Past Projects, Events and Trainings:
Human Rights and Family Court — HRP worked with the Voices of Women Organizing Project on the production of a human rights documentation report looking at the experiences of survivors of domestic violence within the family court system in New York City. The report, Justice Denied: How Family Courts in NYC Endanger Battered Women and Children, was released in May 2008.
HRP Human Rights Forum — This forum aims to serve as a resource for groups interested in sharing knowledge on local implementation of human rights. Sign on today!
CERD FAQ & Overview of the U.S. Report to CERD — HRP recently added a CERD FAQ to its Tools page. HRP also released a Brief Overview of the United States Report to the CERD Committee on June 12th, intended to help summarize the 121 page document into a short easy-to-read format. While it is by no means an exhaustive summary, we hope it will inspire many to read the report, or at least sections that are of interest. More importantly, we hope readers will be motivated to submit additional on-the-ground information to fill in gaps in the Government's report, by participating in the shadow reporting process. The Human Rights Project is drafting a full summary of the Report for distribution in early July.
HRP supports the International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — HRP is proud to support the People's Hurricane Relief Fund's efforts to demand that the US government be made accountable for the crimes it perpetrated against the marginalized and oppressed peoples of the Gulf Coast – people African descent, Indigenous Peoples, migrants, and the poor - during and after Hurricane Katrina. Please click on International Tribunal website for more information.
December 10th - Human Rights Day 2006: “Fighting Poverty, a matter of Obligation not Charity! — HRP welcomes you to join us in a campaign that will connect local organizations fighting to eradicate poverty with human rights mechanisms towards fulfilling the promise of the 2006 theme of Human Rights Day -- “Fighting Poverty, a matter of Obligation not Charity!” Over the next ten months leading up to the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in October 2007, we hope to work together to promote concrete steps informed by the human rights system that will advance the fight against poverty.
HRP now has Special Consultative Status with the United Nations! — HRP has been granted special consultative status in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the United Nations. HRP was granted ECOSOC status through the Urban Justice Center. We will continue to work within and outside the UN system to hold the government accountable to universally accepted human rights standards.
NYC Participatory Budgeting Initiative — HRP is a founding partner and institutional home for the New York Participatory Budgeting Initiative (NYCPBI), a new coalition of organizations, activists, and otherwise interested individuals working towards economic security and fulfillment of human rights by increasing accountability and participation in the city budget process and other public budgets. NYPBI is coordinated by HRP, the New York City AIDS Housing Network, and City Project, and is committed to public education on the budget, facilitating direct involvement in the budget process, and serving as a public watchdog and catalyst of public participation. If you are interested in joining the NYPBI listserv, please sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYPBI/.
Participatory budgeting is a democratic process in which city residents decide how to allocate part of a municipal or public budget. The Brazilian city of Porto Alegre initiated the first full participatory budgeting process starting in 1989, developing an annual process of neighborhood, district, and citywide assemblies in which residents identify public spending priorities and vote on projects to implement. Participatory budgeting is now practiced in hundreds of cities around the world, in municipalities, schools, public housing, and other institutions.
The Right to Education Project — The Right to Education Project trained New York City public high school students to document violation of the right to education in their schools. The project gives youth a means to participate in their own advocacy by them to be human rights monitors, and in the process provides them with job opportunities.