HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT
Topics 2014
Environmental Issues:
Topics:
Desertification in Africa
Pollution/smog in Chinese cities (Beijing, etc)
Nuclear Energy and waste
Deforestation (the Amazon)
Climate Change & Global Warming
Water Access—water rights (clean water access)
Women’s Issues:
Topics:
Female genital mutilation (in Africa or elsewhere)
Women in the Middle East (examples: Saudi Arabia (‘guardianship laws’), Egypt, Iran— could do one of these or related issues in each country)
Human Trafficking
Dowry deaths (Nepal); ‘honor killings’
Treatment of women & girls under Shari’a law in Afghanistan & Pakistan (new laws in Afghanistan; Swat Valley in Pakistan (return of Taliban and how treating women; could tie to Malala Yousafzai)
Children’s Rights:
Topics:
Child Labor; involuntary servitude (today, not historic)
”Invisible Children” in Uganda
Child soldiers (could be in 1 place OR the use of them in many conflicts)
AIDS orphans
“One Child Policy” in China
Child brides
Refugee Children (“Lost Boys of Sudan”)
Racial/Ethnic Conflict:
Topics:
Genocide in Darfur, Sudan
Lord’s Resistance Army (in the Congo)
Christian-Muslim conflict in Nigeria
Conflict in Kashmir between India and Pakistan
Political Freedom/Rights:
Topics:
Instability in Somalia (piracy, civil unrest)
Asylum seekers (and detainment; deportation): migrants Africa, Southeast Asia, etc.
Freedom of Press in Iran (or other nations)
Revolution in Egypt & Current Reforms
Syrian Civil War/Revolution and repression of protesters
Creation of South Sudan (Sudan v. South Sudan)
Protests and conflict in Thailand (today)
Civil War in Central African Republic (today)
Detainees in War on Terror at Guantanamo Bay (and military tribunals)
U.S. drone policy
North Korea’s oppressive regime
Religious Freedom/Rights:
Topics:
Repression of Tibetan monks in China
Government restrictions on Islam (particularly in Europe, this would include head scarf bans)
Institution of shari’a law in Swat Valley, Pakistan (and spread of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan, Afghanistan, elsewhere)
Economic and Social Rights:
Topics:
Caste System in India (today)
Life in slums (Mumbai, Brazil)
Refugees (Sudan, Syria, general issues)
Modern Day Slavery (cocoa farming; sugar plantations)
Drug trade in Afghanistan
Food shortages/food insecurity/famine
Treatment of homosexuals (not US—Uganda, Nigeria, etc.)
Conflict Diamonds or Minerals (“Blood Diamonds”)
Clean water access
LGBT rights in Russia
Health Issues:
Topics:
Malaria
AIDS in Africa
People in the News fighting for Rights:
Topics:
The Dalai Lama (Tibet)
Aung San Suu Kyi (Myanmar human rights activist)
The United Nations (its role in promoting human rights)
Pope Francis
People in the news accused of destroying rights:
Topics:
Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)
Mexican Drug Cartels
Yoweri Museveni (Ugandan president)
Bashar al-Assad