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Scientologists Introduce Human Rights Education to Ecuador Schools, Police

Injecting tolerance and compassion into Ecuadorian society with the human rights initiative supported by the Church of Scientology.

Over the past three years, hundreds of thousands of Ecuadorian students have learned the basic principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through a human rights education programs supported by the Church of Scientology.

Scientologists from the Church of Scientology Mission of Quito led by Emelin Carrera launched a human rights initiative by introducing Quito police and government officials to the program and gaining their support.

Carrera presented a human rights lecture to the National Assembly. Then, learning that the Ministry of Heritage was looking for a program to address discrimination and racism, she offered her help through the human rights curriculum developed by Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI).

The curriculum consists of:

  • The Youth for Human Rights Educator’s Guide

  • The Story of Human Rights documentary that illustrates the history of human rights from ancient times to today

  • 30 public service announcements that bring to life each of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

  • UNITED—a hip-hop music video that advocates human rights and nonviolence What Are Human Rights?—a fully illustrated version of the UDHR in booklet form, written in terms youth can understand

  • Posters depicting the 30 articles of the UDHR

Under the sponsorship of the government, volunteers led by Carrera set out on a national human rights educational tour across Ecuador where they reached more than 14,000 students in schools and colleges.

Student participation was so successful, the Ministry of Heritage incorporated the program as a permanent part of their annual campaign.

The first year the campaign reached seven provinces. The following year, 30 cities in 15 provinces participated with more than 32,000 students learning their rights and responsibilities. The next year, they brought human rights education to all 24 provinces of Ecuador including the Galapagos Islands, reaching more than 200,000 students in 50 cities throughout the country.

Scientologists on five continents engage in collaborative efforts with government agencies and nongovernmental organizations to bring about broad-scale awareness and implementation of the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the world’s premier human rights document.

The Church of Scientology published Scientology: How We Help—United for Human Rights, Making Human Rights a Global Reality, to meet requests for more information about the human rights education and awareness initiative the Church supports. To learn more, visit Scientology.org/HumanRights.

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream,” and the Scientology religion is based on the principles of human rights. The Code of a Scientologist calls on all members of the religion to dedicate themselves “to support true humanitarian endeavors in the fields of human rights.”