HRLNs Campus Volunteer Programme seeks student applications 40 volunteers to be chosen from across the country

The Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) Campus Volunteers Programme has been started to further HRLN’s mandate of enforcing the rights of those less privileged by providing pro bono legal services, conducting public interest litigation, engaging in advocacy and conducting legal awareness programmes among other things..The organisation has decided to involve students in its activities through the posts of ‘Campus Volunteers’ so that the college students of the country get a chance to become a part of the movement for human rights in India. These volunteers will be activists for human rights in their respective campuses as they satisfy the following goals:.Spreading awareness and education of human rights issues through dialogues, discussions, seminars, debates etc.Facilitate the public dissemination of reports, books, documentaries related to human rights issues.Engage in developing and spreading a comprehensive framework of human rights education in Schools and Colleges with other volunteers and HRLN staff.Contribute to the monthly newsletterAssist HRLN for its research and outreach programs for various initiatives.Around 21 students were selected in the pilot phase which started in January, 2012; with the majority being law students (the volunteer profiles can be found here. The volunteers organised a screening of the documentary ‘Jashn-e-azadi’ in colleges across India as a form of protests against the ABVP ban. They also created ‘Human Rights on Campus’, the monthly newsletter of the Campus Volunteers on relevant national and international human rights issues. The programme has also tied up with Youth for Human Rights, South Asia and Forum for Women, Law and Development, Nepal, to collaborate on various projects..Applications for the July-October phase will open in the last week of June, 2012. A group of 40 volunteers will be chosen, mainly from law schools across the country. Since this is a first of its kind programme, volunteers will be encouraged to innovate and transform upon the model adopted for the proper functioning of the initiative, which will always be open for new ideas and initiatives that can be taken up by the volunteers. The volunteers will also get the opportunity to interact with other students interested in human rights from all across the country and abroad through a common platform for the exchange of ideas for human rights activism and research. The best Campus Volunteers will be awarded with Certificates from HRLN..For further details, contact Yash S Vijay, Student Co-ordinator at hrln.campus@gmail.com.This report has been prepared by Ayesha Khan, HRLN Campus Volunteer at NUJS, Pilot Phase ’12.Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.