Albion Advocates

Journalists who report on human rights violations face considerable risk. When they are targeted, press freedom itself is threatened. In honor of World Press Freedom Day, we remember journalists like Shireen Abu Akleh who have been killed protecting the freedom of opinion and information and call for the release of journalists who are unjustly imprisoned for their reporting.

Over one billion people suffer from mental illness worldwide. The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed that we are in the middle of a mental health crisis. It is more important than ever for workers to have a safe and healthy environment for work, yet our society struggles with mental health stigma and discrimination in the workforce. Learn how you can change that.

Advocacy is an important tool for holding hate groups accountable for their harmful actions. Grassroots organizing and community building are essential to creating a counter-narrative to the hate and extremism espoused by white supremacists and violent extremists. We must not let the attacks on our civil and human rights keep us from exercising them and we must recognize countering white supremacy is a responsibility for all of us.

The people of Ukraine are fighting everyday to protect their home. And while their strength and bravery are admirable this is not a battle they should have to fight alone. Now is not the time to forget the war. We must stay with Ukraine – every one of us.

Russia is targeting civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in Ukraine – violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. We must hold them accountable for these crimes and do our part to support human rights and democracy in Ukraine.

A year after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia is fighting a war on two fronts: one against Ukraine and the other against its own people. United Nations member states must continue to support Ukraine and find creative ways to pressure Russia into ending its illegal war.

February 7 is Safter Internet Day. The goal is to raise awareness of emerging online issues and current concerns from cyberbullying to social networking and safeguarding social identity. Noah Flint warns of the dangers of online sex trafficking and argues that more comprehensive sex education curriculum that focuses on social-emotional health and developing healthy relationships can protect children from traffickers.

Many companies are either complicit in or engage in labor trafficking. To break this cycle of demand and exploitation, consumers must boycott brands that do not ensure that their food is ethically sourced and grown.

The United Nations General Assembly identified solidarity as one of the fundamental and universal values that should underlie relations between individuals in the 21st century. It decided to proclaim December 20 of each year International Solidarity Day. Kara Anderson ’25 invites us to exercise human solidarity by protecting the rights of others through our actions.

Each year on December 10 the international community commemorates the day in 1948 when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It has become a common standard of basic rights for humankind.