64 Days for Human Rights: Voting, Healthcare and Housing Rights
November 7, 2012
In commemoration of the 64th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year, the US Human Rights Network is highlighting 64 member and partner organizations as a way to raise awareness about the domestic human rights movement.
On this day, after the presidential election, we recognize that our work to ensure that the U.S. lives up to its human rights obligations continues.
This week, we feature and commend the hard work of the NAACP and the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for their work on voting rights. We highlight The Vermont Worker’s Center and their successful Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign. We also highlight the important various housing rights work of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, Causa Justa/Just Cause, and Los Angeles Community Action Center.
Help us spread the word about what these organizations are doing to promote human rights. Forward this email to a friend, share the features on Facebook, retweet or tweet using #64DaysHR on Twitter.
We believe strongly in the human rights and dignity of all people, including poor and homeless persons, who are often marginalized and stigmatized. We believe that homelessness is a symptom of poverty, and that our country will only dedicate the resources necessary to address these critical issues when human rights becomes part of our political, legal, and cultural conversation.
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
NATIONAL ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RIGHTS INITIATIVE
In partnership with communities, NESRI works to build a broad movement for economic & social rights, including health, housing, education and work with dignity. Based on the principle that fundamental human needs create human rights obligations on the part of government and the private sector, NESRI advocates for public policies that guarantee the universal and equitable fulfillment of these rights in the United States.
NATIONAL LAW CENTER ON HOMELESSNESS & POVERTY
The Law Center’s mission is to prevent and end homelessness by serving as the legal arm of the nationwide movement. To achieve this, it uses three strategies: policy advocacy; public education; and impact litigation. The Law Center addresses homelessness in the larger context of poverty, recognizing that it is primarily driven by: a shortage of affordable housing; insufficient income; and inadequate social services.
Read about their work on housing and homelessness.
CAUSA JUSTA
Causa Justa :: Just Cause builds grassroots power and leadership to create strong, equitable communities. Born from a visionary merger between a Black organization and a Latino immigrant organization, Causa Justa builds bridges of solidarity between working class communities of color. Through rights-based services, policy campaigns, civic engagement, and direct action, Causa Justa improves conditions in neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area, and contributes to building the larger multi-racial, multi-generational movement needed for fundamental change.
Read about their foreclosure work.
LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
The mission of the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LA CAN) is to help people dealing with poverty create & discover opportunities, while serving as a vehicle to ensure they have voice, power & opinion in the decisions that are directly affecting them.
Read about their Human Right to Housing Project.
LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW
The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is to secure equal justice for all through the rule of law, targeting in particular the inequities confronting African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities. The Lawyers’ Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar’s leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity – work that continues to be vital today.
Read about their voting rights work.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE
The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. From the ballot box to the classroom, the thousands of dedicated workers, organizers, leaders and members who make up the NAACP continue to fight for social justice for all Americans.
Read about their voting rights work.
VERMONT WORKERS’ CENTER
Created in 1998, the Vermont Workers’ Center is a statewide grassroots network of thousands of individuals and families who are committed to standing for justice. The Center has individual members around the state and many partner organizations – among them unions, churches, environmental groups, community groups and human rights organizations. The Vermont Workers’ Center is a democratic, member-run organization dedicated to organizing for workers’ rights and living wages for all Vermont residents. It seeks an economically just and democratic Vermont in which all residents have living wages, needed health care, childcare, education, a clean environment , housing and transportation. The Center works to build a democratic, diverse movement of working and low-income people that is locally focused and coordinated on a statewide basis.
Read about their Healthcare is a Human right Campaign.
Woodhull is a proud member of the US Human Rights Network where we Chair the Sexual Rights and Gender Justice Working Group. This campaign is shared here and on the US Human Rights Network website – a treasure trove of human rights resources and up-to-the minute information!