A celebration of our rights

A student society aiming to address the top rights challenges facing the world today is hoping it’ll attract new audiences to its Human Rights Week activities in December.

The Human Rights Society’s 2017 Human Rights Week programme is packed with topical discussions including woman’s and LGBT rights, the plight of the Rohingya Muslims forced out of Myanmar, and how human rights reforms might restore stability in the Gulf.

Society President, Ula Dzudzewicz said: “It’s a real privilege to be involved in Essex’s annual celebration of human rights. It is a chance for our whole community to consider why human rights matter, how they benefit us all and how we can all play our part in protecting and promoting them.

“With the support of our excellent Human Rights Centre we’ve been able to develop an engaging programme which I hope will attract staff and students from across the University.”

Kicking off the week will be the iconic ‘chalking of the steps’ when students and staff come together to highlight the fragility of universal rights by writing out each article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in chalk, on the steps between squares 3 and 4.

The week will also include a reading of the Universal Declaration and film screenings, and will close with a fundraising dinner in aid of Syria.