Education: The Most Powerful Tool

It’s that time of year again! School children are getting out for summer vacation and graduation season is in full swing. I’ve been thinking a lot about education and how it is at the core of Global Rights’ philosophy and approach to human rights. 

Global Rights educates women in Afghanistan on family law

Just last week, a donor made a generous donation to Global Rights in honor of her son’s middle
school teachers, acknowledging the extraordinary work they do each day.  The Global Rights team knows the power of education.  How can individuals advocate for their rights if they don’t know they have them? How can civil society use international mechanisms to protect their rights if groups and individuals don’t know how to use them?

I invite you to join this donor and follow her example, honoring teachers who have had an impact on your life or those in your family by making a tribute gift in their names.

Global Rights transforms lives in Africa, Afghanistan and Latin America by providing activists with the most powerful tool known— education.  We work with our local partners in some of the toughest areas to help vulnerable and marginalized populations discover and exercise their voices to demand their rights.

• We provide Law and Shar’ia university students in Afghanistan with a hands-on, practical education on human rights and international law, an invaluable course that is not offered in the standard curriculum. These students are the vanguard of a new generation of lawyers who will defend human rights in Afghanistan.
• We educate women’s groups in Morocco about effective advocacy strategies to secure specific violence against women legislation.  They are now using these strategies to advocate for the passage of a violence against women law.
• We train paralegals in Nigeria and Uganda to educate the most underserved communities about their rights and to provide need paralegal services to ensure those rights are respected and protected.

By conveying knowledge, we convey power. We are creating skilled and successful rights advocates who bring positive, sustainable change to their societies.

Susan

Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth