The Advocates for Human Rights and the US Human Rights Network today announce the release of a new resource for advocates seeking to monitor, document and advance human rights in the United States. A Practitioner’s Guide to Human Rights Monitoring, Documentation and Advocacyprovides comprehensive information and guidance on how to use a human rights framework to facilitate domestic social change.

A Practitioner’s Guide draws heavily from the extensive experience of The Advocates for Human Rights in the human rights field. Over the last 25 years, the organization has researched and published 75 reports covering the full range of human rights issues in 25 different countries. “This manual will be an important resource to assist advocates in connecting the dots and strengthening both their individual advocacy efforts and the movement for the full recognition of human rights in the United States,” says Advocates Executive Director Robin Phillips.

The manual walks practitioners through every step in the human rights documentation process, including establishing a project and its objectives, setting up and conducting interviews, formulating recommendations and writing a report. Each section poses questions and considerations for readers so they can best structure the process to suit their needs and resources. The manual also helps practitioners plan how to push forward recommendations using education, lobbying and litigation strategies as well as international human rights mechanisms. Finally, the manual helps advocacy organizations understand how they can use the human rights framework in their ongoing efforts.

The Practitioners Guide is being released today in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to acknowledge his significant contributions to the cause of social justice, and for his unyielding advocacy for human rights, particularly his championing of economic, social and cultural rights. The timely release of this manual, on MLK’s 82nd birthday, is designed to aid social justice activists in addressing a wide variety of human rights, including civil and political rights as well as economic and social rights.

To obtain a copy of the report, please visit:

http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/the_advocates_publishes_new_manual_on_how_to_monitor_document_and_advocate_for_human_rights.htmlor http://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/uploads/final_report_3.pdf. 

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http://www.ushrnetwork.org/content/reportsdocuments/practitioners-guide-human-rights-monitoring-documentation-and-advocacy 

The Advocates for Human Rights is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights. Through cutting-edge research, education, and advocacy, The Advocates saves lives, fights injustice, restores peace, and builds the human rights movement in the United States and around the world. For more information on The Advocates, please visit www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org.

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The US Human Rights Network is a U.S.-based coalition of more than 250 human rights and social justice organizations and 1,500 individuals committed to building a human rights culture in the U.S. For more information on the Network, please visit www.ushrnetwork.org.