Human Rights in the Community Project

About the Project:

From BIHR’s experience of working with communities, we know that human rights knowledge can be dynamite in their hands. It shifts the balance of power, increasing people’s confidence to challenge decisions, negotiate solutions and have a greater say in the provision of public services in their local community.

‘Human Rights in the Community’ is an exciting three year project (April 2010 – March 2013) that aims to empower individuals and communities with human rights know-how and support them with a range of practical tools and resources, tested by pilot organisations in their everyday work. We are delighted to lead this project in partnership with EREN. www.eren.org.uk

Year 1 was spent laying the foundations for this project. We ran free learning events, chose 3 community pilots and worked closely with them building their knowledge and skills. The pilots cover a fascinating range of people from disabled artists to full time carers and environmental activists. Read about the first year of the project in our project e-update.

To learn more about the pilots, follow this link

Year 2 was all about action! Skilled- up and fired- up, the pilots implemented human rights interventions in their own communities with BIHR’s ongoing support. From performances to exhibitions, guide books and toolkits, year 2 was a dynamic year. It also saw the launch of our first ever Human Rights Tour, read more about the Tour below.

Year 3 is in full swing, and we are continuing some great work with the pilot organisations, as well as a number of other community groups. We are busy with our second Human Rights Tour, and producing our final project report which will be launched in December 2012.

Using the Arts:
We are maximising the use of photography, film and arts by people we are working with, to communicate human rights in an accessible and inspiring way! Expect poetry, art and even human rights rapping this year (see Daniel, below - our human rights rapper).

We have also been working with a community arts organisation in London called Songololo-Feet that has been using traditional screen printing to speak out for human rights. To read more about our collaboration with Songololo Feet and our unique human rights bunting please go to our news pages.

Human Rights Tour!

In 2011 we launched our first ever Human Rights Tour, where we travelled to 16 towns and cities across the UK in 16 weeks to mark the 16 rights in the Human Rights Act. In each place we put on a free to attend training and awareness event on human rights, which proved to be extremely popular; over 1000 delegates booked on to the 2011 Tour.

Our 2012 Human Rights Tour is now in full swing, to find out the locations we are visiting, how our pilot projects are supporting us to put on Tour events in their local area, and how you can book your free place please visit our Human Rights Tour news pages.

Tools and information

Throughout the project we will road-test and produce a wide range of innovative tools, and information, tested and jointly developed by the pilots. So far we have produced:

• A free e-guide for communities which explains in simple terms how human rights work in practice and the kinds of issues they relate to. It also has tips to get you started and a sign- posting page for more information.

• We have produced a guide for community groups on how to raise a human rights issue. Human Rights for Community Groups: tips and tools contains a range of resources including a flowchart for action, that outlines the steps you can take to address a human rights issue.

• In partnership with the pilot project N-compass we developed Your Human Rights: A Pocket Guide for Carers. The guide outlines and explains the human rights of carers, and those who are cared for, in practical and accessible language. You can download a copy of the guide here.

• In December 2012 we published our final project report 'Make Human Rights Happen' which documents the experiences of the pilot projects and other community groups, as well as key lessons and insights for community organisations interested in learning more about human rights and how they are relevant to their work.

Evaluation:

We are working with Community Links to assess the impact of human rights on the pilots and also of our wider activities. We are tracking the development of people’s knowledge, confidence and application of human rights and we are beginning to see some great results.

Details of the project activities will be updated on this page as the project develops.

How can I find out more or get involved?
If you are interested in the project, please sign up to our project mailing list. We will circulate details of any upcoming events, the pilot projects and any new tools or resources developed as part of the project, as well as regular project updates.

For general enquiries about the project, please contact the Programme Officer, Sophie Howes on showes@bihr.org.uk or 020 7882 5853.

The project is funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.