Scientology Press Office

Representatives from Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) helped the Liberian teams set up an organizational structure, and trained them in the skills they will need for the program.

For the past several years YHRI has been working with human rights groups in West Africa. This year's leadership program is an outgrowth of that work, and the program is geared to activate youth to make an impact on the most serious human rights issues in their countries, through a grassroots education initiative.

Youth for Human Rights International is proud to contribute to the new Liberia through the leadership program it has just launched.

The first step on the tour was Liberia, a country founded on human rights principles: to provide a homeland for freed American slaves who had been trafficked from Africa before the American Civil War. However, from 1989 to 2003 the country was wracked by its own civil wars, leaving the nation reeling, with the population subjected to the worst possible human rights violations: the deliberate killing of civilians, torture, the forced recruitment of children and sexual violence including rape. Hundreds of thousands fled the country to escape these threats to their survival.

At peace for the past five years, the government and people of Liberia are determined to rebuild the country and Youth for Human Rights International is proud to contribute to the new Liberia through the leadership program it has just launched. YHRI has formed up a corps of Liberian high school and college students into two teams that will spend the next four months providing education to schools and community centers on human rights issues. The teams are composed of 30 youth from five Liberian schools.

Representatives from Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) trained the students in basic leadership skills, writing, speech presentation, photography and videography, to enable the youth to make the greatest possible impact with their activities.

Students also studied the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, human rights quotations that they can use in their presentations by famous human rights advocates such as Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, and L. Ron Hubbard, and educational properties that were developed by YHRI to bring the subject to life for young people. These properties include an award-winning music DVD called UNITED, and a series of 30 video clips that illustrate in one minute or less each of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The teams selected two human rights issue to spotlight: rape and violence against women and discrimination.

Youth participating gained a new perspective on human rights: "I want to say a big, big thanks for all I have learned today most especially a need for total transformation of behavioral attitude and manner of approach, most especially about human rights. Indeed I personally firstly must go out and tell my community, nation and even internationally about human rights abuses and also the need to know the 30 rights in the Universal Declaration and how one must respect others and live with others peacefully," said one young man who attends William Tubman High School. "What I really learned and love from this program is everyone is equal," said another Tubman High School student.

"I thank the staff of YHRI for the opportunity to participate in this unique workshop. What I learned today will be with me forever. I learned more about what it takes to be a leader: a leader should be one who is innovative, creative, and communicative and who relates well with the people he/she leads. And a leader should know how to solve the plight of the people he/she is leading," wrote a student from St. Peters Lutheran High School.

Youth for Human Rights (YHRI), an independent non-profit group headquartered in Los Angeles, which has as its purpose educating youth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights so they become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace.

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