2014Annual ReportJohn Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights

Human rights education is much more

than a lesson in schools or a theme for a day; it is a

process to equip people with the tools they need to

live lives of security and dignity.

- Kofi Annan

presidents remarks.

As I look upon the current work of the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, I feel we are on the precipice of vital and positive change in advancing peace and human rights causes. During the past year, we have brought people together in ways that have accomplished real and meaningful dialogue, learning and change on issues related to poverty, mental health, children, and our identity as Canadians.Leading up to the 150th anniversary of Canada, we see this as the perfect opportunity to challenge ourselves as Canadians to identify what we want to represent as a nation. It has been a privilege for the John Humphrey Centre to bring young Albertans together to reflect on this in the light of our past achievements and also of our sometimes dark and untold past. This has been an incredible journey so far. We look forward to this next year with great hope and optimism as we take these conversations across Western Canada.When we look back on 2014 and the challenges we were presented, I feel great pride in our staff, volunteers and Board of Directors who have persevered to overcome what at times seemed like insurmountable obstacles. The John Humphrey Centre is a small organization, however we have a powerful vision and are striving to fulfill the important goals we have set. These are being achieved with the dedication of our staff and board and the strong support of our community and those who sponsor our activities. We are very grateful for this commitment and are going forward with a new sense of vibrancy and purpose.Over the next year, my hope is our efforts and our accomplishments to advance the principles enshrined in human rights and our work towards peace for all people, will continue to grow. These endeavours are so critically important in our world today.Thank you for your valued support and commitment to the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights. Sincerely,

Joan CowlingPresident

our board of directors.

Joan Cowling, President

Lewis Cardinal, Vice President

Robert Gardner, Treasurer

Norm McLeod, Secretary

Gurcharan Bhatia

Dominique Clment

Claire Edwards

Salma Lakhani

Raffath Sayeed

Roxanne Ulanicki

Christine Rapp

our special advisors.

our staff.Rene Vaugeois, Executive Director

Carrie Malloy, Education Programs Manager

Maigan van der Giessen, Creative Lead and Educator

Tatiana Wugalter, Program Coordinator and Research Lead

Ramona Fernando, Office Administrator and Finance

Ashintha da Silva, Summer Coordinator

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1a peek at success.

Organizational GoalsSTRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1: Putting Children First

UNICEF Canadas Rights Respecting Schools ProgramRights in PlayYouth Action Project on PovertyThis is Our Canada RetreatPeace-BuildersMcNally Peace-Builders

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2: Renewing Community through Partnership and Human Rights Learning

Gall Conference: Childrens RightsHuman Rights AwardsTruth and Reconciliation Gathering ParticipationANFCA Partnership SigningEdmonton Community Advocacy and Remediation PlanIntercultural Education for a Peaceful World TrainingInternational Day of PeaceAlberta Hate Crimes CommitteeDo the Rights Thing: Standing up for Human Rights in History Film SeriesPanel Discussion on Organ HarvestingKomagata Maru WeekHonour Based Violence Partnership

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3: Supporting Respect, Protection and Compliance of Human Rights in Business

Canada and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human RightsNatural Disasters: Human Rights Protection Gaps ResearchTraining Expansion:

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous PeoplesHuman Rights Based Approaches to ProgrammingGateway Association Cultural Competency TrainingHuman Rights and Gender Discrimination

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In 2014, the Board of Directors approved a three year projection plan for the organization. We identified three strategic objectives to guide our work moving forward that built on our momentum but also allowed us to deepen our organizational capacity for education on and operationalizing of human rights in various spheres.

This report provides an overview of the progress made in 2014.

1.Putting Children First:To foster enterprising, inclusive and engaged children and youth, the John Humphrey Centre (JHC) is committed to building stronger communities for Albertas children through fostering programming of inclusion, learning, participation and action for young people that promotes a culture of peace and human rights.

2. Renewing Community through Partnership and Human Rights LearningWork in the advancement of human rights crosses cultural, economic, social and political lines. The John Humphrey Centre is committed to building stronger connections between different perspectives and philosophies fostering a circle of learning and practice and where all Albertans have the opportunity to reach their full potential and achieve a quality of life.

3: Supporting Respect, Protection and Compliance of Human Rights in BusinessWith a key focus on the private sector, working to enhance compliance of human rights both to external practices in the community but also internally to foster respectful and efficient workplaces, will build a stronger Alberta where we can live, play and work together. The John Humphrey Centre aims to become a leading expert in our province and country to support Alberta businesses in their efforts to protect, respect and remedy human rights concerns.

our goals.

Throughout this report we acknowledge our funders and supporters however we want to thank as well the City of Edmonton Community Investment Operating Grant as well as the Alberta Community Initiatives Program Operating Grant for enabling us with a base of support to advance our work. We would also like to acknowledge the incredible support of Volunteer Albertas Serving Communities Internship Program which has enabled us bring on board a number of student interns to help our work.

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Putting Children

First:Strategic Objective 1

To foster enterprising, inclusive and engaged children and youth, the John Humphrey Centre (JHC) is committed to building stronger communities for Albertas children through fostering programming of inclusion, learning, participation and action for young people that promotes a culture of peace and human rights.

The UNICEF Canadas Rights Respecting Schools Program is a whole school approach aimed at embedding childrens rights as way of being; in policy, decision-making and programming. The JHC focused a lot of our time in 2014 supporting two existing Rights Respecting Schools; Evansdale School, Northmount School. We also worked hard to evolve relationships with schools that were making positive movements towards a rights respecting school - these included Our Lady of the Prairies, Ekota School and Amiskwaciy Academy. We held a training workshop in Edmonton for 28 individuals at Amiskwaciy Academy who represented schools from Olds and Edmonton as well as Alberta Education representatives.

In order to further support existing RRS schools, the JHC felt it was necessary to create materials that would help RRS schools address challenges in their pursuits in moving forward with RRS initiatives. At each school, parent engagement was a major concern. JHC thus piloted a series of 8 lessons with students with Maigan van der Giessen at Evansdale school where they built an art project around rights and responsibilities through creative expression on superheroes. They then displayed and presented these at a family celebration night at the school. At this time, we also provided a brief resource for families to take home to help engage them in conversation.

The JHC also took on a practicum student, Sofia Alani, to help develop this brief parent engagement tool, Human Rights at Home, to help facilitate parental involvement in the school community. This simple resource will thus be used with current and future RRS schools to help address challenges with parent engagement.

UNICEF Canadas Rights Respecting Schools Program

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As a result of the series of pilot workshops around art and rights with the students, the JHC also created the Superhero Toolkit that teachers can now use to engage young students in learning about rights and responsibilities. From what we hear, it is being used in Quebec for a traffic control project!

This toolkit has been picked up by Microsoft and we worked in 2014 to build a plan to pilot an innovation of the Superhero project whereby students could turn their artistic creations of superheroes into live digital projects. This program will be piloted by two elementary schools; Keenooshayo and Mill Creek.

In addition to these activities, we were also honoured to present Rights Respecting Schools to teachers across the province at six conventions where we were able to directly workshop with 45 educators in the province.

Thank you to the Alberta Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund for their support to this important work.

Rights Respecting Schools in British ColumbiaThis year, two separate on-site visits were made to the three existing RRS schools in B.C. in January 2014, and April 2014. Our visit in January was particularly dedicated to professional development for school staff and administration where workshops provided educational leaders with instrumental resources, information, action planning, and tools to help schools enhance climates of self-regulation, engagement, and social emotional learning amongst their students. At Chartwell, 15 staff participated; 9 staff partook at Cape Horn; and 35 staff members participated in our professional development session at Monty Middle School. During this visit, two separate student sessions were also held to elicit student voice regarding school matters and to garner their input on continuing to build their RRS community: the student session at Chartwell comprised of 15 student participants and 18 students partook in the session at Monty Middle School.

Special thank you to our partners at UNICEF Canada and Friends of Rights Respecting Schools for their ongoing commitment to shift education towards a childrens rights based approach. It is a difficult task but one well worth it as we have seen in the schools we have been working with.

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Free2BeYOUth is a collaborative venture between the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights and (IN)spired, a youth inclusion group. This program was developed as a way to foster peer support and leadership in junior and senior high schools around issues of inclusion and seek to create a strengthened understanding of what full inclusion looks like.

In our pilot year,1 we were able to introduce Free2BeYOUth (F2BY) to 5 schools across the province: H.E. Beriault Junior High School, Strathcona Composite High School, Jasper Place High School, Tofield School, and Holy Trinity High School. The schools we had for this pilot year were very diverse, from junior high to high school, from Catholic to public schools. It was great that teachers and students incorporated their unique school cultures in discussion.

A core resource that was developed for the F2BY program was a training manual2 that comprised of 4 major components: an introduction to the program and roles of club leaders; monthly themes related to inclusion; ideas for fundraisers, club-based activities, school-wide events, and ideas on how to advocate for inclusion; and community resources for facilitating monthly workshops. In addition to the F2BY manual, a F2BY website was developed in order to connect F2BY clubs with each other and to online resources that would help them organize workshops, meetings, and events.

In January, the F2BY theme was accessibility, disability, and inclusion which involved approximately 20 participants at Strathcona which helped to broaden students definitions of communication since they were exposed to non-conventional forms of communication such as augmentative and alternative

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communication. Demonstrating the functions of assistive technology for individuals with disabilities and how such technology poses restrictions on communication for these individuals was a highlight for Strathcona students. At H.E. Beriault, 80 junior high students received a special presentation from a guest speaker, Cameron Tait on verbs igniting change. The focus of the presentation was on developing a sense of compassion and understanding towards others. Jasper Place also held a session with a 16-year-old youth presenting on living with trisomy 18. Four of the students learned about inclusion, empathy, and forgiveness from the youth. Jasper Place also benefited from a January session with Crystal Jones, who facilitated a session on non-verbal communication, and tips for communicating with deaf people and those who are hard of hearing. Februarys workshop series involved developing healthy relationships and four Jasper Place students participated in a session with the Gender-Based Violence Project. April was dedicated to Learning about Canadas Aboriginal peoples and Koren Lightning Earle from the Alberta Restorative Justice Association facilitated a session with ten Strathcona students about restorative justice from an Aboriginal perspective.

Overall, through the development of F2BY digital and print resources, workshops, and presentations, students were inspired to start their own campaigns, projects, and events within their school to help raise awareness about inclusive practices. Although a number of schools outside of Edmonton did not organize as many workshops with community leaders as H.E. Beriault and Strathcona, students still used F2BY as a platform to launch many initiatives to promote inclusion within their schools. For instance, students at Tofield School created a campaign to promote inclusion in their school during the month of February where students left letters containing positive, compassionate messages around the school to help their peers feel more welcome and valued in their community. F2BY thus inspired youth to lead meaningful initiatives within their schools and communities as they advocated for inclusion and human rights.

Free2BeYOUth.After a workshop from Nathan Devlin at Tofield High School.

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rights in play.

Rights in Play, our longest running program, has been very busy, delivering sessions to many schools and organizations across the province over the year. We have done workshops at M.E Lazerte High School, J Percy Page, Holy Trinity, and Ecole Le Rousseau in Brooks, Alberta. We were able to celebrate National Childrens Day with the Norwood Child and Family Resource Centre in Edmonton where we hosted learning activities with the young people. The topics we have covered range from exploring Canadian identity with ESL classes to gendered space and gender stereotypes; diversity and exclusion; human rights 101 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Rights in Play continues to be a very popular request from teachers and organizations working with youth. The program aims at educating young people about human rights in an experiential and creative space. We had one of our busiest falls delivering sessions to approximately 500 young people aged pre-kindergarten up to 18 years old.

During the summer, the John Humphrey Centre hired a student for the position of Human Rights Education Coordinator. Ashintha da Silva spent three months doing Rights in Play activities as well as dialogues with youth experiencing poverty in Edmonton. Sessions were held at local non-

profit organizations, clubs and other groups that already work with youth, such as the Boyle Street Youth Unit, Canadian Native Friendship Centre, Youth Empowerment & Support Services, The Pride Centre and the Old Strathcona Youth Co-op. The Coordinator delivered sessions to more than 500 youth aged 6 to 25 in and around the city, Some youth who attended summer sessions later joined the John Humphrey Centres Youth Action Project on Poverty (YAP) that began in the fall.

In total in 2014, we reached over 2,500 young people in Edmonton and other areas of Alberta teaching them about the value of diversity and human rights. Through a partnership with the Indo Canadian Womens Association we were also able to develop a workshop on Honour Based Violence and will deliver three sessions to Edmonton Public Librarys GirlSpace to approx. 30, 11-15 yr old girls. In addition we have a number of interested volunteers and will train them in time to do sessions in the community over the summer, bringing human rights education to a playground near you.

Thank you to the support of South Gate Lions Club and the Summer Career Placement Program with the Government of Canada for allowing us to conduct this important work.

In 2014, we published the second edition of the Rights in Play: Practical Guide for Human Rights Education after over fifteen years of growth and learning. We also trained twelve Albertans how to integrate the curriculum in their day to day youth programming.

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The Youth Action Project (YAP) entered its eighth year in 2014. A youth leadership program focused on engaging young people in human rights issues in our community through applied learning and dialogue, this year we focused on making shifts around poverty. YAP brought together 15 diverse youth from around the city to explore poverty and bring forward youth recommendations to the Mayors Task Force on the Elimination of Poverty. The youth learned about the use of human rights based approaches to addressing poverty; focusing on the pillars of Justice, Security, Freedom and Dignity.

Youth participants explored the dimensions of poverty in Edmonton through a study tour to community agencies and grassroots outreach to youth agencies and at street level. Participants visited the Elizabeth Fry Society, iHuman Youth Society, George Spady Detox Centre, Boyle McCauley Health Centre, Hope Mission and Boyle Street Community Services. They have had presentations by a front line social worker, police investigators working with vulnerable persons and first hand accounts from youth experiencing poverty and street involvement.

These important perspectives have helped youth participants collaborate on and create formal recommendations with a larger group of young people that they will bring forward to the Mayors Task Force at the end of February 2015. In addition to research and discussions, the YAP team have engaged in numerous artistic projects such as a music video, speakers corner video, a documentary and poverty tree art installation all focusing on the theme of poverty and human rights in Edmonton.

This work was made possible with support from the City of Edmonton, South Gate Lions Club and Telus Community Foundation.

youth action project on poverty.

A few of the Youth Action Project team members.

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With an aim to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of faith diversity in Edmonton, the 2014 Peace-Builders program began on January 21st with a total of 26 participants from a variety of faith, ethnocultural and career backgrounds. They learned about seven unique faiths in Edmonton and had the opportunity to visit 6 faith centres including Islam, Buddhism, Bahai, Judaism, Indigenous Traditions, Hinduism and Catholicism. During each faith session, Peace-Builders were given the opportunity to meet a member, or in some cases multiple members, of that faith community and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be welcomed into a faith centre that was not their own, which can often be a transformative and inspirational learning experience.

The Peace-Builders also participated in the One Nation, Many Faiths dialogue series which led them through a dialogue-to-action process where they built relationships, learned more about each others diverse values and perspectives, discussed community tensions, and finally, worked together to create tangible actions to enhance interfaith understanding in Edmonton. JHC is very excited about the many positive initiatives which came out of this action planning process including: the capturing of digital stories of faith elders in Edmonton, the

peace-builders.

creation of a Peacebuilders logo, the One Nation: Many Faiths Campus Dialogue series which connected student representative of the Religious Studies Undergraduate Association and the Muslim Students Association and preliminary plans for a Festival of Faiths event in 2015. JHC is proud that many of its 2014 Peacebuilders have remained committed to enhancing the understanding and appreciation of our citys faith diversity.

We would like to thank the Inspirit Foundation and the Alberta Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund for their support of the 2014 Peacebuilders program.

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McNally Peace-Builders McNally Peace-Builders brought together 30 youth from McNally High school and Harry Ainlay School over two full days to explore perceptions on religious diversity and the intersection of religion in public life. Day one had the youth work together to challenge stereotypes about different religious groups and understand religious viewpoints different from their own. Although this brought up many personal stories and reflections on dealing with racism and religious intolerance the students found much common ground amongst religions and cultures that they hadnt considered before. Taking an in-depth look at the role of religion/culture in our daily lives was an important exercise for many students who had never considered the relationship between the two.

Day two involved the youth in a formal action planning process to empower them to identify and solve specific interfaith conflicts they experienced in their community. A key barrier they identified was the prevalence of miseducation and stereotyping attached to each cultural/religious group. They came up with a social media campaign via twitter to address this called #breakthestereotype where they posted pictures of themselves with statements they felt challenged the stereotypes society attributed to their outward appearance. This two day workshop brought together youth from two different high schools and multiple different faith traditions to combat misunderstanding and exclusion in their community; capturing the true meaning of building peace.

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Renewing Community through Partnership and Human Rights

Learning:Strategic Objective 2

Work in the advancement of human rights crosses cultural, economic, social and political lines. The John Humphrey Centre is committed to building stronger connections between different perspectives and philosophies fostering a circle of learning and practice and where all Albertans have the opportunity to reach their full potential and achieve a quality of life.

On December 10th, 2014, in commemoration of International Human Rights Day and the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the United Nations in 1948, the John Humphrey Centre hosted the third annual Gall Conference. The Gall Conference is held annually in legacy of one of our founding directors and human rights champion Gerald L. Gall, O.C.

In 2014, the Gall Conference considered the state of childrens rights in the province of Alberta. The day was a blend of presentation, panel discussion and dialogue that enabled a conversation on how we, as Albertans, ensure positive outcomes for all children in the province. We considered policies and programs, if we are meeting our collective obligations to children, and potential strategies for collaboration and work. Childrens rights provide a foundation to building communities that foster the health and well-being of all children. At the Gall Conference over sixty delegates discussed the realities for children in the province but also prioritized areas for collective impact. Lisa Wolff, Director of Advocacy and Education at UNICEF Canada, set the day off with a presentation to help delegates understand what our collective obligations are to childrens rights and how we can consider childrens rights as a lens for programming and policy. We then engaged in intense conversation of which this report seeks to highlight the key outcomes.

The final Gall Conference Report can be found online on the JHC website.

Gall Conference: childrens rights.

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The 8th Annual Human Rights Awards took place on the evening of Dec.10th. Over 100 people attended and the atmosphere in the Westbury Theatre at the ATB Financial Arts Barns was amazing. The program included a welcome from the John Humphrey Centre President, Joan Cowling, two child vocalists, a word from the Office of the Child and Youth Advocate and keynote speaker Dr.Cindy Blackstock who spoke of hope amidst the stark reality for Canadas First Nations children and their families.

This year, we honored five Edmontonians for their human rights work in our community. Brianna Olson, Marni Panas, Mohamed El Daly, Velvet Martin and Amarjeet Sohi (who received the Randy Palivoda Public Service Award). All of the recipients were honored to have been selected by the Human Rights Awards Committee and all were very gracious in their speeches.

Once the formal program was completed, guests enjoyed the music of Jay Gilday in the lobby where appetizers and a silent auction awaited them. Community businesses and individuals were very generous with their donations to the silent auction. Contributors included Earls Restaurant and Bar, Jewels de Oro, Theatre Network, Highlevel Diner, West Edmonton Mall, The Keg, Be Hot Yoga, Sugar Bowl, The Citadel, Telus World of Science, Movie Studio, Earths General Store, Audreys Books, Edgar Gualoto and Ashintha De Silva. The reception was sponsored by the Lakani Family and the Sri Lankan Community.

human rights awards.

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On October 16th, 2014 we formalized our ongoing work with the Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. For the past seven years, we have been working with the ANFCA through Common Ground and Circle Alberta, which were both initiatives working to bridge and build relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people at a municipal and provincial level. We are excited to expand this collaborative work through the This Is Our Canada project which allows Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth to learn and share together while collaborating on community issues and re-creating a history of Albertans in Canada that is shared, reciprocal and inclusive. The ANFCA has been an incredible partner and we are glad to continue working with them in advancing our mutual goals.

ANFCA partnership signing.

truth and reconciliation.During the TRC, the JHC shared an interactive booth with the United Nations Association of Canada and the Inspirit Foundation. At the booth, we asked people to reflect on the question, what actions can we take to reach reconciliation? and to write their answers on colored index cards, which were then pinned to a large bulletin board. With close to 500 comments, the board became a colorful rainbow of reflections on the hopes and challenges we face when continuing the reconciliation process. We met individuals from a wide diversity of backgrounds and had the opportunity to hear from many residential school survivors who shared their experiences at residential school and the negative intergenerational impacts these experiences have caused them and their loved ones. While several individuals expressed anger and hurt, reinforcing how the journey of reconciliation still has many miles to go, others exhibited excitement, hope and a willingness to work together, as Canadians, in building a better future.

JHC staff and volunteers also participated in the TRCs Education Day which allowed hundreds of youth from across the province to learn more about residential schools and intergenerational trauma.

Our time at the TRC reminded us that, to build a better future for everyone in Canada, we must make genuine efforts to build bridges between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities, dismantle centuries of stereotypes and misconceptions, and take steps to truly listen and understand the many injustices First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples have faced.

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As a result of increasing human rights complaints and concerns coming to the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, we called together a wide range of community advocates in July to discuss the need for enhanced supports to people. Twenty one community advocates and individuals came together to discuss and as a result, the John Humphrey Centre created a draft plan for collaboration. Two roundtable discussions were held to advance networking and plans were made to launch a monthly advocates gathering to foster networking and support in a HUB model style. We were also able to work with the University of Alberta Community Service Learning program to do some ground based engagement with community advocates to understand the common barriers that are faced in supporting people in the area of human rights and identify best practises that affect change.

edmonton community advocacy and remediation plan.

On June 20 and 21, 2014, the John Humphrey Centre offered a 2 day workshop entitled Intercultural Education for a Peaceful World. Leading the workshop were professors Toh Swee-hin and Virginia Cawagas from the UN mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica. The 15 participants spent the 2 days listening, dialoguing and role playing as they explored cultural identity, discrimination, intercultural understanding, culture and human rights and affirming diverse wisdoms, values and virtues.

intercultural education for a peaceful world.

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alberta hate crimes. In 2014, the John Humphrey Centre was able to provide support to the work of the Alberta Hate Crimes Committee in advancing efforts to increase awareness of the impacts of hate crime and to foster improved reporting. During this time, we created a plan with the Calgary Police Service to expand their award winning Hate Hurts program which will be launching out in 2015. We also created a 60 second PSA that would be hard hitting with a message about hate. This PSA is to be launched as part of the National Victims of Crime Awareness Week in 2015.

AHCC has been making incredible strides over the years. In 2014, we were able to invite two members from the Ontario Provincial Police to provide directed and intensive training to all AHCC members in an effort to expand capacity in the province. With representation from Crown prosecutors, the training was incredibly productive and resulted in refined training plans. Six workshops were held to communities across the province to test the AHCCs skills, including a high school in Fort McMurray.

Special thanks to the Alberta Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund for their support to the work of the AHCC.

international day of peace.On September 21st, JHC worked with the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, the United Nations Association of Canada - Edmonton Branch and the Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action to host an afternoon of song, dance, spoken word and keynote speeches that inspired Edmontonians to think critically about their role in creating communities of peace, both at home and abroad. The day began in Churchill Square with the annual Peace Flag Raising Ceremony and then moved to City Hall where the exhilarating drumming of Kita No Taiko and Sangea kicked off the Right of Peoples to Peace Celebration.

Presentations included Global Voices Choir, spoken word artist Ahmed Knowmadic Ali, the Honourable Douglas Roche, Rene Vaugeois, Executive Director of the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights; and Vivian Giang, UNA-Canada Edmonton Branch President. The guests, which numbered near 100 people, had the opportunity to browse close to 15 booths at the Building Peace Exhibition, learning more about the work Edmonton organizations are doing to build communities of peace, and concluded the day with a powerful closing dance and drum circle led by Marcus Fung. This was a day of unity, inclusion and collaboration, where guests left feeling reinvigorated to advance peace in their communities.

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do the rights thing: standing up for human rights in history.This film series launched off in 2015 in partnership with the Edmonton Public Library, Whitemud Crossing Branch. Each month a documentary related to human rights history in Canada took place followed by a dialogue and discussion lead by Robert Normey, a long time constitutional lawyer who has practised both private and public law. The goal of this partnership was to provide free educational opportunities for those interested in history, law and to provide a space to enhance knowledge, appreciation and understanding of Canadas provoking historical record on human rights issues. We were excited to host such films as Sitting Bull, Forgotten Warriors, Los Canadienses and From Black Tuesday to Building Jerusalem in a Cold Climate.

In partnership with Falun Dafa, JHC assisted with an expert panel discussing the latest findings on the live organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience. The forum grappled with issues such as why would the Chinese leadership risk perpetuating such a barbaric perversion of its medical system? What is the scale of the atrocity? How does harvesting connect with the current political struggles in the upper echelons of China? Ethan Gutmann, Veteran China analyst and author of The Slaughter, was joined by David Kilgour and Dr. Charl Els to challenge the ethics of foreign policy and human rights issues around live organ harvesting.

discussing organ harvesting.

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remembering komagata.To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Komagata Maru episode when Canada turned away 376 migrants of South Asian origin aboard a Japanese steamship in Vancouvers Burrard Inlet, the John Humphrey Centre supported the efforts of a group of young Edmontonians to host Komagata Maru Week (May 26-31st) to raise awareness of this historical event and foster dialogue on its relevance to the present day.

The events of the Komagata Maru week included: a reception at Latitude 53 featuring documents and photographs from the Komagata Maru

Incident in 1914 along with interpretations of the incident by two emerging artists. film showing of A Continuous Journey followed by a session with Ali Kazimi, film maker and

Associate Professor in Yorks Department of Film. an evening of spoken word poetry from local poets highlighting themes of race,

discrimination and multiculturalism in Canadian society. a Punjabi language lecture by retired UBC Professor, author and poet, Sadhu Binning. discussion panel at the University of Alberta to engage conversation discussing the

relevance of the historical events such as Komagata Maru to todays sociopolitical landscape.

From the week of events, the Komagata Maru team published a book Reflections on the Komagata Maru with all proceeds going to the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights. The book can be purchased online on Amazon.

honour based violence.Through a partnership with the Indo-Canadian Womens Association, the Today Family Violence Help Centre and the YWCA Edmonton, JHC worked to identify and respond to the specific needs of women and girls who experience, or at risk of experiencing, honour based violence. This was mainly accomplished through a series of initiatives which sought to identify and address institutional barriers which limit the work of community agencies in responding to the needs of such women and girls. The project provided training by the Barbra Schlifer Clinic and the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario for up to 60 frontline workers in Edmonton, developed a standards of practice for honour based violence and connected individuals working in this area with the hopes of establishing a high risk team dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals at risk of honour based violence. Specifically, JHC contributed to the creation of a comprehensive report on honour-based violence, led strategic planning sessions and led Rights in Play workshops on the themes of honour, shame and violence. Thanks to Status of Women Canadas support to this partnership!

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Respect, Protection and Compliance of

Human Rights:Strategic Objective 3

With a key focus on the private sector, working to enhance compliance of human rights both to external practices in the community but also internally to foster respectful and efficient workplaces, will build a stronger Alberta where we can live, play and work together. The John Humphrey Centre aims to become a leading expert in our province and country to support Alberta businesses in their efforts to protect, respect and remedy human rights concerns.

Executive Director, Renee Vaugeois, participated in a roundtable forum Where to From Here: A Canadian Strategy for the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights at Ryerson University exploring the approach Canada has been taking on implementing the UN Guiding Principles and to assess the potential role of the John Humphrey Centre in building efforts to advance these efforts. This is the first in our efforts to build our capacity as a leader in operationalizing human rights in business practice.

Canada and the UN guiding principles on business and human rights.

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ultimately with the goal of ensuring that all Canadians, no matter their location, background, socioeconomic status or race will be supported and will have their human rights maintained during natural disasters.

To strengthen our understanding of the many complex social, financial, physical, political and emotional impacts of natural disasters, we have been spending time in High River discussing issues related to the flood with community members from a variety of backgrounds. These learnings are invaluable in our understanding of the key human rights protections all Canadians deserve when they are affected by natural disasters and will continue throughout 2015 as we work more closely with our partners in High River. In our efforts to build strong relationships with the community, we have participated in a Collective Impact Summit as well as hosted six dialogues in the community with various stakeholders.

We have also undertaken preliminary research to determine the current context of natural disasters, both nationally and internationally, and attended the Fifth Annual National Roundtable on Disaster Risk Reduction hosted by Canadas Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and Eleventh Annual Canadian Risks and Hazards Network Symposium hosted by the Canadian Risk and Hazards Network in Toronto.

We would like to extend a huge thank you to Thinking... for A Change Society for their support in enabling us to advance this important work.

Canada has not been immune to increases in extreme weather; the Southern Alberta Floods and Slave Lake Fire are recent examples of extreme natural disasters resulting in the devastation of communities. After learning of the experiences of members from both of these communities, the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights became concerned that certain rights, particularly those of individuals or groups who are already marginalized or vulnerable, were not being upheld in situations of natural disaster. As such, they partnered with Thinking... for a Change on a project which seeks to ensure that all Canadians have their human rights met in situations of natural disaster.

The joint aim of this project is to assess and identify the common protections that all people deserve in the event of natural disaster and determine the gaps in fulfilling these protections. In 2014, we worked to identify gaps in both response and reconstruction efforts, and learn who has been marginalized in these processes;

natural disaster and human rights.

Community members build plans and foster improved collaboration during the High River Collective Impact Summit.

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UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples In 2014, the John Humphrey Centre was able to pilot a full day training session on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and compliance with 15 participants and guest speakers Danika Littlechild and Lewis Cardinal. The training was incredibly well received with strong evaluations.

Human Rights Based Approaches to ProgrammingThe Centre piloted a twelve week long training program on learning how to apply human rights based approaches to programming. A team of five worked together over the course of ten sessions to identify a prominent human rights issue and build a plan to address the root causes. This team identified mental health as a critical priority for the community. The training was fruitful with strong feedback from participants. The intention is to hold it again over the course of 2-3 days.

The photo to the side shows some of the work of the participants in building a human rights based action plan to address the root causes and issues surrounding mental health.

expansion of training.

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Gateway Association TrainingOn December 15 and 16, 2014, the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights worked with approximately 23 staff in learning about cultural competency and exploring how skills and practices in cultural competency could be applied to their work. The Gateway staff were all very welcoming and interested in improving their cultural competency and creating an even more inclusive and welcoming atmosphere.

The first day of training focused on individual perceptions of culture, digging into what it means to be culturally competent, identifying barriers to accessing disability services for people from different cultural backgrounds and becoming familiar with the Human Rights Framework around disabilities.

On the second day of training, guest speakers from four different cultural backgrounds shared their personal insights into cultural differences in Canada. Gateway staff also had the opportunity to have small group conversations on these individuals experiences in Canada in relation to accessing social services and things that posed challenges for them. The participants spent the later part of the training assessing their organizations cultural competency and creating some items for action.

The staff recognized that they were very diverse in their abilities but less so in other respects, such as ethnicity of staff and languages spoken by staff. The group came up with actions to be taken on in the six months following the training, such as developing a relationship with local cultural organizations for mutual education and staff recruitment. The John Humphrey Centre has agreed to organize an initial meeting with at least one organization that works with newcomers and will continue to follow up on their work.

Human Rights and Gender DiscriminationThis year we were happy to develop training on human rights and gender discrimination to deliver for WISER at the University of Alberta. This training helped participants to understand legislation at both national and provincial levels and what strategies could be applied in addressing workplace discrimination. The workshop also looked at current cases to discuss trends in Human Rights practice and policy with particular relevance to gender and family.

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The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights is an organization committed to advancing the principles enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other international documents, through education, dialogue and change.

Named after John Peters Humphrey, a Canadian lawyer and principal drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Centre believes that education in human rights has an immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of

freedom, democracy and sustainable development. (Kofi Annan)

www.jhcentre.org