In 2026, Women Forward International partnered with the Goldman School of Public Policy and the International House at the University of California, Berkeley to mentor and provide workshops on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to international high school students in Northern California in continuation of our Human Rights Ambassador Program.

 

This program combines creative arts with human rights training to introduce both international students and their whole communities to the history and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Many of the high school students come from Afghanistan and other conflict-affected regions in Latin America.

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Over the course of a semester, our international high school students participate in weekly workshops exploring key concepts and figures in human rights history—such as Mahatma Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Malala Yousafzai—while building knowledge of freedom, justice, and global citizenship.

 

Thanks to our partnership with the Woven Teaching Foundation and ​inspired by their manual "Human Rights Are for Everyone," WFI was able to offer more students this year workshops and a day trip to UC Berkeley. For many, this was their first experience on a college campus, and their first time getting to know other international students like them who have successfully navigated college education and are beginning their career development.

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Thanks to our Goldman School of Public Policy Capstone project, we are developing a strategic roadmap for scaling up our Human Rights Ambassadors Program to other high schools and universities in California and across the country. The goal is to expand education around the Universal Declaration of Human Rights across schools and communities nationwide.

 

The program culminates in a powerful final event in which the students, still learning English, share their original poetry in response to their reading of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

 

Above is the film of our most recent 2026 April event at UC Berkeley.

 

Visit our Events section for full details!

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Our impact:

 

• 250 students participating in the human rights workshops over the course of our three year program

• 35 students exploring the campus of the University of California, Berkeley and presenting their original poetry at its International House

• Learning partnership with the Goldman School of Public Policy to scale up the program to more high schools and universities in California and nationally

• 8 languages represented, including Dari, Pashto, Spanish, Filipino, and Arabic.

• One-on-one mentoring with UC Berkeley students.

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We are building an innovative, replicable model that empowers students and helps institutions become more inclusive and culturally responsive through human rights education and the arts.

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Want to learn more about our teaching process? See our more detailed video below showing how we work in the classroom!

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