The main purpose of our USHRN Working Groups is to provide opportunities for members to initiate their own action teams around human rights topics that interest them so that members are encouraged to learn from one another, collaborate and take action.
These committees must:
- Be in line with USHRN's mission and goals
- Be initiated by at least three organizations (and/or a core team of interested individual activists)
- Be led by members
- Encourage collaboration
These working groups can be started by completing a request to the Membership Coordinator. Each working group would provide an annual update and reapply so that The Network can keep on top of the working group's progress.
They could request the following type of assistance from USHRN's central office:
- Access to general list serve
- Posting events and products on website
- Space to add a blurb in the biweekly newsletter
- Help calling a first meeting (but members would have to take the lead for additional sessions)
- Each working group could request up to $2,500/year (those requests would need to meet specific criteria)
Working Groups:
The Faith and Human Rights Working Group is made up of clergy and non-clergy concerned with religious traditions inspiring social justice. The group will utilize the faith traditions of members in further developing the human rights model to direct social justice issues.
Contact: Father Jeremy Tobin jertob3@juno.com and Rev. Lawton Higgs reconumc@aol.com
The National Alliance for Racial Justice and Human Rights is composed of individuals and groups working towards racial justice. The Alliance will be the action arm and mobilization group in support of CERD and a National Action Plan for Racial Justice. The goals are to advance CERD standards and implementation in local communitities, campaigns and national legislation.
To Join the NARJHR list serve, please visit http://www.narjhr.org/
The Sexual Rights and Gender Justice Working Group aims to meaningfully and consistently integrate sexual rights and gender justice into the broader agenda of the domestic human rights movement in the United States; increase the membership and participation of groups working on gender justice and sexual rights within the US Human Rights Network; develop the capacity of LGBT, reproductive justice, sexual freedom, sex worker, intersex, kink/BDSM and poly/nonmonogamy activists to effectively use human rights language, standards and strategies in their domestic advocacy and organizing; and to build solidarity with sexual rights activists throughout the Inter-American region and the world.
Contact: Ricci J. Levy rlevy@woodhullfoundation.org and RJ Thompson rjthompsonesq@gmail.com
Workers Uniting for Human Rights and Worker Empowerment with an emphasis on the South and Southwest, is made up of Public and private sector unions, worker organizations and worker centers. The purpose of the group is to discuss possible coordinated campaigns, to analyze developments in the global economy that reflect worker demands, alignments and solidarity that U.S. workers should engage in; and to have a focus on reaching out to and organizing workers of color leadership and building greater worker consciousness about the importance of building power at the work place.
Contact: Saladin Muhammad saladin62@aol.com
The U.S. Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry is composed of People who Use, Used and Survived Psychiatric Treatment. A user or survivor of psychiatry is self-defined as a person who has experienced madness and/or mental health problems and/or has used or survived psychiatry / mental health services. The group advocates for the advancement of human rights of users and survivors of psychiatry; facilitates effective information exchange among user/survivor organizations; develops networking opportunities for individual users and survivors of psychiatry; and provides representation and consultation to influence matters that affect users and survivors.
Contact: Daniel Hazen danhazeus@yahoo.com
Political Prisoner and State Repression Working Group
Land and Housing Action Group (Take Back the Land Movement Coordinating Committee)
