When you work with “good-guys” you learn of more and more opportunities to bring your support. Many people are doing a lot of good in the world and I am so grateful to be invited to join up with them in participation of good deeds.
When my dear friend, Karina Furlin of the Drug Free World campaign in Miami asked if I would like attend the 16th Annual Human Rights Summit in NYC with her, I was honored.
CES supports so many activities that truly help others, and I quickly knew this would be one of those!
So off to NYC I went, to be a part of an International event of great importance, meeting others and hearing their stories of overcoming human rights violations with their efforts. It was a very special opportunity which deeply expanded my knowledge of the world around me and of the many amazing on-going global activities which are truly working to improve the conditions of mankind.
In true Lynnie-style, I brought my crafting materials with me, so that I could hand-craft inspirational signs for each day as the “message of the day” hit me. I shared my messages over the course of three days with many people at the UN and on the streets of New York City. How completely joyful it was to embrace total strangers in Times Square with these feel-good signs.
I made new friends and connected with some effective and creative non-profit organizations which I plan to help make them known on our Talk of the Town
About the Summit:
“Delegates and Ambassadors from 45 nations, NGO representatives, members of civil society, Ambassadors and Representatives of diplomatic missions to the UN, government officials, and representatives of non-profits from around the world converged at the prestigious Summit to share one common goal—raising awareness on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
“The importance of communities uniting and working to resolve human rights abuses through education in the 30 Articles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the theme of the Summit.
“While people from 78 countries in total attended the three-day Summit, the message reached further outside the United Nations’ walls as it was live streamed on UN Web TV.”
You can watch all four parts of the Summit sessions at the UN by going to:
“This year’s Summit was sponsored by the Permanent Mission of El Salvador to the UN and was co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Ghana, the Gambia and the Republic of Moldova to the UN. Beyond the UN Country Missions, other co-sponsors included the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico, the International Union of Bilateral Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology, the Foundation for International Democracy in Argentina, the African Diaspora Foundation, Karna Positive Trust of Nepal, the Gandhi Global Family, the Art and Culture for Human Rights Foundation in Italy and more—19 in total.”
The final day, the multicultural celebration for the Summit, was hosted at the Church of Scientology of Harlem Community Center on Saturday, June 29. The day started with a workshop for the delegates on human rights education, where each delegate made an action plan on how they are going to apply, in their communities, what they have learned during the Summit.
The afternoon saw a Multi-Cultural Celebration with numerous performances and speakers from a multitude of nationalities and countries. Internationally-traveled singer, composer, guitarist Michael Duff opened the performance. The Rybin School of Drama provided youth performances by their very talented students. Speakers provide uplifting words of encouragement to the delegates as they prepared to return home to improve their communities through human rights education, and the youth delegates were able to speak about their experience, and how this Summit has impacted their life.
In her closing speech, Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, the president of Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI), stated, “My respect lies in the dirt on your shoes, the sweat on your brow. My respect is the work and youth that make your dreams come true.”
After this lively celebration, youth delegates and ambassadors went and passed out Youth for Human Rights booklets throughout New York City. In Times Square, they gathered signatures on a giant 12-foot-long petition. They used this opportunity to also read people their thirty human rights.
Do you know your human rights? Learn them and find out more at:
https://www.youthforhumanrights.org or learn about Youth for Human Rights founder by going to: https://www.scientology.tv/series/voices-for-humanity/mary-shuttleworth.html
