The Halton District School Board is proud to host the upcoming Human Rights Symposium to engage in vital conversations about the Rights of the Child. Keynote speakers Stephen Lewis and Michel Chikwanine will lead education and community partners through an important day of learning and collaborating about children’s rights.
The Human Rights Symposium will take place on
Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019 at the Holiday Inn Burlington Hotel & Conference Centre (3063 South Service Rd, Burlington).
“I’m really looking forward to the Human Rights Symposium,” says Michel Chikwanine, motivational speaker, author and human rights activist based in Toronto and originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. “There are so many workshops that have many implications for young people, not just here in Canada but across the world.”
“I’m excited to talk about what we can do as a society to move forward and I’m excited to learn a lot more about the issues facing young people here in Canada specifically,” adds Chikwanine.
Second keynote speaker Stephen Lewis is the co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World, an international advocacy organization. He is also the board co-chair of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
“I spent a large chunk of my life dealing with the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” says Lewis. “When I worked with UNICEF, I was responsible for travelling around the world to persuade governments to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child and take all of its clauses seriously. The Convention provides a tremendous range of rights for children, all of which I hope to be addressing before you.”
A full-day of learning is planned at the Human Rights Symposium with a selection of workshops led by children's rights advocates and educators including UNICEF, Halton Environmental Network, Special Olympics Ontario, Community Development Halton, Rick Hansen Foundation, and more. An agenda and list of workshop presenters can be viewed
here.
“This year’s Human Rights Symposium provides an opportunity to learn about the important role each of us plays in the lives of youth,” says Rob Eatough, Superintendent of Education for the Halton District School Board. “We look forward to once again bringing educators and community partners together to engage in vital conversation on how we can all work together to support the success and well-being of all members of our society.”
To register for the Human Rights Symposium, click
here. For event details or support with the registration process, email
symposium@hdsb.ca.
For additional information, contact:
Rob Eatough, Superintendent of Education
Halton District School Board
905-335-3663 | Toll-free 1-877-618-3456