Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance

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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"!

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.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

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:

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

Calendar

Community Forum: Countering Racist Campaigning & Building Inclusive Communities for All

Wednesday, October 30th, 5:30-7:30pm, Hill District Community Engagement Center, Room 204 (1908 Wylie Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15219)
How can we work together to resist today’s “divide and conquer” campaigning and stand in solidarity with our immigrant neighbors? Please join us for a conversation with members of our local immigrant communities and experts in the field of human rights to explore how we can use human rights law to build a city for everyone and meaningfully address the racist politics of scapegoating. This community forum will shape our local advocacy and inform a report for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights in the United States.This meeting is part of a series of community forums on human rights to help build awareness and strengthen our collective work to bring human rights home.


Community Forum: Advancing a Human Rights-Based Housing Strategy for our Region

Saturday, November 9th, 10:30am-12:30pm, East Liberty Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Meeting Room 3 (130 S Whitfield St, Pittsburgh, PA 15206)
The human right to housing is well established in international law, yet many residents in our region suffer from housing insecurity, poor quality housing, and homelessness. How can we work together to promote and protect housing as a human right? How can international human rights law be a resource to advance work for housing rights in our city? This community forum will shape our local advocacy and inform a report for the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of human rights in the United States. Come learn about current housing rights issues in our region and how we can build local solutions and use international law to strengthen our efforts. This meeting is part of a series of community forums on human rights to help build awareness and strengthen our collective work to bring human rights home.

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.

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

Relevant Events & Actions

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:

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

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

Resources

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

Annual Reports

Archive




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

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