[hr-education-na] Re: Testimony on HRE on Capitol Hill

Kudos to you Felisa in tandem with Ted Orlin, Victor Conde, Jo-Marie Burt
and Ed O'Brien for bringing voice to our legislators regarding this
incredible gap in US education system...I find it ironic that I am going
over to Italy this summer to teach a course on "Human Rights Education"
for American college students who haven't a clue about this topic based
upon their own highschool and undergraduate education in the states!! If
there is anything I can do to further support, let me know.

In solidarity, Laurie Johnson 



>>> Felisa Tibbitts on 03/12/07 7:46 PM >>> 

Dear Friends, 

The testimony for the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on February 16th
went well! The panelists included Ted Orlin, Victor Conde, Jo-Marie Burt,
Ed O'Brien and myself. We collectively recommended that Congress take
leadership at the federal level in promoting HRE in the U.S., given the
low level of human rights literacy. In my presentation I specifically
mentioned that Margaret Spelling had not responded to a letter from the
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights asking for
participation in the World Programme for Human Rights Education. The
panelists also asked that more resources be made available for these
purposes.

There was a friendly audience of over 40 people. Tina Ramirez and her
Republican staff member counterpart took notes on the testimony and
ensuing discussion. An interesting point raised in the discussion was that
in the U.S. HRE is seen as associated with a liberal/leftist issue agenda.  
There was agreement during the discussion period, I think, that HRE should
be seen as non-partisan and that it should include discussions of many
points of views on issues. Indeed, I think that this problem is a huge one
for HRE in the U.S.

Two of our testimonies are now posted on the HR Caucus website and can be
found at
http://lantos.house.gov/HoR/CA12/Human+Rights+Caucus/HRC+Hidden+Content/02-06-07+Human+Rights+Ed.htm

Click on "Briefing testimonies" in the left-hand column. Here you can also
find additional information about the work of the Human Rights Caucus.

Thanks to all of you who sent me input and suggestions earlier on. I was
given a quite limited topic to present on (the work of HREA) but I did try
to weave in other key points as I could.

Onward, 
Felisa 


------------------------------------- 
Felisa Tibbitts, Director 
Human Rights Education Associates (HREA) - US office 
PO Box 382396, Cambridge, MA 02238 USA 
Visiting address: 
97 Lowell Road, Concord, MA 01742 
(tel) +1 978 341 0200 (fax) +1 978 341 0201 
(e-mail) <       > (Web) http://www.hrea.org 





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