Thursday, September 10, 2009

Hurriyet "Liberty Is Our Right" Human Rights Train Departs for Children

On September 9, our CAEPV Member in Turkey -- Hurriyet (a newspaper group) -- launched its “Liberty is Our Right Train” for a second year – this time focusing on children's rights and the environment. The journey began in Izmir and will end on October 29 in Istanbul – visiting 41 stations in 33 cities and 8 boroughs throughout Turkey.

The “Human Rights Train Project” is a partnership of Hurriyet Newspaper and Turkish Railways. The aim of the “Liberty is Our Right Train” is to insert the concept of rights into people’s daily lives, inform them of the rights they possess based on declarations such as the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

There will be a variety of activities at the stations such as music, theater plays, exhibitions, forums, and workshops, and other events. Because 2009 is the 20th anniversary of Turkey signing the UN Declaration of Child Rights, these activities are designed to keep children’s rights, the theme of this year, in primary focus.

Hurriyet’s hallmark “Say No to Domestic Violence!” Campaign will also be part of these events at every stop.

And while you may not be able to read Turkish, you will be able to get the sense of all that is going on by visiting http://www.hurriyettreni.org . Trust me, it is worth taking a look!

I love the way that Hurriyet goes out of their way to find ways to reach out - they take the message to the people - by train or by bus. People are always surprised when I tell them we have a CAEPV member in Turkey. . .and when I tell them all that Hurriyet does to spread the message regarding domestic violence and human rights, they are even more surprised.

Is there a newspaper group in the US doing the same? If there is, I'd love to know about it. Hurriyet certainly sets a great example.

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