Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance

Pittsburgh Human Rights City AllianceDignity & Justice for All of Us"Human rights don't trickle down...they RISE UP!"

About Us

Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance works to bring together diverse groups and individuals to encourage the realization of our City Council's 2011 Proclamation declaring Pittsburgh a "human rights city". We strive to foster a human rights culture that maximizes human rights and dignity for all people who live in our region (See Human Rights Cities Principles). We help network leading community organizations and concerned residents to advance people-centered human rights in Pittsburgh. We cannot wait for leaders in Washington to protect our basic rights! It takes engaged and creative efforts of community residents to "bring human rights home"!

• About the Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
• Coordinating Committee
• Advisory Board.

Ways to Get Involved

Subscribe

Subscribe to our newsletterfor updates on events & action opportunities!

University Human Rights Working Group: Faculty members, staff and graduate students can subscribe here.

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Join a Working Group
--Working groups meet regularly to develop projects on specific issues. Everyone is welcome to attend & learn about local human rights issues and find ways to get involved! Current working groups include:

• Housing Rights
• Community Safety & Policing
• Communications, Education and Outreach
• Policy, Legislation, & Governance (PLuG)

For more information, meeting times and links, please contact Maddy McGrady at madeline@theglobalswitchboard.org

Calendar

Rally & Press Conference: International Human Rights Day
Tuesday, 10 December, Time TBD, Pittsburgh City-County Building, 414 Grant Street. Pittsburgh

More details coming soon. December 10th, 2024 will mark 76 years since the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reflects the commitment of governments everywhere to protect and preserve the political and economic rights of all people. On this On this International Human Rights Day, Pittsburgh leaders and residents will join others around the world in renewing our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and committing to working both locally and at other levels of government to promote the protections of human rights for everyone – especially those who are most threatened.

Co-sponsored by: Human Rights City Alliance & Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations

National Webinar & Training: Leveraging Global Human Rights to Protect Human Rights in Our Cities
Monday, 9 December, 3:00PM EST/ 2:00PM CST/ 12:00 PST, Register at bit.ly/rightswebinar | Flyer

About: As the United Nations begins a formal review of U.S. human rights policy, this webinar presents information on how advocates in cities can utilize international human rights as tools for addressing pressing problems like affordable housing, immigrant rights, racial equity, and reproductive health. Advocates and legal experts will speak about how international human rights law can be a resource for improving local conditions and increasing the visibility of human rights challenges in ways that support changes in national policies. Panelists will consider how international attention to the need for stronger human rights protections within the United States can help us increase cities’ capacities to protect and promote human rights for all residents.

Speakers: Amy Berquist, The Advocates for Human Rights; Nicoletta Zappile, UPR-Info; Joshua Cooper, Human Rights Cities Alliance

Co-sponsored by: Human Rights Cities Alliance & University of Alabama-Birmingham Institute for Human Rights

Register at: bit.ly/rightswebinar

Current Work

The Human Rights City Alliance helps build alliances among individuals and groups in our area supporting human rights for all. We support local engagement in national and international human rights advocacy, and participate in UN human rights reviews of U.S. policies.

Universal Periodic Review 2025

We are currently involved in the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of the U.S. government and will be hosting a series of related community forums. See our Reports to UN Human Rights Bodies, submitted as part of the global work to improve compliance with international human rights law.

Working Groups Our current working groups focus on the following issue areas, and they are shaped by efforts of volunteers like you!

Housing Rights & Justice

HRCA is an active member of the Pittsburgh Housing Justice Table, a coalition of allied local organizations and independent advocates who believe that housing is a human right and that everyone should have access to the housing they need. Our Housing Rights Working Group supports the work of the Housing Justice Table through related events, education and advocacy efforts.

Through community engagement and conversations with Housing Justice Table coalition partners, HRCA developed A Human Rights-based Housing Strategy and Action Plan for Pittsburgh, PA which serves as a guiding document for our housing advocacy. We want our goals and strategy to reflect the needs and perspectives of our community, which is why we invite residents to review the document and share input with us so that we can strengthen it. Send your comments to hrca@theglobalswitchboard.org or join us for our next working group meeting!

You can learn more about the history behind our research and strategy conversations by reviewing our resource page, Building Pittsburgh's Human Rights Housing Strategy

Steel City Cooperative Housing Initiative

Relevant Events & Actions

• (November 14, 2024), Student Housing & Tenant Rights Workshop at Carnegie Mellon University. Students are facing a housing crisis that is affecting them financially, physically, emotionally, and academically. Join Carnegie Mellon Health Promotion and the Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance as we team up to discuss student housing justice, tenant rights, organizing efforts in the broader community, and more. Register by visiting tinyurl.com/HousingRightsCMU

• (April 4-7, 2022), Leilani Farha, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Adequate Housing, visits Pittsburgh. Check out our visit summary highlighting insights and recommendations from our discussions with Ms. Farha, who now leads global housing rights organization, The Shift. Here you’ll also find helpful links to learning resources and legal tools to help us advance housing as a human right. (Download report PDF)

Racial Equity & Justice

HRCA is active as part of a broad coalition of community members and organizations committed to ending and redressing long-standing racial inequalities, inequities, and discrimination in the Pittsburgh region and beyond, recognizing that Freedom from Racial Discrimination is a Right, Not a Privilege.

This work includes raising awareness of the U.S. government's legal obligation to address racial discrimination under international law. For example, the U.S. ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in 1994 and has thus legally agreed to comply with and implement its requirements.

Recent events & actions:

• (November 2023) HRCA members prepared an Executive Summary of the UN Expert Mechanism's Report on Racial Discrimination in Law Enforcement for local elected officials to raise awareness of the UN's investigation, conclusions, and recommendations following its U.S. Country Visit in April & May 2023.

• (October 2023) HRCA organized a panel discussion of UN recommendations to end racially discriminatory policing and uphold human rights in the context of law enforcement. Event Panelists: Brandi Fisher (Alliance for Police Accountability), Tanisha Long (Abolitionist Law Center), Muhammad Ali Nasir (MAN-E) (1Hood Media), Laura Perkins (Casa San Jose). Read the UN reports: U.S. Country Visit 2023 & Reimagining Policing 2023. Event recording: UN Report Condemns Racial Discrimination in U.S. Law Enforcement: How does this relate to Southwest PA?

• (April 2023) HRCA joined the Alliance for Police Accountability and other advocates in submitting a report on policing and racial discrimination in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to the UN's International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the context of Law Enforcement (EMLER) ahead of its visit to the US from April 24 to May 5, 2023. (Full report: Treatment of People of African Descent by Law Enforcement Agencies in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Press release: Local Advocates File Report on Police Discrimination in Allegheny County to UN Fact-Finding Body on Law Enforcement and Racial Justice)

• (November 2022) HRCA assisted to facilitate a listening session with Justin Hansford, Professor of Law at Howard University School of Law and an elected founding member of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. For more details, review our summary Taking Back Our Human Rights: Black Pittsburgh's Appeal to the World and our background page for the event.

• (July 2022) HRCA prepared and submitted a Shadow Report to the United Nations CERD Committee (Full report: Racial Discrimination & Equity in the United States: Evidence from Pittsburgh, Summary report: Summary Document)

Creating a Human Rights City

In 2011, the City of Pittsburgh issued a Proclamation declaring Pittsburgh the 5th Human Rights City in the U.S.. While this represents a step in the right direction, much work remains to strengthen and actually realize the City's commitment and to create a City in which everyone can thrive. We’re drawing from examples in other cities such as Atlanta to bring stronger human rights commitments along with processes for monitoring and setting targets for advancing equity and protecting the rights of all residents.

Relevant Documents

• Draft Resolution to Renew and Update Pittsburgh’s Human Rights City Status

• Bringing a Human Rights Perspective to Mayor Gainey’s Transition Report 2022
• Message to Mayor-Elect Gainey on International Human Rights Day 2021 (Dec. 10)

• Pittsburgh Delegation Attends Human Rights Cities Leadership Summit in Atlanta, May 2023 - As part of our work with human rights cities and human rights advocates around the country and around the world, we brought a team of more than two dozen Pittsburgh activists, youth, and policy experts to Atlanta to learn, share, and network.

Human Rights Education & Outreach

A key focus of HRCA is raising awareness among civil society and elected officials of the international human rights framework, and how we can (and should) use this framework to advocate for, monitor, and uphold "people-centered human rights" at home. This work includes building a movement of human rights enforcers and educating elected and government officials about their obligations under international human rights laws.

Relevant Documents

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• International Bill of Human Rights

Resources

Link to more resources--toolkits, reports, and organizations supporting local human rights work

Annual Reports

• 2019 Annual Report
• 2017 Annual Report
• 2016 Annual Report: See what we've done in the past year as we look forward to strengthening Pittsburgh activism for human rights in the year ahead!
• 2015 Annual Report

• Official Reports to UN Human Rights Bodies (multiple years)

Archive

• Archive

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

All Pages

• Communication Justice Initiative
• Forums on Amazon HQ2 and the Right to the City
• Frequently Asked Questions

• About the Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
• Archive
• Book Discussions
• Bringing Human Rights Home
• Call for Artists
• Communication Justice Initiative
• Communications, Education and Outreach
• Community Safety & Policing
• Coordinating Committee
• Educator Outreach
• Events
• Films
• Forums on Amazon HQ2 and the Right to the City
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Health, Human Rights, and Cities Initiative
• Health is a Human Right
• Housing Justice
• Housing Justice Coalition Table
• Housing Justice Pittsburgh
• Housing Rights
• Housing Rights Resources Page
• Housing Summit
• Housing Summit Resources
• How to get involved
• Human Rights Budgeting Resource Page
• Human Rights City Action Plan
• Indigenous Peoples Day in Pittsburgh
• International Human Rights Monitoring
• Jackies Homepage
• Learning from COVID-19:Shaping a Health and Human Rights Agenda for our Region
• Main Page
• Making the Global Local-Human Rights Cities Workshop
• Media Advisories
• Model Letter supporting Pennsylvania Fairness Act
• National Human Rights Cities Alliance Workshop 2018, Washington DC
• OSHER Lifelong Learning Institute-Human Rights in Pittsburgh and Beyond, Resource Page
• Outreach Material
• Participants Partners and Allies
• Past Actions & Events
• Past Working Group Activities and Reports
• Past events
• Pitt Human Rights Initiative
• Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
• Pittsburgh Human Rights Housing Strategy
• Pittsburgh delegation to Human Rights Cities Leadership Summit in Atlanta, May 2023
• Police Reform
• Policy, Legislation, & Governance (PLuG)
• Preliminary Schedule
• Recordings & Documentation
• Reparations Resource Guide
• Reports to UN Human Rights Bodies
• Resources
• Schedule
• Speakers
• Statement of principles
• Steel City Cooperative Housing
• Steering Committee
• Taking Back our Human Rights! Building a Black Regional Agenda for Justice
• Task Forces
• Teach-In
• U.S. Human Rights Network UDHR Campaign
• UPR Pittsburgh
• University Human Rights Network
• University Human Rights Working Group
• Washington DC 2016 Human Rights Cities Convergence
• Washington DC 2016 Human Rights Cities Convergence Documentation
• Workshop Human Rights Cities 2015 Making the Global Local
• Workshops
• Youth-led Candidate Forum
• Z Human Rights Days of Action 2015
• Z Human Rights Days of Action Spring 2015
• Zero Evictions Days 2020