Mission

About Us

Our mission is to promote human rights education by providing innovative and positive learning experiences to individuals and communities. We believe that everyone has the right to be informed and empowered about their rights, and we strive to create educational opportunities that inspire curiosity, critical thinking, and empathy. Through our programs, we aim to foster a culture of respect and dignity for all, and to equip individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to advocate for themselves and others. Ultimately, we seek to create a world where human rights are universally respected and protected.

International Solidarity for Human Rights (ISHR) is a nonprofit organization that has been working to promote and protect human rights around the world since its founding in 2008. One of the ways that ISHR has pursued its mission is through its co-curricular program called “Human Rights Class in a Box.

This program provides students with the Pocket Guide to Human Rights, and engaging materials that educate them about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  “Human Rights Class in a Box” has educated more than 100,000 students in the United States and in countries around the world to acquire knowledge about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, providing students with a deeper understanding of human rights values.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms.”

ISHR encourages Human Rights Education for the prevention of violence, dehumanization, and bullying.

.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt

Our vision is the same vision of the mother of the UDHR “First Lady of The World” Eleanor Roosevelt, who wrote in 1958:

“Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerned citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world”. (Eleanor Roosevelt, “The Great Question,” remarks delivered at the United Nations in New York on March 27, 1958).

December 10, 1948 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).

The history of human rights has been shaped by all major world events and by the struggle for dignity, freedom and equality everywhere. Yet it was only with the establishment of the United Nations that human rights finally achieved formal, universal recognition. The turmoil and atrocities of the Second World War and the growing struggle of colonial nations for independence prompted the countries of the world to create a forum to deal with some of the war’s consequences and, in particular, to prevent the recurrence of such appalling events. This forum was the United Nations.

The Drafters:

  • Dr. Charles Malik (Lebanon)
  • Alexandre Bogomolov (USSR)
  • Dr. Peng-chun Chang (China)
  • René Cassin (France)
  • Eleanor Roosevelt (US)
  • Charles Dukes (United Kingdom)
  • William Hodgson (Australia)
  • Hernan Santa Cruz (Chile)
  • John P. Humphrey (Canada)

What legal instruments help the UN protect human rights?

The International Bill of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) was the first legal document protecting universal human rights. Together with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the three instruments form the so-called International Bill of Human Rights. A series of international human rights treaties and other instruments adopted since 1945 have expanded the body of international human rights law.

The Core International Human Rights Instruments and their monitoring bodies

http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/