Founded in 2005 by Tamar Ayrikyan and Caitlin McLoon ’06, the Harvard College Human Rights Advocates is a research and advocacy organization dedicated to defending human rights principles and protections around the world. Based on the model of a similar student organization at Harvard Law School, our primary work is to partner with international non-governmental organizations in providing substantive research support for human rights advocacy projects. In addition, the Advocates seek to establish enduring and fruitful relationships with human rights faculty and organizations throughout the university, and ensure the existence and proliferation of opportunities for Harvard College students to engage in substantial human rights advocacy.
We are committed to producing top-quality outputs: informed advocacy, thoughtful research projects, and influential campaigns. With a view to realizing this mission, the organization commits to the following roles:
1. Sponsoring and developing specific projects for students to engage in international human rights advocacy;
2. Assisting in any way possible with legal research and advocacy campaigns on behalf of victims of human rights violations and civil society;
3. Organizing training sessions, internship advising, and conferences to give students the practical knowledge needed for effective advocacy;
4. Promoting the development of human rights courses at the College; and
5. Encouraging networking and social interaction among students and faculty interested in human rights.
The inspiration for the Advocates began in 2002 with the birth of the Harvard Law Student Advocates for Human Rights, an extracurricular organization at Harvard Law School. Since its foundation, an increasingly large number of undergraduates have contacted the Law School Advocates, seeking to get involved in their program. Due to this overwhelming interest, it became apparent that an undergraduate version of the program would be necessary to meet these students’ needs. Out of this necessity, the Harvard College Human Rights Advocates was founded.
To inaugurate the Advocates, a training on international human rights advocacy was organized on February 4th, 2006. This full day Saturday session had an attendance of over 50 dedicated undergraduates. The preliminary training covered basic substantive international human rights law, humanitarian law, human rights mechanisms within the UN and regional systems, and library research methods. Since the inaugural training, student interest has increased, and the organization has become a highly active and organized student group.
With a continually growing membership and constantly developing opportunities for involvement, we are actively working towards the highest possible fulfillment of our organizational mission of promoting international human rights advocacy at Harvard College.
For more on our past projects and advocacy, please see our Fall 2007 Report.