PAKISTAN: Human Rights Education
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Pakistan includes the earliest known civilization of South-Asia, the Indus Valley Civilization. Her highest point in the north is the Himalayan peak K2, the second highest mountain on Earth reaches 8,611 m (28,251 feet) and her lowest point touches the Arabian Sea in the south. The hot climate, one of the highest temperature in the world, 53.5°C (128.3 °F) in 2010, makes the silk or cotton traditional dress of women in South and Central Asia, Shalwar kameez, ideal. Pakistan is internationally known for their strong cricket teams boasting high scores. Pakistan joined the United Nations in 1947.
The purpose of Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is to teach youth about human rights, specifically the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and inspire them to become advocates for tolerance and peace.
In 2008 the YHRI World Educational Tour included Pakistan. In 2010, programs developed by the YHR-Pakistan Coordinator were accepted in several schools with requests to deliver workshops regularly to primary and secondary school students. These workshops were extended to parents in 2011. In 2013 the Character Development Program programs became part of a school curriculum. Later, the provincial government granted permission to expand the programs to all schools within the three towns of Karachi.
YHR-Pakistan also helped train religious leaders at the Human Rights Awareness Workshops and Character Development Program Sessions and assisted in the delivery of more than 200 workshops, with over 7,000 hours of participant attendance. We gained permission to work in Government Colleges to deliver our workshops to young adults and also started training Sociology students on our “Citizen Empowerment Project” at the Karachi University. The team also delivered workshops in villages within the Province of Sindh.
In honor of International Human Rights Day YHR-Pakistan has hosted several Peace Walks with broad media coverage. For example, our Peace Walk for the Rights of Children in Karachi was covered by 12 newspapers.
In Nov/Dec 2013 we appeared on 6 Television stations, with a two-hour live program conducted on Sindh TV. France News24 also promoted our work focusing on the UDHR Article #26, the Right to Education. The national magazine, “Tanqeedi Shaoor,” published monthly articles on human rights and news of our activities.
“The 30 Human Rights are the basic manners of a civilized society. These manners are taught in the home, refined in educational institutions and practiced in the workplace. Each of us has a part to play in creating this civilized society. ” Fareeda Abbasi, YHR-Pakistan Coordinator
Congratulations to the YHR-Pakistan team for your work in promoting human rights and responsibilities in Pakistan!
Youth for Human Rights International is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 to teach youth about human rights and inspire them to become advocates for tolerance and peace. Since its inception, it has grown into a global movement, including hundreds of groups, clubs and chapters around the world.