Youth Engagement and Human Rights through Case Studies
Location
State Farm Hall 108
Start Date
28-2-2015 9:00 AM
End Date
28-2-2015 10:15 AM
Description
As many Human Rights organizations have realized in the past and continue to verify in the 21st century, youth are the pillars of reform and the key to creative energy when it comes to campaigning for Human Rights. Personally, I was drawn into the work of Human Rights through Amnesty International (AI or Amnesty) at my high school and continued to take further responsibilities with Amnesty when given the opportunity in college. As a Student Activist Coordinator for Amnesty Illinois in the United States, it is my responsibility to engage youth and educate leaders on how they can get more youth to engage in their chapters; however, I found I was just as confused an disoriented with many questions leaders would ask me such as how to combat apathy and what events have been most successful in the past. I felt this gap could be easily filled if more information was published on what other successful Human Rights groups and Amnesty chapters do in order to address these concerns and create better strategies for engaging youth. The opportunity to choose my own research, therefore, led me to try and understand what methods successful Amnesty chapters were using to engage and keep passionate, committed members on the Human Rights team and bring these strategies to share to the rest of the youth community. By interviewing with other youth activists across the globe, I have been able to understand what the youth in Nepal, Jordan, and Chile have done to gain members into the Human Rights movement. To understand why certain strategies have been effective or not effective, it was also crucial to know and share the countries' context and frameworks that shape each groups' movements and choices. In order to not just list different events that have been effective and to create a sense of understanding and commonality between the different groups, I would like to give some practical frameworks of each of the organizations, blended with the personal perspectives of the students. I believe together that this information will give Amnesty students, and students working on engaging any youth on Human Rights, a better understanding of what challenges other groups are facing, and how they have dealt with their issues. In order to do this, I will explore three pillars that work together to inform action.
1. Implementation: My research will address the implementations of Human Rights
campaigns and how they are influenced. This includes how the history of each
country influences student involvement, which campaigns are chosen, how the
basic structure enhances or doesn't enhance student involvement, and what
creative strategies have been used by youth to work on Amnesty campaigns.
2. Incentives, Inspiration and Motivation: What unique appeals does Amnesty or
other respective Human Rights organization have that has encouraged these
student leaders to join? What incentives do they find most effective in getting
other students engaged?
3. Reforms: What reforms should Amnesty allow for in order to address certain
concerns from its members.
Youth Engagement and Human Rights through Case Studies
State Farm Hall 108
As many Human Rights organizations have realized in the past and continue to verify in the 21st century, youth are the pillars of reform and the key to creative energy when it comes to campaigning for Human Rights. Personally, I was drawn into the work of Human Rights through Amnesty International (AI or Amnesty) at my high school and continued to take further responsibilities with Amnesty when given the opportunity in college. As a Student Activist Coordinator for Amnesty Illinois in the United States, it is my responsibility to engage youth and educate leaders on how they can get more youth to engage in their chapters; however, I found I was just as confused an disoriented with many questions leaders would ask me such as how to combat apathy and what events have been most successful in the past. I felt this gap could be easily filled if more information was published on what other successful Human Rights groups and Amnesty chapters do in order to address these concerns and create better strategies for engaging youth. The opportunity to choose my own research, therefore, led me to try and understand what methods successful Amnesty chapters were using to engage and keep passionate, committed members on the Human Rights team and bring these strategies to share to the rest of the youth community. By interviewing with other youth activists across the globe, I have been able to understand what the youth in Nepal, Jordan, and Chile have done to gain members into the Human Rights movement. To understand why certain strategies have been effective or not effective, it was also crucial to know and share the countries' context and frameworks that shape each groups' movements and choices. In order to not just list different events that have been effective and to create a sense of understanding and commonality between the different groups, I would like to give some practical frameworks of each of the organizations, blended with the personal perspectives of the students. I believe together that this information will give Amnesty students, and students working on engaging any youth on Human Rights, a better understanding of what challenges other groups are facing, and how they have dealt with their issues. In order to do this, I will explore three pillars that work together to inform action.
1. Implementation: My research will address the implementations of Human Rights
campaigns and how they are influenced. This includes how the history of each
country influences student involvement, which campaigns are chosen, how the
basic structure enhances or doesn't enhance student involvement, and what
creative strategies have been used by youth to work on Amnesty campaigns.
2. Incentives, Inspiration and Motivation: What unique appeals does Amnesty or
other respective Human Rights organization have that has encouraged these
student leaders to join? What incentives do they find most effective in getting
other students engaged?
3. Reforms: What reforms should Amnesty allow for in order to address certain
concerns from its members.