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The Year in Review: 2005
Hands clapping, feet tapping and even the older generations are dancing to the tunes of our new and exhilarating human rights campaign. Youth for Human Rights International is reaching millions around the world through meetings, conferences, events, shows, the media, radio and TV. Thanks to your outstanding support during 2005, Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) has expanded exponentially. Yes, I do mean this literally.
The purpose of YHRI is quite simple: To teach youth about human rights and help them become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace.
When the Tsunami left the world in shock in its wake, YHRI responded immediately by joining community and religious leaders on the KSCI LA TV telethon to help raise much needed funds. We then translated our information brochure in both Tamil and Singhalese for distribution in those areas.
The music video, UNITED, now sub-titled in 15 languages and thousands of copies distributed on five continents, took to the air. Two Warner Brothers affiliate stations in Arizona and Oklahoma started the ball rolling with a 30-second version. Carol Johnson, PSA Director for KWBA, Tucson's Warner Brothers, raved, "What a wonderful job Taron Lexton has done in producing this spot. We will be proud to air this PSA for the next six months."
UNITED won awards across the globe including the Gandhi Cultural 3rd International Film Festival in Spain, the UNESCO sponsored Taglia Corto Human Rights Film Festival in Italy, the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, the Moondance International Film Festival, and California Independent Film Festival. UNITED is now part of the Amnesty International On Campus Film Festival Library. Leslie-Anne D. Huff, Festival Coordinator, wrote "Amnesty International believes that your music video would be an excellent contribution to our program." Success stories keep rolling in from people in countries such as Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Russia, Italy, and many more. This year UNITED became an official qualifier for the 2006 Academy Awards!
Hosted by the King of Cape Coast, Ghana, and the former President of India respectively, the UNITED Tour 2005 circled the globe to Mexico, Venezuela, England, Ghana, India and Thailand. Co-organized with the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International, the tour launched the UNITED video and shared it with thousands of volunteers around the world who each had their own small part in this international video. Audiences laughed, cried and jumped to their feet in standing ovations. Armed with several paper airplanes, one young boy took to the roof of his building and sent his messages of hope into the skies. His mother, concerned with the issue of littering, stood speechless!
Inspired by the UNITED music video, the UNITED Human Rights Handbook was researched, developed and piloted by Shuttleworth Leadership Society International (SLSI). The handbook includes 11 lesson plans on the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of course the UNITED music video. Published as a public service of the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology, It has received rave reports from learners and teachers alike.
The YHRI UNITED Film Festival was generously hosted by the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood. Students from around the world submitted their videos. The winner, Nadine Cloete from South Africa, made a video about "gangsterism" experienced at a local school. Meeting youth delegates from around the world, it was a shift in reality when she realized that her video actually depicted a global problem faced by thousands of children who experience bullying at schools.
The YHRI 2nd Annual International Youth Summit took place in Los Angeles in honor of Youth for Human Rights Day for the City of Los Angeles, October 1st, as proclaimed by the Mayor of Los Angeles. Youth delegates from 25 countries including Turkey, Canada, China, India, Mexico, Brazil, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Australia, Russia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Vietnam, Switzerland, Italy and of course the U.S. gathered for three days of conferences. The official youth summit took place on Monday, October 3rd at Jordan High School where the delegates shared their views on human rights and discussed peaceful solutions they could implement. But it was not all work and no play. They visited the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, Warner Brothers Studios, Universal City and Disneyland!
John and Irene Mappin, owners of the magical Camelot Castle in Tintagel, England, generously hosted the YHRI European Arts Festival. Young artists from throughout Europe gathered to share their poems, essays, photos and artwork. The historic King Arthur's Roundtable was the perfect setting for the official youth summit where they shared their creative ideas and made plans for the future all with the purpose to promote human rights through the arts.
More YHRI clubs, branches and chapters started than in any previous year. Expansion news continues to pour in from the continents of Africa, Europe, Asia, and South America. I personally flew to meet the founders of new chapters including Venezuela, Liberia, India and then went on to Canada for their official national launch! In South Africa the Corbett family planned and undertook the first ever African Safari for Human Rights distributing hundreds of the YHRI booklets "What Are Human Rights?" to chiefs, educators, religious leaders and children on their trek along East Africa.
While our international campaign expanded at a rapid rate, we continued to focus attention in the USA and participated in the 6th Annual Los Angeles Community Day 2005, United Nations 60th Anniversary Celebrations of the UN Association Chapters of San Diego and Los Angeles, American Iranian Friendship Association celebration in Nevada, the PeaceJam 2005 hosted in Texas and the Islamic Society of North America, West Zone Conference, in Long Beach.
The YHRI Human Trafficking awareness campaign inspired our first YHRI Human Trafficking video to help shed more light on this issue. The director, Guy Labrusciano, interviewed trafficked survivors and professionals who work in the safe-houses that help the survivors with legal advice, medical assistance, job skills, etc. The video is scheduled to be launched next year. The campaign also included a video conference between students in Canada and the USA to discuss the issue of human trafficking and the much needed awareness campaign. I am proud to announce that, in 2005, the City of Los Angeles publicly acknowledged this inhuman issue as a local 9 billion dollar annual black market industry. Law officers, business owners and the community at large are now being educated on this issue. The YHRI AIDS awareness campaign also continued to expand – particularly in Africa.
The first three, in a series of 30, YHRI Public Service Announcements (PSAs) were released this year. Directed by the talented director of the UNITED music video, Taron Lexton, and produced by Golden Era Productions, each PSA depicts one of the 30 articles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These rights are: Don't Discriminate, Freedom of Thought and Freedom of Expression. They were aired on TV stations around the world and at least 70 million people have now seen at least one of the PSAs. We are now in production with the remaining 27 PSA's which are soon to be released internationally. TV stations are anxiously waiting.
Our websites, youthforhumanrights.org and unitedmusicvideo.org have received an ever-increasing amount of visitors. As the months roll by the number of people who then stay and browse our websites have increased too. One of the attractions is the monthly YHRI Newsletter that shares a glimpse of our global expansion news.
This is but a very brief overview of some of our expansion news. There is just so much more, this report barely does all the expansion justice. It would be impossible to include everything even in a cursory manner. For more information please take a look at our websites youthforhumanrights.org and unitedmusicvideo.org.
I would like to thank all who made this expansion possible. Your valuable help is very much appreciated. Our expansion relies on volunteers, donations and collaborations with like-minded groups. Special acknowledgement goes to TXL Films, the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International and Shuttleworth Leadership Society International (SLSI) who contributed a great deal to our outstanding expansion and success. Also a special acknowledgement goes to Tim Bowles who came on board as the new Executive Director for YHRI.
So, put on your dancing shoes. Yes! We're celebrating all those who now know their human rights and inspiring them to carry the torch of knowledge to others. The United Nations got it right with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. People in 191 countries agree. While celebrating our differences, working together we CAN make a world that respects the basic human rights of our children. We are just talking about daily food, a bed, much needed medical supplies, an education, basic respect … for ALL children. Your continued support is much needed.
Wishing you a healthy, productive and successful 2006!
Kind Regards,
Mary Shuttleworth, International President
International Youth Summit Honors 20th Century Humanitarians
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