Click below to help send Katrina Survivors to Thailand!
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Welcome to our first listserv announcement! August 2006 Dear Friends and Allies, We are pleased to send out our first quarterly announcement to keep you updated on our work. First, we would like to thank those of you who participated in our April 19th dialogue with NESRI Board Member, Dr. Paul Farmer on economic and social rights in the U.S. It was a wonderful event and an honor to have Lucas Benitez, from one of our partner organizations, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, come to speak. Take a look at our photo gallery! A lot has been happening at NESRI: •NESRI moved! Our new office is located at 90 John Street, Suite 308, New York, NY 10038. •In September, NESRI will help facilitate an exchange by sending Katrina Survivors to Thailand. We need your help to send these activists. Please consider donating miles or dollars towards their airline tickets. Click here to learn more. Our Board has been busy as well: •Dr. Farmer contributed "Never Again? Reflections on Human Values and Human Rights" which will be published in the 2006 Tanner Lecture Series. >>> •Professor Martha Davis, NESRI's Board Chair, recently published, "We Need a Civil 'Gideon'" >>> •We welcome Lisa Crooms and Sarah Lawsky to NESRI’s Board of Directors!
Human Right to Education Program • A South L.A. People’s Hearing: More Education, Less Suspension NESRI supported a June 14, 2006 South Los Angeles People’s Hearing attended by 100 parents and activists and held by CADRE (Community Asset Development Re-defining Education), a community-based, grassroots organization forged by low-income parents of color in South L.A. At the hearing parents presented testimony on human rights violations related to discipline policies in L.A. schools. NESRI provides training workshops and materials for CADRE in the use of human rights for participatory research and supports their advocacy before the LAUSD Board of Education. See NESRI Letter of Support >>>
Human Right to health Program
Legal Program NESRI would also like to thank Sullivan & Cromwell for its assistance this summer on developing its training manual on the use of human rights in state constitutional litigation.
Special project on the human rights of hurricane survivors • Tsunami Survivor Activists Visit Gulf Coast In June, NESRI and NPACH facilitated a visit to New Orleans from members of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) and Tsunami Survivor Network. The visit was part of an on-going exchange between local community organizations in the Gulf and housing activists from South Asia who have been applying innovative and effective strategies for rebuilding damaged villages. To view a short video about the action in New Orleans to reclaim public housing click here. Help Send Katrina Survivors to Thailand! Next month, NESRI, the ACHR and NPACH will faciliate the completion of this exchange by sending a number of community members from some of the hardest hit areas of New Orleans to Thailand. They will learn firsthand about the rebuilding efforts of the tsunami survivors. Please help make this possible by donating miles or money towards their flights. Click here to donate. For more information contact NESRI 212.253.1710. • Issue Brief: Human Right to Housing: Access for Survivors in the Gulf In July, NESRI produced an issue brief, “The Human Right to Housing: Access for Survivors in the Gulf.” The brief offers an overview of human rights analysis and standards for access to adequate and affordable housing in the context of internal displacement. The brief details housing rights violations in the Gulf Coast and makes public policy recommendations to ensure the dignity, security and stability of hurricane survivors returning to the region. • Shadow Reporting to UN Human Rights Council – US Gulf Coast NESRI coordinated the Katrina Working Group for the U.S. Coalition of NGO’s in preparation for the July 2006 U.S. report to the Human Rights Committee regarding U.S. compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The working group produced four shadow reports for the committee and was represented in Geneva by several advocates, including four from the Gulf Coast region. >>> • Katrina Legislative Tracking NESRI has been engaged in on-going collaborative work with Katrina Legislative Tracking, a project spearheaded by students from New York University Law Students for Human Rights to compile information on legislation impacting the human rights of hurricane survivors. To subscribe to the Katrina Legislative Tracking list, please click here to send an email. To contribute information to the postings, click here. NESRI also continues to work closely with the Katrina Information Network to send out action alerts, media materials, events listings and other updates.
get involved with nesri Also, now when you use Good Search to search the Internet you can raise money support NESRI. Again, we would like your feedback on our first listserv, please let us know what you think. >>>
The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) promotes a human rights vision for the United States that ensures dignity and access to the basic resources needed for human development and civic participation. NESRI Staff: NESRI Board of Directors : |