0

Tweet

Protecting Human Rights

Now I have been waiting for this. We’re narrowing down our target here – from the environment to people. Being a human rights lawyer-hopeful, anything even remotely related to human rights issues really gets me going. My friends are usually able to restrain me when I get too carried away, but as that’s not possible here I’ll just restrict myself to dealing solely with the organizations.

There are lots of human rights and social activism groups out there, but for today I’ll mention the ones that I have experience with. I’m really partial to Free the Children, since the group that I lead at my school (HOPE Committee) is working with FTC’s Brick by Brick campaign, raising money to build a school in Kenya. I found that this organization is an especially youth-oriented one – as might be expected, since founder Craig Kielburger was just twelve when he created FTC. Craig travelled around Southeast Asia witnessing the plight of child labourers and called a press conference on his return, garnering much attention on the conditions of child workers as well as his organization. (Bit off-topic here…but I met him in person once. He was super nice, and the passion and dedication he has for his work is absolutely inspirational. Make sure to check him out on facebook) I would recommend FTC especially for student groups that are interested in social activism but aren’t sure of what to do. The resources and helpful packs they send you really help you on your way, and you’re able to see tangible results of all your hard work. In most cases you’ll also find a local FTC coordinator who will take the journey with you.

Invisible Children is an organization that I discovered pretty recently – not surprising as it is a pretty recent group. The origin of IC is just as dramatic and awe-inspiring as that of Free the Children. The founders of IC, (Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, and Laren Poole) went to Africa together on a filmmaking trip, running headfirst into a brutal reality of war and terror in Uganda. Their priorities are concentrated specifically on child soldiers. They have released various short documentaries to get the word out and to make people face what’s really going on in these places. I also really like their cool campaigns. This year, IC hosted “The Rescue” in different cities around the world where participants met at designated places to be “captured.” They would then wait for the media, local celebrities, etc to show up and “rescue” them. This was representing the way that these child soldiers were captured by rebel armies and waiting for rescue. My friends went and they say it was phenomenal.

Another organization I was involved with is Amnesty International. I’ve found that it can be a bit heavy for some teens since it gives off a for-adults aura. The issues are also a lot tougher than FTC, for instance. While FTC focuses mainly on children’s rights and education, Amnesty deals with all human rights issues on the spectrum. Invisible Children also tackles gritty issues as it’s dealing with war and child soldiers, but while the organization makes it really relatable to teens, that’s not always the case with Amnesty. What I would suggest is that you visit Amnesty’s website every once in a while and read up on some human rights abuse cases and reports because they really open your eyes.

Just a heads up – me being me, you’ll be seeing a lot of entries related to human rights and social justice issues. Meanwhile, have a look at the organizations I’ve mentioned here:

Free the Children
Invisible Children
Amnesty International