Brussels Youth Group Launches “Human Rights Summer”

The Youth for Human Rights group sponsored by the Brussels branch of the Churches of Scientology for Europe believes in human rights education.

As they pondered projects for this year, the leaders of the Belgium chapter of Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI), asked themselves a question, and found themselves an answer: What better time or place to promote human rights than throughout the Belgian summer, when locals and visitors from across the world relax on the nation’s beaches, savour her seafood and delicacies, steep themselves in her history and enjoy her concerts, festivals, pageants and exhibitions?

So, they helped launch the season with an “infostand” at the Sfinks Mixed Music Festival in the Flanders city of Boechout. There, festival-goers learned about the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the importance of insisting on these rights and defending the rights of others.

The message is a vital one. Although the UDHR was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly 66 years ago:

• Some 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy active life.
  
• Poor nutrition causes nearly half the deaths in children under five—3.1 million children each year.
  
• And according to a report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 33 per cent of the victims of human trafficking are children.
  

Youth need to know their rights, and this is the basic premise of the Youth for Human Rights initiative. The YHRI materials are kept simple so that children can easily grasp basic concepts and see how those concepts relate to their lives.

To bring the subject of human rights to life for youth at the festival, the volunteers invited them to the booth and asked them: “Which of these rights are most important to you?” They then invited them to trace their hands on a scroll and sign them with the article from the UDHR that sets forth the right they selected.

Brussels is the de facto “capital” of Europe. It is home to the European Commission, Council of the European Union, and the European Council. With embassies related to these institutions and to Belgium and NATO, the city is host to some 185 nations around the world.

Scientologists see it as their responsibility
to spearhead a human rights education campaign
to reach throughout the world...

The Brussels branch of the Churches of Scientology for Europe sponsors the Youth for Human Rights chapter. Scientologists see it as their responsibility to spearhead a human rights education campaign to reach throughout the world, and Brussels represents an open opportunity.

The Church has also co-organized several Youth for Human Rights International Summits in Brussels and holds frequent forums, workshops and open house events to promote human rights at their Boulevard de Waterloo home.