New Human Rights Public Service Announcements Pioneered by Youth for Human Rights

Los Angeles, 25 July 2006: Youth for Human Rights International in conjunction with the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International has created a pioneering series of public service announcements to aired on TV stations world-wide. Unveiled this week, 30 new TV public service announcements – each illustrating one of the 30 articles of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights – have been created to step up the global effort to make human rights an everyday reality. Translated in 17 languages, the PSAs are part of a global effort to promote the fundamental principles set forth in the Universal Declaration around the world.

The new PSAs are a unique educational tool in part inspired by YHRI's award-winning United music video (TXL Films). United has won 12 film festival awards, including the International Gandhi Film Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

"The PSAs are something entirely new," said Taron Lexton, the 22-year-old director of United and the new PSAs. "They bring to life the very human rights you actually have right now."

Some 450 actors and actresses appear in the messages. The time and effort involved in shoots was equivalent to what it takes to shoot a full, feature-length film. Five months of postproduction followed and, in the end, the 30 PSAs were produced – start of scripting to finish – in seven months.

"The release of these PSAs constitutes a breakthrough for the teaching, preservation and advancement of human rights for all people everywhere," said Church of Scientology International human rights director, Leisa Goodman.

The need for broad-scale human rights education could not be more urgent. Across the globe today, an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year as a commodity for exploitative labor or sex slavery, over 300,000 child soldiers – some as young as 8 – are exploited in armed conflicts at any given time, and 115 million primary school-aged youth are out of school. Through these audio-visual presentations and other educational tools, Youth for Human Rights International seeks to reach millions of people to raise awareness and bring about global change.

To see the new PSAs on-line go here.

DVDs of the PSAs can be obtained from the Public Affairs Office of the Church of Scientology for $10 or through Youth for Human Rights Canada.

 

Jenna Elfman in Toronto to Speak Out for Successful Social Betterment Programs

Toronto, 24 July 2006: TV and film star Jenna Elfman will be in Toronto this week to take on social problems that wreak havoc on families and communities throughout the nation. On Wednesday, July 26, the actress — best known for her starring role in the TV sitcom, Dharma and Greg, and in the romantic comedy film Keeping the Faith — will help Canada’s Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE Canada) cut the ribbon for the new “ABLE World Solutions Exhibition” at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The exhibit’s focus is soaring crime in North America, the illiteracy and drug abuse that most often lead to it, and the declining moral standards it imposes on communities across the continent. Joining Ms. Elfman to help officially launch the three-day World Solutions exhibition and social betterment seminars will be federal MP Derek Lee (Scarborough-Rouge River); Access and Diversity Manager for Parks, Forestry & Recreation Parks and Recreation Director Ken Jeffries; Urban Alliance on Racial Relations President Zanana Akani; and an expected 200 guests.

The Toronto-based ABLE Canada is part of a worldwide network of continental and national organizations that promote the use of humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard’s social betterment methodologies for purely secular charitable and educational activities. ABLE oversees the activities and administration of the Narconon drug rehabilitation program, Criminon criminal reform courses, Applied Scholastics International’s education and literacy programs, and The Way To Happiness Foundation for reversing the decline of moral standards.

Ms. Elfman, a trained Criminon correspondence course instructor, helps inmates regain their self-esteem and worth to society through Criminon’s prisoner extension courses. Through her volunteer efforts, she assists sheriffs of Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California to effectively rehabilitate offenders. As well, she has toured state and federal prisons to get a first-hand understanding of the penal systems from the viewpoints of both authorities and inmates. In the process, she has taken an active role over the past four years in pushing for reforms in California’s prison system, the largest in the U.S. Her push for effective state criminal rehab programs has been duly noted by, among others, the California Youth and Adult Corrections Agency, which recently changed its official name to “the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.”

“Through Criminon’s curriculum, men and women who have submerged themselves into a life of crime are given the opportunity to gain back their self-respect,” said Ms. Elfman. “They are able to learn to read, learn basic life skills they may never have had in the first place, free themselves of drug addiction, begin reaching out to others in the same condition, and start helping their fellows, rather than stealing from them or harming them.

“Man is basically good. Some have never had the value system or life tools/skills to exercise this basic goodness. Now they do. As a supervisor who sees changes with each letter and correspondence course lesson I receive, I know that Criminon is the answer,” she said.

According to ABLE International President Rena Weinberg, this week’s World Solutions Exhibition offers not only workshops and training sessions as an orientation to the Hubbard-based social betterment programs but also a needs assessment service to help local, province and federal officials tailor the ABLE-backed programs to suit their specific needs. “ABLE staff and its worldwide network of volunteers all share a hands-on mentality,” said Ms. Weinberg.

“Whether we’re dealing with an addict with a history of rehab failures, a student that everyone else has decided is hopeless, or public servants who genuinely want to make a difference but are unsure how they can, we know we can empower them with effective solutions they can use to make that difference.”

For information on the ABLE World Solutions Exhibition, contact Brad Melnychuk at (416) 925-6827 or (416) 697-1081, or e-mail bradm@ablecanada.org. For information on Ms. Elfman’s media availability, contact ABLE International President Rena Weinberg at (323) 823-2062.

 

Youth for Human Rights BC Helps Call for Peace in the Sudan

Vancouver, 22 July 2006: Members of the Youth for Human Rights British Columbia Chapter participated in the rally for peace in the Darfur region of the Sudan today organized by the Canadian Students for Darfur. Susan Kerr of YHRI was one of the invited speakers and spoke to the over one hundred people in attendance about the YHRI campaign which promotes the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the need for peace in this region of Africa.

YHRI had a display at the rally with copies of the UNITED "What are Human Rights?" booklets and DVDs of the new 30 public service announcements produced by YHRI in conjunction with the Human Rights Department of the Church of Scientology International, each one promoting a basic human right as described in the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

Montreal Volunteer Ministers Assist in City Cleanup

Montreal, 16 July 2006: A group of Montreal Scientology Volunteer Ministers in conjunction with officials from the City of Montreal participated in a street cleanup of alley and streets in the Plateau Mont-Royal area of Montreal.

Working with Operationmontreal.net and Eco-Quartier Plateau Mont-Royal the eighteen Volunteer Ministers did work usually done by one hundred volunteers.

 

Volunteer Minister Exhibit at Expo Trois Rivieres

Trois Rivieres, 12 July 2006: Quebec Volunteer Ministers were out in full force during Expo Trois Rivieres this July. Starting Friday, a full scale exhibit about the workable social technology of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard used by Scientology Volunteer Ministers to ease human suffering and travail was on display in the special yellow Volunteer Minister tents at the Expo.

Individuals who toured the tents learned about Scientology "assists," spiritual assistance given to those who suffer from emotional and physical trauma and upsets. One woman who had been in an accident a number of years ago in which she lost her husband, hadn't been able to sleep well since. After receiving a Scientology nerve assist, she said she felt very much better and that she would for the first time get a good night's sleep since the accident.

Exhibits also included information about the disaster relief work of the VMs around the planet.

For more about Scientology assists and how they can help you and the one's you love, go here. Information about the Scientology Volunteer Minister program is available at www.volunteerminister.org

 

Youth for Human Rights World Tour Comes to Toronto

Toronto, 5 July 2006: Toronto is the third stop for this year's Youth for Human Rights International Annual World Tour. For the past three years, YHRI founder Mary Shuttleworth has conducted a personal world tour to promote the necessity of youth human rights education and the urgent need to make all nations honor and enforce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This need is demonstrated by the fact that today there are 100 million children living on the street and 115 million primary school-aged youth denied schooling. It is further emphasized by the estimated 1.5 million children trafficked into slavery over the past year.

Youth for Human Rights International, with assistance from the Church of Scientology International, believes that educating today's youth on the Universal Declaration is the key to guaranteeing these rights. To bring each of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration to life for young people and adults alike, Youth for Human Rights and the Church of Scientology International have teamed up to produce 30 public service announcements which will be fully released this month.

A major human rights event was hosted at Toronto's Marcus Garvey Community Center for Leadership and Education yesterday to focus on a Article #3 from the UDHR, "The Right to Life" and to release the public service announcement associated with it. Maxim Weithers, President of YHRI Canada acted as the master of ceremonies and introduced numerous important leaders in human rights in Canada to speak including Barbara Hall, Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Derek Lee, Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Rouge River, lawyer and human rights advocate Charles Roach, and Joe Mihevc, Chair of the Mayor of Toronto's Roundtable on Access, Equity and Human Rights. The 175 individuals in attendance were shown the award winning human rights music video United as well as the new and impacting human rights public service announcement.

From Toronto, the World Tour will continue on to the U.K., Germany, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Istanbul, United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

For information on Youth for Human Rights International, call (323) 663-5799 or email info@youthforhumanrights.org. Youth for Human Rights Canada can reached through http://www.youthforhumanrights.ca/. For information on the human rights campaigns of the Church of Scientology contact the Public Affairs office at (416) 925-1779 or email at publicrelations@scientology-tor.ca