Welcome – A message from HRI’s Chair, Hazel Postma

Welcome to Human Rights Internet where, for more than 40 years, we have been part of the international human rights and social justice landscape. During that time, we have seen how the internet and social media have radically changed the way human rights activists can communicate, share and work together to promote human rights and social justice. We have played our part in this by steadfastly gathering, documenting and cataloguing human rights information from around the world, and making it available to libraries and international collections.

Over the years HRI has worked with a number of governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental actors to disseminate information and help empower marginalized and minority groups, as well as stimulating reflections on human rights for initiating policy change and institutional development.

We currently conduct programs including the Initiative on Conflict Prevention through Quiet Diplomacy (IQD), which has been prolific in its activities and far-reaching in its goals, and the International Youth Internship Program funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which has enabled young Canadian graduates to make a difference in human rights organizations worldwide. Through our International Youth Internship Program, we partner with non-governmental organizations in a number of countries around the world. These organizations benefit from the energy, enthusiasm and skills of bright, innovative and passionate young people who, in turn, gain work and life experience in the social justice/human rights arena.

We look forward to continuing our human rights programs, helping to educate the next generation of researchers and human rights actors, in Canada and around the world.