Youth for Human Rights International's Annual World Educational Tour Launches on Capitol Hill - Human Rights Advocates Receive President's Volunteer Service Awards

You can change an entire life by giving a young person knowledge of their human rights and the earlier they get the tools, the greater their chance and the world's chance at success. End Quote

Washington, DC-MD-VA-WV (1888PressRelease) March 18, 2016 - Youth for Human Rights volunteers from across the United States gathered at a ceremony on Capitol Hill to launch the Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) 13th annual World Educational Tour. As part of the ceremony, the volunteers were presented with the prestigious President's Volunteer Service Award for their work on human rights.

YHRI Founder and President, Mary Shuttleworth, Ed.D., was the keynote speaker. Making remarks and awarding youth and mentors for their work during the event were representatives from the offices of Congressmen Becerra of California and Congressman David Jolly of Florida.

Recipients of the 2016 President's Service Awards included Sister Ines Telles, Telyce Turner and five Youth Peace Movement mentees, all of California; Captain Thomas Daniel, US Navy, Retired, of Alabama and Florida; Azhar Haq of Maryland; Nicole Benk of Georgia; and Alex Lake of California.

Sister Ines, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, was inspired by a friend who works with youth in Denver after her eyes were opened to the power and influence of youth in Los Angeles. Her friend said that youth in other states and countries watch what young people in Los Angeles do in order to copy them, but that the LA youth had predominantly only been exporting gangs, drugs and violence as shown in the movie Straight Outta Compton. Sister Ines thought that if youth in LA had that much power and influence then they should start exporting peace, empathy and service instead. So the Youth Peace Movement (YPM) was born.

The Youth Peace Movement (YPM) is an initiative started in 14 Los Angeles high schools which are part of SEA, a non-profit agency, called Soledad Enrichment Action. The youth in the YPM study human rights and non-violence. They learn respect, empathy for others, and the value of service. YPM members initiate volunteer activities ranging from AIDS walks, feeding the homeless, to advocating peace in their communities. Each year the volunteer groups showcase their activities at an Annual Peace Conference.

Captain Daniel accepted his award on behalf of the top cadets of his Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) program at W.P. Davidson High School in Mobile Alabama. As the primary goal of JROTC programs is to promote "Good Citizenship," an education partnership evolved with Youth for Human Rights to provide synergy to their community service projects. Their partnership with Youth for Human Rights has now evolved from their classroom at W.P. Davidson High to all public high school JROTC programs in Mobile County and will soon expand to all JROTC programs in Alabama this summer.

Another awardee, Azhar Haq, has given lectures locally here in Washington, educating youth about their human rights and with sometimes life altering impact. After delivering a human rights seminar to a local 5th grade school, Azhar and his team learned that a student in attendance had been contemplating suicide, but that after viewing one of the human rights Public Service Announcements that are part of the regular YHRI educational curriculum, he saw hope and changed his mind. This motivated Azhar to rededicate his efforts and further expand his educational campaign.

Inspired by what she saw on her travels as part of documentary film crew in Pakistan and India, Nicole Benk developed a passion for teaching youth their human rights. This year, she focused her efforts on engaging United States government officials to recognize the work of Youth for Human Rights and to make them informed about the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and their part in making it a reality.

Alex Lake was motivated to leave the comforts of home to volunteer his time as the photographer of the 12th Annual Youth for Human Rights World Tour after meeting a girl in Mexico who, was trafficked into prostitution by her own family, had managed to escape, learned about her human rights and was now fighting to keep others from her same fate. Alex had asked if knowing her human rights would have helped her. She emphatically replied yes, that she would have escaped years earlier if she had known her human rights.

The event also kicked off Youth for Human Rights International's annual World Educational Tour. From Washington, DC, YHRI President Dr. Mary Shuttleworth will travel to Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, India, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Taiwan, and Trinidad and Tobago holding human rights summits, meeting with dignitaries and catalyzing youth to become advocates for human rights.

Youth for Human Rights Representative, Washington, D.C., Erica Rodgers, was the master of ceremonies for the event.

The event was co-hosted by Youth for Human Rights International and the Church of Scientology National Affairs Office.

Beth Akiyama, the Executive Director of the Church's National Affairs Office: "Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard, gave us the mandate to make human rights a reality, and human rights education is fundamental to bringing that about; why we continue to support Youth for Human Rights International and their mission."

Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 by Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, an educator born and raised in apartheid South Africa, where she witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of discrimination and the lack of basic human rights.

The purpose of YHRI is to teach youth about human rights, specifically the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and inspire them to become advocates for tolerance and peace. YHRI accomplishes this through simple yet empowering, high-quality human rights education materials for youth, teachers and officials in more than 20 languages.

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