Gertrude Noden, a long-time human rights educator and the founder of the organization "Words into Deeds" describes the recent trip she and her husband Drew took to Uganda. Words into Deeds has been supporting the education and work skills of girls and women in Uganda, especially the most vulnerable of them. The work is framed through the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) addressing Goals #4 (quality education), #5 (gender equity), #6 (water, sanitation and hygiene), and #8 (decent work and economic growth). Children have been producing liquid soap and sewn reusable sanitary napkins. Girls and young women who have suffered from domestic and sexual violence have learned literacy and numeracy and have had access to psycho-social therapy. Gertrude talks about the complexity of organizing additional schools.
Ithaca, New York based Words Into Deeds, Inc. Uganda partners include Immaculate Adong Manager of the Stitch Youth Foundation, Briyan Ocen Founder of Concerned Parents Association, Gulu University graduate Peter Odida MS.Edu, and attorney advocate for the rights of children and women and founder of Equal Empowerment Network Stella Kijange
For more information about Words into Deeds, go to: https://wordsintodeeds.org/

WRFI Human Rights Show

Gertrude Noden Aug. 2

Niamot Ali talks about the recent unrest in Bangladesh and the brutal government crackdown against demonstrators. Among the grievances are high unemployment, poor-quality education, pollution, inflation, and corruption. The government has become increasingly authoritarian and the prime minister recently left the country. An interim government has just taken office. Among the changes protesters are demanding are changes to the constitution that would create term limits for prime ministers.

Niamot Ali Aug. 16

Cara Hume, Baaqueyah Muhammad, and Jim McDonald from Amnesty International USA talk about enforced disappearances and the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (International Day of Disappeared).

For more information about this year's Amnesty cases, visit the blog: tinyurl.com/disappearedblog or tinyurl.com/disappearedaction

\Day of the Disappeared Aug. 30

Rachna Dhingra, Coordinator for the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) talks about the environmental catastrophe that took place in 1984 when a pesticide plant owned by Union Carbide Corporation (now Dow Chemicals) leaked poisonous gas that killed tens of thousands of people and injured more than a half a million. Ahead of the 40th Anniversary, ICJB is organizing a US Tour of Survivors of the Bhopal Disaster to revive global awareness of the causes and consequences of this event.

For more information visit: https://www.bhopal.net/40-us-tour/
The Amnesty International Report "Bhopal: 40 Years of Injustice" can be found here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa20/7817/2024/en/

Rachna Dhingra on Bhopal Sept. 6

I talk with Elayne, Sue, Joan, and Emma about reproductive rights as human rights and health care. The Reproductive Rights Film Festival will be hosted from September 19 to 22 at Cinemapolis, downtown Ithaca, addressing several issues we discussed on the show. The films and the talk-back afterward are sponsored by Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights (GRR) and End Abortion Stigma (EAS).

For more information visit: https://www.cinemapolis.org/reproductive-rights-film-fest/
https://closetohomeproductions.com/reproductive-rights-film-festival/
Also: https://closetohomeproductions.com/ and https://conniecookfilm.com/
GRR can be found here: https://grandmothersforreproductiverights.org/
EAS: https://www.facebook.com/endingabortionstigma/
https://www.instagram.com/endingabortionstigma/

Reproductive Rights Sept. 13

Azucena, Yen, and Enrique talk about the various events planned for Hispanic and Latine Heritage Month in Ithaca, including a dance and Argentinian puppeteers at the Kitchen Theater, an art exhibit at the Community School of Music and Arts, and a fiesta at Press Bay, downtown Ithaca. Enrique talks about several films from the Cine con Cultura Film Festival in Ithaca.

For more information about the events, visit: https://www.lcatompkins.org/

The films can be found here: https://www.lcatompkins.org/cine

Latine Heritage Month Sept. 20

We talk about Banned Books Week, which was first started by the American Library Association in 1982. They track books targeted for removal (challenged or removed) from libraries and schools. We also talk about the cases Amnesty International USA focuses on, including authors, publishers, and social media influencers who have been targeted and arrested for their work.

For more information visit: https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/
and https://www.ala.org/bbooks
For the Amnesty cases visit: https://www.amnestyusa.org/campaigns/banned-books/bbw2024/

Banned Books Week Sept. 27

We reflect on the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks in Israel and the devastation of Gaza over the last year. We focus on recent attacks Israel conducted against Lebanon.

Jennifer Loewenstein Oct 11_4upload

We talk about the upcoming U.S. election through the lens of human rights. We briefly talk about Amnesty International's Write for Rights cases for this year.

US 2024 election_4upload

Shannon Gleeson and Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer both professors at Cornell University talk about the broken immigration system in the U.S., including enforcement policies, due process violations, and the integration of people once they arrived.

Shannon Gleeson and Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer Oct 25_4upload

Yiran Liu, epidemiologist and postdoc at Stanford University, and Larry Ladutke, El Salvador country specialist at Amnesty International USA discuss how mass incarceration is driving the TB epidemic across prisons in Latin America, including El Salvador. For more information visit https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(24)00192-0/fulltext. Larry's book on freedom of expression in El Salvador can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ladutke&crid=16JJIIOQLE7H&sprefix=laduke%2Caps%2C66&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 

Gertrude Noden Aug. 2

WRFIhumanrightsshow

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