'Human Rights Awareness Week' begins today
Saba Naseem
Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: News
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
It goes on to say that "everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."
The declaration was adopted Dec. 10, 1948, by the General Assembly of the United Nations after the Second World War. This declaration, however, has been violated by nations all around the world. For this very reason, Amnesty International will be hosting a Human Rights Awareness Week today through April 17.
"We felt that there was a need to bring much more awareness to human rights issues on the UA campus," said Stephanie Vang, former president of Amnesty International. "(Other than) what student organizations bring to the campus, there tends to be very little information available to students and the Northwest Arkansas community."
Some of the current human rights violations are occurring in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Israel, Egypt, China and North Korea.
This year's topics for Human Rights Awareness Week were based on what officers of the AIUA chapter though would be most important for students.
A two-part "Human Rights Congress" will be featured 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. today and Tuesday in Room 105 of Kimpel Hall. On Wednesday, a guest speaker will visit to speak about Burma 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 102 of Kimpel. A panel on Women's Rights in the Middle East and Islam will be co-hosted by Al-Islam Student Association 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Chemistry Auditorium 0132, and a discussion panel on Gaza/Isreal will be 3 to 5:30 p.m. Friday in the same auditorium.
Students across campus said they believed this was a great idea.
It goes on to say that "everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."
The declaration was adopted Dec. 10, 1948, by the General Assembly of the United Nations after the Second World War. This declaration, however, has been violated by nations all around the world. For this very reason, Amnesty International will be hosting a Human Rights Awareness Week today through April 17.
"We felt that there was a need to bring much more awareness to human rights issues on the UA campus," said Stephanie Vang, former president of Amnesty International. "(Other than) what student organizations bring to the campus, there tends to be very little information available to students and the Northwest Arkansas community."
Some of the current human rights violations are occurring in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Israel, Egypt, China and North Korea.
This year's topics for Human Rights Awareness Week were based on what officers of the AIUA chapter though would be most important for students.
A two-part "Human Rights Congress" will be featured 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. today and Tuesday in Room 105 of Kimpel Hall. On Wednesday, a guest speaker will visit to speak about Burma 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 102 of Kimpel. A panel on Women's Rights in the Middle East and Islam will be co-hosted by Al-Islam Student Association 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Chemistry Auditorium 0132, and a discussion panel on Gaza/Isreal will be 3 to 5:30 p.m. Friday in the same auditorium.
Students across campus said they believed this was a great idea.
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