Central Catholic Group Participates in UN Human Rights Conference

On 7 December 2001, the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) hosted the 4th annual U.N. Student Conference on Human Rights. Six students from Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh and their moderator, Br. Ernest Miller, FSC, travled to Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia to participate (via a live video hookup organized by Global Education Motivators) in the conference.

The six students from Central Catholic are members of the Central Catholic Amnesty International chapter, CCHRIST (Central Catholic Human Rights Initiative for Societal Transformation). CCHRIST aims to animate their local community by increasing awareness and understanding of human rights in the world, and in the end, aims to inspire others to believe that they can make a difference, and leave the world a little bit better than they found it.

Why did CCHRIST participate in the conference? First, this conference was an opportunity for human rights education. The experience provided students with an opportunity not only to learn about issues but also how to advocate in the public square. Second, it is a part of our on-going response to the Gospel’s call to the worldwide Lasallian community to make the defense of the rights of children an integral part of the educational mission.

The theme of the one-day conference was “Acknowledging Diversity and Promoting Respect: Fostering a Dialogue Among Civilizations”. The conference provided the opportunity for the students to learn more about the United Nations, to find out what other young people around the world are doing to promote human rights, and to develop a Plan of Action related to this year’s theme that will be distributed to young people around the world.

Thirty student delegates from the United States, Canada, and Mexico were chosen to meet at U.N. Headquarters in New York City on December 6th to draft a Plan of Action related to this year’s theme. On December 7th, student participants worlds apart were connected by high-speed telephone lines on video monitors to the student drafting committee and U.N. personnel in New York. Among the countries represented were Egypt, Mexico, Canada, Sierra Leone, and the United States.

Two Central Catholic students, both team leaders for CCHRIST, addressed all the global participants during two different sessions. 

To read Joe Balestrino’s ‘03, speech, click here.

The entire conference is archived, including video webcasts, at http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/.