We are keen to expand our programmatic and student offerings and are seeking funding to realise these goals. The IHRP’s fundamental priority is impact; we choose all projects with careful consideration to the potential positive impact on our students’ legal education as well as on advancing a human rights issue.
Over the next year we would like to build on our impressive track record to publish reports on human rights abuses in Canada and abroad that build on some of our specific subject area expertise: immigration reform; women’s rights (particularly violence against vulnerable women and girls); freedom of expression in Central America and Asia (an ongoing collaboration with PEN Canada); and access to adequate housing (in collaboration with the UN Special Rapporteur on Housing).
On the student front, over the next three years, we are seeking funding to expand the program with more offerings. Currently, students receive only a modest stipend (no salary) to cover some of their travel and living expenses for the summer. With more funding, we would increase these stipends, which would generate more interest in the program and make it more accessible. Stipends free students from taking on more of a financial burden when trying to participate in this important career-building opportunity.
To help us reach our goals, Rebecca Cook and Bernard Dickens, Professors Emerita & Co-Directors of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Programme, have generously donated $30,000 in matching funds to the IHRP. Their gift will ensure that your donation will have maximum impact on our program.
Your generosity will enable us to continue to build on this impact and further our engagement in comprehensive research, advocacy and in training tomorrow’s human rights advocates.