In towns and cities across the globe, young members celebrated the 20th anniversary of Youth for Human Rights International and promoted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Human Rights Day.

United for Human Rights (UHR) and Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) chapters celebrated Human Rights Day 2021 with a parade of events around the globe. Youth and adults participated in marches, petition drives, Zoom conferences, award ceremonies, in-school workshops and other activities aimed at raising awareness of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and thus protecting these rights for all people.

From Canada to Colombia, Sierra Leone to France, and Spain to Cameroon, Youth for Human Rights volunteers and like-minded individuals held 130 events in 60 nations. For a snapshot of the kinds of activities these chapters engaged in:

• At a high school in Pennsylvania, 10th-grade students learned about the 30 human rights of the UDHR. They discussed ways to promote and uphold these rights, and collected signatures on a petition to make human rights education mandatory.
• In Mexico, 60 human rights activists, with the support of civic and governmental organizations, marched in the streets of Querétaro, reciting the 30 articles of the UDHR.
• The United for Human Rights Bangladesh chapter held a march and distributed human rights booklets to the community, followed by a seminar emphasizing the importance of the 30 articles of the UDHR and acknowledging YHRI’s 20th anniversary.
• Students at a middle school in North Carolina signed a human rights pledge, decorated a human rights tree, and created human rights posters. Throughout the day, these students merged human rights and art.
• The United for Human Rights group of Erbil, Iraq, aired the Story of Human Rights film and handed out What Are Human Rights? booklets to students.
• An educator in Buenos Aires, Argentina, held a “Human Rights in Times of Pandemic” Zoom conference. Participants included a pastor from Bolivia and young members of his congregation, who now plan to become leaders in promoting human rights and open their own YHRI group in their country.
• In Sweden, YHRI volunteers, human rights activists and like-minded groups marched together down the rainy streets of Malmö, promoting the 30 human rights, followed by a concert featuring local artists.

Youth for Human Rights International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making human rights a reality across the globe through its secular educational materials which are made available free of charge, thanks to its main sponsor, the Church of Scientology International. 

Those interested in forming a Youth for Human Rights Chapter or using its materials with students should visit: https://www.youthforhumanrights.org/take-action/groups/how-to-start-a-group.html.