Human rights are considered to be so fundamental due to the fact that they represent the most basic rights inherent to all humans regardless of their background or qualifications.
The protection of human rights may be pursued via domestic or international law, protests and conferences in order to progress and ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. For us students however such participation is incomprehensible at such an early stage of our activism- it is for this reason that a brand new Amnesty Group has been launched in Woodford Green available for all students at Woodford County High to attend. This youth group is held by Surrayia Bilal who is a student at the Grammar school and is on the Youth Board for Amnesty International so is receiving specialist guidance through her professional involvement in the NGOs.
When asked about this youth group she has launched, Surrayia Bilal stated that ‘Many individuals have in the past asked’ why she is ‘so involved with the works of NGOs such as Amnesty International,’ she stated that she has ‘always had a passion for human rights, especially for the rights of those from minority group’. Surrayia claimed that her ‘interest comes from her childhood: having had migrated from Pakistan at the age of 6. I became aware of the importance of creating ways to protect the rights of minorities because I had a first-hand experience of being discriminated against because of my background.’
This youth group is a fantastic opportunity to involve the youth in issues that are fundamental to all humans yet they are rarely ever a part of the curriculum unless a student chooses to involve themselves. The youth group is currently only made up of 10 students who are extremely involved with the campaigns that we run. We aim to involve more of the youth in social action by having more varied action projects. Such projects include more creative action with our campaigns. The focus of such upcoming campaigns will be regarding the violations of rights of refugees.
We hope that with my guidance from the Youth Board for Amnesty International as a youth group we are able to create a positive change in both our local community and on a larger scale too and we encourage the public to become more involved in human rights related issues as well.
