What a long election week! We hope you took time to recharge this weekend. There's hope (!) and yet still much work to be done. Today is the U.S.' Universal Periodic Review with the UN's Human Rights Council.
Students graduating in December- please reach out to Michelle if you have not yet done so already!
Thanks for joining the community hour last week <3
Very best,
Team HRHP
Upcoming Events
EVENT
A Conversation in the Intersections of Climate-Induced Migration and Environmental Justice
In this conversation with Amali Tower (Founder and Executive Director, Climate Refugees Founder, SIPA Class of ‘09), moderated by Dale Buscher (Vice President for Programs at the Women’s Refugee Commission, SIPA Adjunct Associate Professor), we will discuss the intersection between climate-induced migration and environmental justice, as well as associated trends, challenges, and opportunities. The first half of the event will include a structured discussion, followed by the opportunity for participants to ask questions.
Climate Refugees is a human rights organization that calls for the protection and rights of those displaced by climate change. Through advocacy, research, field reports, and global monitoring, they shed light on the complexities of climate-induced displacement and forced migration, its human rights implications, and the climate injustice at its roots.
Have you ever thought about the role of the World Bank in human rights? Following decades of criticism from the human rights community, the World Bank designed two novel quasi-judicial bodies to respond to complaints submitted by or on behalf of project affected communities: the Inspection Panel and the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO). Within this system, what is the position of NGOs involved in the complaints process? How are indigenous communities affected?
We are excited to announce that on Thursday, November 12 at 1PM Benjamin Graham will speak to the SIPA community about his recent publications with co-authors Kelebogile Zvobgo and Lynn M.G. Ta on this topic. Join us to learn about the impact of the World Bank on human rights and the many other actors involved!
Speaker Bio:
Benjamin Graham is an associate professor of international relations at the University of Southern California. His work focuses on migration, foreign investment, and the relationship between economics and military conflict. He also studies power-sharing, unrecognized states, and the enforcement of human rights through quasi-judicial bodies at the World Bank. He is a co-founder and PI in the Security and Political Economy (SPEC) Lab, and a co-creator of the World Economics and Politics Dataverse.
Join us for an exciting panel discussion on seeking reproductive justice and accountability for forced sterilization in the United States. We will hear from leading activists and scholars working to establish accountability for survivors of forced sterilization. From working to shutdown ICE Irwin Detention center, to passing legislation to get reparations for survivors in California prisons, you will hear about the latest efforts in this fight!
RSVP is required.
This event is moderated by Yasmine Ergas, Director of the Gender and Public Policy Specialization. We are honored to be joined by the following panelists:
Alexandra Minna Stern, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Collegiate Professor, American Culture, History, and Women's and Gender Studies;
Director, Sterilization and Social Justice Lab
Alex is the Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Collegiate Professor in the Department of American Culture at the University of Michigan. She also holds appointments in the Departments of History, Women's Studies, and Obstetrics and Gynecology, and directs the Sterilization and Social Justice Lab, an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional research team that is reconstructing and analyzing the history of eugenics and sterilization in four U.S. states (Michigan, North Carolina, Iowa, and California). Alex's research focuses on the history of eugenics, genetics, society, and justice in the United States and Latin America. She is the author of the award winning book, Eugenic Nation (2005), and her most recent book is Proud Boys and the White Ethnostate (2019).
Aminah Elster, Policy and Campaign Coordinator, California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Aminah Elster is a proximate leader and scholar whose work focuses on gender violence, critical acts of survival, and the carceral system. She founded Unapologetically HERS (Healing Experiences through Research Solutions), an organization committed to centering and empowering the experiences of those incarcerated within California women's prisons through leadership development and self sufficiency, and advocates for the abolition of carceral systems. She received her BA in Legal Studies from UC Berkeley and is the co-author of Criminal Record Stigma in the College-Educated Labor Market, Aminah serves as an advisor to Voice of Witness and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Justice Impacted Board. She is currently the Policy and Campaign Coordinator with the California Coalition for Women Prisoners in Oakland, CA.
Ena Suseth Valladares, Director of Programs, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
Ena Suseth Valladares has worked on reproductive justice issues for nearly 15 years, primarily working on reducing health inequities and improving access to social and health services through community-informed research and policy.
Azadeh Shahshahani, Legal & Advocacy Director, Project South
Azadeh has worked for a number of years in the U.S. South to protect and defend immigrants and Muslim, Middle Eastern, and South Asian communities. She previously served as president of the National Lawyers Guild and as National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director with the ACLU of Georgia. She is the author or editor of several human rights reports, including a 2017 report titled “Imprisoned Justice: Inside Two Georgia Immigrant Detention Centers,” as well as law review articles and book chapters focused on racial profiling, immigrants’ rights, and surveillance of Muslim-Americans. Her writings have appeared in the Guardian, the Nation, MSNBC, USA Today, Aljazeera, and HuffPost, among others. Azadeh is the recipient of the Shanara M. Gilbert Human Rights Award from the Society of American Law Teachers, the National Lawyers Guild Ernie Goodman Award, the Emory Law School Outstanding Leadership in the Public Interest Award, the Emory University MLK Jr. Community Service Award, the US Human Rights Network Human Rights Movement Builder Award, the American Immigration Lawyers Association Advocacy Award, among several others. She has also been recognized as an Abolitionist by the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University & the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives.
Universal Periodic Review of the United States:
The world is watching! You can view the Universal Periodic Review of the United StatesMonday, November 9, 2020 - 9:30 AM ET -The United States will appear before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva to defend its domestic human rights record as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Mark your calendars, spread the word, and tune in to UNTV on November 9 to hold the US accountable. The session will also be recorded. The June 2020 UN condemnation for racial violence in the United States is an anticipated topic of discussion.
Paid External Fellowship: Beyond The Bomb
Beyond the Bomv is a people-powered campaign working to put checks and balances on the U.S. nuclear weapons system and to uplift the voices of those impacted by it. Right now, Beyond the Bomb is seeking applications for a four-month-long, remote fellowship this Spring, focused on digital organizing skills. The paid fellowship is open to activists of any age and education level, as long as they are based in the United States. Fellows receive ongoing professional development assistance, one-on-one coaching, and additional training. The deadline to apply is December 4! The position comes with a stipend and other benefits, with expected commitment of four hours a week, at about $15.50 hourly. For more information, please visit beyondthebomb.org or contact Tristan Guyette (They/Them) at Tristan@Beyondthebomb.org.
Virtual Conference Scholars at Risk "Free to Think 2020: Responding to Attacks on Higher Education.
This virtual conference marks the Scholars at Risk (SAR) 20th anniversary and release of their annual report, Free to Think 2020. The report draws on data from SAR's Academic Freedom Monitoring Project, which documents attacks on higher education in the 2019-2020 academic year. The virtual conference features six panel sessions highlighting situations in China and Hong Kong, Yemen, India, Turkey and additional developments in Europe. Registration and program information availalbe here.
Contact us!
Professor Elazar Bakan, Director of the Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy Concentration, Director of the Institute for the Study of Human Rights
