. The Committee is exploring summer and fall fellowship opportunities, with dates to be determined. With this year’s theme in mind, as well as the goals and priorities of HRE USA, we invite you to submit your Edmonds Fellowship Project Proposal using the application form by February 10, 2023 to kristi@hreusa.org.

The approved Edmonds Fellowship projects and application process will be online March 1st. The fellowship submission deadline will be March 24, 2023.

Disarming Americans:Museums Take on Gun Control

by hreusaFebruary 6, 2023Leave a comment

February 16, 2023 (10:00am EST-NY)

The statistics are familiar to most Americans. In 2022 alone, gun violence took the lives of over 44,000 people in the United States, where there are 120.5 firearms per 100 residents. Since 2014, there have been approximately 4000 mass shootings. Well over half of gun violence tragedies are considered domestic violence incidents, disproportionately affecting women and children. Many high-profile mass shootings – including those in Buffalo, Charlotte, Orlando and, most recently, California – have explicitly targeted African Americans, Asian Americans, and LGBTQI+ communities.

Situated in “red” states and “blue” states, big cities and rural communities, Sites of Conscience and their allies are uniquely positioned to foster constructive dialogue on gun control among a wide subset of people. But how?

On February 16, 2023 – shortly after the fifth anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 people and injured 17 more – join us as we bring together two Sites of Conscience to discuss how museums and memory sites can memorialize gun violence, deepen our understanding of the history and mythology surrounding guns in America, and spark productive conversations on gun control that transcend political and ideological divides.

Our guests will include Earl Mowatt, Vice President of Education at onePULSE Foundation, which was founded in honor of the victims of the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. Also joining us will be Tricia Patrick, Director of Education at Ford’s Theater Society, who will share some of the site’s reflections about the challenges and opportunities involved in programming on the subject of firearms.

The webinar is on Thursday, February 16th at 10:00 am (EST-NY). It is free and open to the public. To register, click here.

Human Rights Careers: The Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights

by hreusaFebruary 3, 2023February 1, 2023Leave a comment

The Vienna Master of Arts in Applied Human Rights was established in 2020 in reaction to present-day challenges generated by digitalisation, globalisation and neoliberalism. Global crises like the migration crisis, socio-economic inequalities, climate change or threats to data protection can only be exposed and confronted through an interdisciplinary discourse and an applied approach to human rights. Next to historical, political, philosophical and legal dimensions, the perspectives of arts and culture in understanding and working in human rights will enrichen this program.

Application deadline: February 26, 2023

>> Learn more and apply

Learning for Justice: Solidarity as Social and Emotional Safety

by hreusaFebruary 2, 2023February 1, 2023Leave a comment

“In relationship with organizers for justice, educators can co-create radically different experiences for students to feel and be whole in their classrooms.” — Riley Drake, Ph.D.

In this new LFJ article, school counseling professor Riley Drake, Ph.D., outlines a model of social and emotional learning. Drake explains that “‘feeling safe’ is contextual,” especially for Black and Brown children whose needs are often overlooked in our nation’s classrooms. Relying on community partnerships, promoting mutual aid to foster solidarity and advancing restorative justice are strategies educators and other adults can employ to increase children’s feelings of safety and well-being.

In this excerpt from the article, Drake describes how a teacher enlists the help of local organizers:

Solidarity as safety was an approach Staci used in collaboration with Imani, Jada and Nova to honor the experiences of students familiar with and vulnerable to structural harm. By listening to children’s lived experiences, Staci recognized a fear of policing and punishment. Rather than dismissing students’ fears or silencing and “regulating” emotions through a decontextualized calming technique, Staci sought community wisdom in efforts to transform the source of the harm.

Online Course: Operational Research for Humanitarians

by hreusaFebruary 1, 2023Leave a comment

Learn how to conduct research for humanitarian practice from University of Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Aga Khan University.

Researchers make sure that the work of humanitarian organizations is based on well-established facts. They are essential for humanitarian operations. Operational research plays a vital role in humanitarian organizations, as it helps to identify and solve problems that can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian practice. The application of operational research techniques can help to optimize resources, plan for and respond to emergencies, and enable better ways to conduct humanitarian operations.

In this course by University of Geneva you will develop fundamental knowledge and skills to engage in humanitarian research. The course will cover humanitarian research methods, study design and outline how operational research can advance humanitarian practice.

Learn more and Register