Tim Bowles, Executive Director of Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI), returned to West Africa this month, to support YHRI's Ghana and Liberia chapters in their work to implement effective human rights education throughout the two countries.
 | Photographer Derek Geer and Youth for Human Rights International Executive Director, Tim Bowles in Liberia, where YRHI is working to make human rights education a mandatory part of the curriculum. |
Convinced of the urgency of implementing human rights education in the region, Bowles joined the local chapters in meeting with government and educational leaders, human rights groups, colleges, schools and the media.
An article on the International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance web site gives the backdrop to this story. "The population of the capital of Monrovia, with half under the age of 15 and their immediate elders largely a lost generation of former child combatants or other casualties, holds the still-fresh memories of brutal armed conflict that ended only three years ago."
The human rights education campaign of Youth for Human Rights International is based on the belief that education in human rights is the first, vital step to secure these rights for all. The core of the campaign is 30 public service announcements, produced for YHRI by the Church of Scientology International, each covering one of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And the need for this program in West Africa can only be described as urgent.
Drafted by the United Nations in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that, "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world."
The Universal Declaration goes on to point out that, "disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people." It further states that "it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law."
L. Ron Hubbard once wrote "Human Rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream." To learn how you can contribute to making human rights a fact in West Africa through supporting this campaign, visit the web site of the Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance at www.humanrightsandtolerance.org and to learn more about the human rights education campaign of Youth for Human Rights International visit www.youthforhumanrights.org.
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