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Students
Become an empowered human rights defender by broadening the way you see, understand, and engage in the world. Join together with human rights defenders from around the world to take action in your school, community, and abroad.
Stories of human rights defenders from around the world provide you with a unique entry point to understand human rights issues. Learn how they took action to speak truth to power and change their communities.
Water for Life
Water For Life tells the story of three extraordinary individuals: Berta Cáceres, a leader of the Lenca people in Honduras; Francisco Pineda, a subsistence farmer in El Salvador; and Alberto Curamil, an Indigenous Mapuche leader in Chile, all of whom refused to let government supported industry and transnational corporations take their water. Learn more about the film.
Our ultimate goal is to help create a world where the language of human rights is the norm and where all young people identify as human rights defenders. To do this, you can join us in three different ways:
Join Us
Learn about human rights
We provide workshops and resources so you can learn more about human rights.
Take action for human rights
We share opportunities and support youth who take action to promote, protect, and defend human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Engage with others through human rights
Do you engage in actions and behavior that upholds all students human rights and dignity?
More Student Resources
Go On Our Virtual Field Trip
Join host Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and president of RFK Human Rights, as we bring together established and rising human rights defenders for an inspiring conversation about activism.
Speaker & Film Series
Engage students by putting them in direct conversation with human rights defenders from around the globe during our virtual speaker series events. Our film series allows students the opportunity to view human rights themed films and participate in panel discussions with the directors and members of the cast. Preparatory lesson plans and community action ideas are available for film and speaker series events.
Theater in Action: Piney Woods School
By researching, writing, and performing human rights defender monologues, students at the Piney Woods school did more than simply tell a powerful story — they sought to honor the defenders through the stories and use them to inspire others. The result was a moving performance featuring monologues interspersed with singing by the school’s Cotton Blossom Singers and dancing, all showcasing the school’s diverse student body.
Theater in Action: El Dia Despues
According to a recent poll, 50% of students say they are not engaged in what they are learning and 80% of educators are worried about students’ lack of engagement. Theater work, like the recent theater workshop in Sonora, Mexico, can increase student engagement and empower them to become human rights defenders.
For more perspective
Cameras Up: An Interview with 2023 Speak Truth to Power Video Contest Winners Naba Sheikh and Tohir Hodjakulov
Defender Spotlight: Hina Jilani and Asma Jahangir – Professional Development on Positive/Negative Rights
Increasing Student Engagement and Empowerment Through Theater: Voces Contra El Poder in Sonora
Celebrating our Human Rights Defenders: Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson & Bobby Muller
Human Rights in Action: the Sustainable Development Goals
Introducing the Harry Belafonte Memorial Project
Help us protect human rights
Please give now. Your contribution will make a difference in the critical effort to achieve equal rights for all.