“Creating Peace with Human Rights” was the topic of discussion at the Los Angeles Youth Summit held on September 21 in honor of Peace One Day 2002, at Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn's Hollywood Field Office.

The Summit, organized by Youth for Human Rights International, included the release of an educational flyer featuring the children's version of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. Ten easy-to-do things that youth can do to create peace with human rights are also presented on the flyer, to help them become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace.

Spokesperson Lynsey Bartilson, star of Fox TV's “Grounded for Life,” shared why she is personally working with Youth for Human Rights International to promote the Declaration of Human Rights. She also discussed the new Youth for Human Rights International educational flyer and how it will enable more youth to promote tolerance and peace.

Mike Loumeau, Captain of the 2002 European Multathlon for Human Rights, was joined by two of the Multathlon team athletes, Jesse and Tracie Morrow, to address the youth attending the Summit. These youth were encouraged to become active and promote human rights here in Los Angeles, as the athletes had done in Europe during the Multathlon. (Multathlon is a new word that means “many contests.” Participants either run, bike, sail, canoe, go by horseback or even rollerblade.)

The athletes shared their adventures from the 4,000 km Multathlon journey from St. Petersburg, Russia through Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, and France, promoting the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Summit participants heard how the athletes distributed thousands of copies of the new booklet “What are Human Rights?” for youth, translated into the eight different languages of the Multathlon countries.

Summit volunteers led a panel discussion about “Creating Peace with Human Rights,” focusing on two points of the Declaration of Human Rights. The panel consisted of: Claire Kevitt, Noor Merza, Chet Andrews, and Nick James.

Kids on Stage for a Better World delighted all the attendees with song and dance, and artists Adrienne Craig and Claudia Korchak helped the youth create a collective drawing in celebration of human rights. Vince and Wendy Tividad captured the event on film for a future project of Youth for Human Rights International.

Copies of “What are Human Rights?” and the new educational flyer for youth are available. You can help raise the awareness of youth on the subject of human rights and inspire them to bring peace and tolerance to the world. Contact Mary Shuttleworth at Youth for Human Rights International, 323-663-5799, or info@youthhumanrights.org for further information.