Youth teaching youth... The purpose of Youth for Human Rights International is to teach youth around the world about human rights, thus helping them to become advocates for tolerance and peace.

Human Rights Music Video
Takes the World

UNITED, a human rights music video produced by Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI), has been selected to be shown at the New York Independent International Film Festival, the largest and most famous independent film festival in the world.

The story is about an inner city kid with a heart for basketball (played by 11-year old André Boydon) who is confronted by a gang of bullies and their leader (Eric Forté) and has to fight for his right to play. What makes UNITED a great human rights video is how André’s character wins his rights – in a spirit of friendship and brotherhood.

UNITED was also accepted for viewing at the Amnesty International On Campus Festival in New York, the Echo Park Human Rights Film Festival, the La Femme Film Festival and, in Italy, the Salento Film Festival, the Giglio d’Oro Film Festival and the Florence International Film Festival.

The production for UNITED covered a world tour of 45,000 miles through 14 countries and 4 continents. Two thousand volunteers contributed their time to this international project. Taron Lexton was 19 years old when he directed UNITED, with the rest of the crew being mostly teenagers and pre-teens, making it truly a youth project.
The film includes cameo performances by Isaac Hayes (South Park), Erika Christensen (Traffic, Upside of Anger), Jenna Elfman (EdTV, Keeping the Faith), Catherine Bell (JAG) and Lynsey Bartilson (Grounded for Life).

First shown inside the United Nations World Headquarters in New York City in August 2004, UNITED has now aired in many countries around the world, including the United States, France, Macedonia and the Czech Republic. The film is available with subtitles in 15 languages.

Compassion for Children in Africa
Everyone’s duty.

Compassion is defined in contemporary English dictionaries as feeling sorry for or giving a helping hand to someone. Compassion is not a religious business as most people claim. It is a human business where every one should be concerned, and it is not a luxury but is essential for our own peace and mental stability and for human survival.
In Uganda, we take pride in being a model country with so many successes: combating HIV/AIDS, universal education, etc. Then we turn around and use the very instruments which gained us fame and give them to the dogs. Do we really have the moral authority to pronounce about stunted or malnourished children in Africa?

I think as youth we should develop compassion for each other and be at the forefront of change and take time to explore all angles. There is no doubt that the children in Africa need to be rescued from the darkness of child poverty. We need to be a solution to the problem and not part of the problem.
In Africa, a sizeable number of children are orphans and there are many families with children at their head. Youth and children need to speak for themselves. When given the chance, children can be their own advocates and this makes us realize that compassion is human business where all human beings are involved.
The challenge now to youth and children is to develop compassion and love for their counter parts living in abject poverty and devise strategies to tackle child poverty in Africa and the whole world. The “good neighbour for development” principle should be encouraged. The fight against child poverty is not a luxury. As one writer said, when poverty enters through the door, love and respect go through the window. This must not be.
Michael Kimuli, Kampala Uganda

Free and Equal

To many people, this, “Free and Equal”, is one of the most important rights that we have. It brings people of all races, colour and background together.
This is extremely important because it is what made blacks and whites drink from the same water fountain. It made them walk on the same street and ride on the same buses. It is important that this right is exercised. For this is what will bring the people of this planet together, united as one group that is free of racism and discrimination.
Due to all of this discrimination and racism, many people have suffered tremendous pain. There is a time to put a stop to all of this. That time is now and it has already exceeded its limit.
Alana Tourje (age 13)

Human Rights in a Mall?

I gave a talk at a very popular mall in Mexico. There were about 100 people present. They were mostly younger kids, about 10 years old.
First, I started talking about what human rights are and I had the audience give me examples of human rights. They were very interested in the topic. I also showed them the UNITED video, and invited them to tell me the message of the video. After that, I asked them to draw a message they wanted to communicate to the world, make that piece of paper into a paper plane, then go up to the highest part of the mall and throw all the messages at once. (In the UNITED video, the kid who is fighting for his rights sends paper plane messages all over the world to rally other kids to his support). It was very successful. I was only supposed to be on stage for 10 minutes, however, the talk lasted for 30 minutes. I am glad I was able to promote human rights to the kids this way.
Allan Agami, Mexico delegate at the YHRI Youth Summit, August 2004

Claire Kevitt

YHRI Member Of The Month: Claire Kevitt

May is a very appropriate month to acknowledge YHRI member, Claire Kevitt. It is the month she turns 15 years old.

Though Claire enjoys sports, the arts, music and her friends just as much as any teenager, her deepest passion is human rights. At the age of six, Claire’s parents took her to see the movie “Seven Years in Tibet”. She was so moved by the human rights violations against Tibet and their leader, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, as depicted in the movie, that she felt compelled to take action. She solicited her parents’ help to write a letter to the leader, who was then exiled in India, asking what she could to help. When she received his reply she carried out his suggestion and she’s been a human rights advocate ever since.

Her participation in Youth for Human Rights International began at its inception in 2001. She is one of the youth on the cover of the booklet “What Are Human Rights?” She was a guest speaker at a United Nations Day event in LA and began representing YHRI at multi-faith conferences where human rights violations and solutions were addressed. Claire was the youngest, on a core team of “Multathletes”, to do the 2002 and 2003 “Multathlons”. “Multathlon” is a coined word meaning “multi-sport marathon”. The multathletes ran, biked and used other sports to travel for 5 days and 250 miles around Los Angeles. They worked together, meeting with leaders and media along the way to spread the message of human rights.

Claire has been tireless in speaking to her peers in numerous schools and youth groups, as well as to adults. In the summer of 2004 she travelled to San Juan, Puerto Rico, speaking to business and community leaders and then to the United Nations for the YHRI Youth Summit on Human Rights. Human rights work is not all serious as one might think. When the 24 spirited delegates met up for the first time in a New York City hotel lobby, they decided to call each other by their countries. When they hit the streets, this caused pedestrians to stare at the calico swarm of youth responding to the weirdest names they’d heard a in a long time.
“ France and Switzerland, keep up, we are crossing the street!” Germany would shout.
“ Oui, okay we’re coming!” passers-by would hear in reply.

Last October, Claire MC’d the YHRI Day Youth Summit at Los Angeles City Hall and then took on the title and responsibilities of Youth President of YHRI in December of 2004. Recently she MC’d a Canadian/American YHRI Inter-scholastic Conference on Human Trafficking (modern-day slavery).
“ When I hear, on the news, of the horrendous events occurring daily, I can’t just sit and let them happen. Most of them wouldn’t exist if the populace knew what their rights were from the cradle. We can make that a reality. Everyone has the power to make change happen, and it’s not hard.”
Claire’s plans include going back to the UN, travelling to India and upcoming events in Ghana, England and Los Angeles.