A group of women in the poorest district of Pennsylvania came together in 1991 and organized the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) after welfare cuts threatened their families and community. KWRU sought to reframe the welfare debate as part of a larger fight for human rights, rather than one about personal responsibility for poverty or charity-based responses from governments. KWRU called the welfare cuts a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Section 23 and 25 (the right to a job and the right to an adequate standard of living) and organized other impoverished people by teaching them about these rights. Their position is that the government has an obligation to meet the basic human needs of those living in poverty. By framing the issue in this way, KWRU was able to mobilize a group of people that had not been mobilized and gain national and international attention about the continuing poverty in the Americas.

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is a powerful legal instrument for articulating, advocating, and monitoring women's human rights.  Until the mid-nineties, the UN was not open to the voices of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).  Now, however, NGOs play a vital role in making the Convention an instrument of women's empowerment, through advo

The Commission for the Verification of Corporate Codes of Conduct (COVERCO), an independent monitoring agency, enforces corporate codes of conduct for working conditions in Guatemalan maquilas and in the agricultural export industry.  It aims to elevate standards beyond the minimum by working with unions and to promote the sovereignty of the law and respect for rights by enforcing established Guatemalan law.  COVERCO monitors three maquilas, one that produces items exclusively for Liz Claiborne, Inc., one that produces for Gap Inc., and one that combines contracts for Gap Inc. and Liz Claiborne, Inc.

Copwatch sends teams of volunteers into the community to monitor police activities and report on incidents of misconduct. The organization was founded in Berkeley, California, with the goal of ‘reducing police harassment and brutality’ and ‘upholding Berkeley’s tradition of tolerance and diversity.’

Cities for Peace is a coalition of local elected officials and concerned community members working to get City Councils and other civic bodies to pass resolutions against a US led war on Iraq.  Although the group focuses on the anti-war effort, this tactic has also been used to show local opposition to a variety of federal actions, such as investment in apartheid and the curtailment of civil liberties under the Patriot Act.  By the end of February 2003, 113 cities and counties had passed resolutions and over 90 new campaigns were underway.

The National Center for Human Rights Education (NCHRE) educates United States organizations on how current social justice issues in the U.S. can be framed in the context of human rights.

Maiti Nepal works closely with the border police and the government to improve the interception of women and girls who are being lured and trafficked. Girl trafficking in Nepal has become a serious problem.  According to Maiti Nepal, 200,000 Nepali girls are forced to live like prostitutes in India today as a result of trafficking (Online).  Maiti Nepal has transit homes along the Nepali and Indian border.  Maiti Nepal’s staff assists the border police by interrogating every vulnerable girl and woman who crosses the border.  Questions may relate to where they are going, where they are from, how well they know their companions, and whether they are aware of the country’s girl trafficking problem.  Through this tactic, hundreds of girls have been rescued.

The Bolsa Escola program in Brazil provides families with a monthly stipend so that children can attend school instead of work in the streets. The program, which began in the city of Brasilia, was created with the realization that the working children of today are the poor adults of tomorrow. Bolsa Escola was expanded to a federal program in 2001.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA), in collaboration with the International Labor Organization (ILO) and UNICEF, developed the Child Labor Project to eliminate child labor in factories that belong to its 2,500 members, and to provide an alternative to former child laborers in the form of an education program.

WITNESS empowers human rights organizations around the world to incorporate video as an advocacy tool in their work. Rooted in the power of personal testimonies and in the principle that a picture is worth a thousand words, WITNESS and its partners’ videos have been used