WEAVING DEEP CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CAMPUSES AND COMMUNITIES: REFLECTIONS AND PR...
National Youth Program Registration Strategy Powerpoint from June 18th All-Staff Meeting
1. National Youth Program: Growing the Human
Rights Movement in the US
Cynthia Carrion
National Youth Programs Coordinator AIUSA
Tuesday June 18, 2013
2. WHO WE ARE
A global movement
more than 3 million supporters, members and activists
in more than 150 countries and territories
Since 1961 - campaign to end grave abuses of human rights
Vision: for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.
We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or
religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations.
3. Amnesty International Youth Strategy 2010-2016 Vision
More young people
respect and uphold
human rights value
The rights of
more young
people are
protected
Young people will be
empowered with skills,
knowledge, experience
and opportunities to
actively participate in
civil society decision
making and social
change processes.
More young people take
action within their local
communities and in the
global community to
protect and promote HRs
Young people are protected, inspired and empowered to play an
active role in creating a world where everybody enjoys human rights
5. “requires the full enjoyment by young people of all human
rights and fundamental freedoms, and also requires that
Governments take effective action against violations of
these rights and freedoms.”
WORLD PROGRAMME OF ACTION ON YOUTH
7. Human Rights in the US: FromHuman Rights in the US: From
Schools to the StreetsSchools to the Streets
8. How Many Schools are there in the US?
As of 2010 according to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics. (2012), servicing
Elementary and Secondary
98,817 Public Schools
33,000 Private Schools
Higher Education*
About 7,000
*In fall 2012, a record 21.6 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”
–Margaret Mead
Fordham University
Rice University
University of Florida
College of Charleston
University of Tennessee
Duke University
Montclair High School
Goucher College
New York University
Colby College
Tufts University
UC Berkeley
Sentinel High School
University of Washington
Los Altos High School
UC Davis
Beverly Hills High School
Arizona State University
Colorado College
Austin College
15. Drawing inspiration from our youth activists
Organized school, state and national
actions.
Lobbied elected officials at local
capitals and in DC for human rights.
Authored Op-ed articles, are making
the news and making an impact.
Many former AIUSA student leaders
are now serving on the board, Road
Scholars, Valedictorians and are on
Amnesty staff.
16. How are we doing
this?
*Field Organizers
(FO) – Rock!
•Student Activist
Coordinators
(SACs)
•National Youth
Program (NYP)
20. Our Efforts So Far
Designing new registration promotion materials
Contacting “phantom groups”
Individually calling registered groups to encourage re-registration
Registering groups at AGM
Contacting faculty advisors to develop network and share best
practices.
21. Goals
500 groups by the end of the
summer
650 groups by the end of this
year
1000 groups in next 1-2 years
Members of Amnesty Colby rally an
audience for Jamnesty
22. Staff Alma Maters: We Need Groups!
Brown University
(Jiva Manske)
NYU
(Danielle Gorshein)
Notre Dame
(Justin Mazzola)
American University
(Sarah Burke)
Vassar College
(Elise Carlson Lewis)
These are just a few examples: at least 20 staff members have alma maters without groups!
23. Challenges Addressed in Strategic Plan
Half of members and supporters are older than 55 BUT youth
group registration can garner a new and younger base of AIUSA
supporters.
Membership fell 20% from 2007-2010 BUT youth who become
involved with Amnesty early on will likely stay involved with
Amnesty.
Increasing youth membership is ESSENTIAL.
24. Registration Push
OUR PITCH:
Develop leadership skills
Gain vital work experience and
qualifications for your future career
Work alongside human rights
professionals and inspiring youth activists
Opportunities to travel, attend
conferences, briefings, and internships
with Amnesty
Your impact is real and immediate so
start now!
25. 2014 Registration: Where We Are Now
Currently 279 school groups registered- compared to 148 this time last
year.
Top states: New York (43), Illinois (20), California (17), and
Massachusetts (14).
9 states without registered Amnesty groups (Alaska, Kansas,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota,
Tennessee, Wyoming)
For the first time, more colleges than high schools registered.
Efforts underway: working with educators, training more SACs, more
visibility for recruitment.
26. What You Can Do:
Reach out to your high school and
college about starting a group.
Reach out to teacher/administrator
contacts.
Use other AIUSA events as an
opportunity for student group
recruitment.
Reach out to us if you need materials
or information for registration.
Students from across the state of Texas
gather for an Amnesty training
Ever since we started campaigning in 1961, we’ve worked around the globe to stop the abuse of human rights. Amnesty International began with one man’s outrage and his courage to do something about it. After learning of two Portuguese students imprisoned for raising a toast to freedom in 1961, British lawyer Peter Benenson published an article, “The Forgotten Prisoners” in the Observer newspaper. That article launched the “Appeal for Amnesty 1961”, a worldwide campaign that provoked a remarkable response. Reprinted in newspapers across the world, his call to action resonated with the values and aspirations of people everywhere. This was the genesis of Amnesty International.
How do we get there? The IS created an international youth strategy, we have our section goals and this is what alignment looks like. ENGAGEMENT Increase student group registrations and membership by 20% over 5 years. Increase youth engagement through current and to be developed youth based trainings and spaces where youth can learn, participate and inform HR agenda each year Support youth specific online platforms and print resources for getting involved. Identify 1 to 5 universities per states/region that serve as anchors for student and community activism. Youth members and group reflect the diversity of USA ACTIVISM Sharing and furthering AIUSA’s agenda on local campuses Creating campaign specific materials and strategies for youth Peer-to-Peer training and mentorship Partnerships at national level ACTIVE PARTCIPATION Increase opportunities for Youth Leadership Dynamic spaces for youth collaboration and planning are created and supported. Regional and campaign based youth action teams to support regional offices in their work and engagement with youth. PROTECTION Campaigns identify youth specific cases that empower AIUSA to take action Youth emphasis included in country work Increasing opportunities for AIUSA youth to partner with other human rights youth movement
Salil Shetty joined Amnesty International as the organization’s eighth Secretary General in July 2010. A long-term activist on poverty and justice, Salil Shetty leads the movement's worldwide work to end the abuse of human rights. Since his student days, when a state of emergency was declared in 1976, and as the President of his college student’s union, Salil Shetty has been actively campaigning against the curtailment of human rights. Prior to joining Amnesty International, Salil Shetty was Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign from 2003 to 2010 Young people integrated at every level, as volunteers, interns, staff, members, activists, communications strategists
90% live in the developing world where they tend to make a large proportion of the population. The US State Department recently created a office – Global Office of youth issues. Special Adviser to the Secretary of State Global Youth Issues. (Ronan Farrow and now Zeenat Rahman)
Interesting fact: During most of the last century, the trend to consolidate small schools brought declines in the total number of public schools in the United States. In 1929–30, there were approximately 248,000 public schools, compared with about 99,000 in 2009–10. There is no national standard in the US for Human Rights or National Ciriculum, there are a handful of states that have it mentioned in their state standards.
Take a moment to think about what success could look like for 2016 with a strong youth activism base. - Could we be closer to closing Guantanamo, ending the death penalty, holding governments and corporations accountable for human rights violations?
A few staff alma maters with really active: UC Berkeley, Hunter College, what others do you know of?!
