Status: Inactive

The Northern Ireland Citizen Exchange Project for Civic Educators

In 1998, Street Law, Inc. was funded by the United States Information Agency to conduct a citizen's exchange project for Northern Ireland civic educators from non-governmental organizations, schools, universities, and law schools. The program’s goal was to collaborate to develop programs and curricula to educate youth in school and community-based settings in Northern Ireland about democratic principles, human rights, conflict resolution, and law. 

The exchange project featured a U.S study tour to expose the group to model civic education programs in the U.S. that could be applied to the Northern Ireland context. The tour provided the visiting educators with exposure to high quality U.S. civic education materials and approaches developed by Street Law, Inc. and other leading U.S. civic education organizations.  They also received training from Street Law, Inc. in participatory teaching methodologies, effective strategies for handling controversial issues in the classroom, curriculum development, and program implementation. The second phase of the exchange involved a Street Law staff member spending four months in Northern Ireland working with the members of the exchange group and their organizations.

Northern Ireland Youth Forum

In 1998, Street Law became involved with the Northern Ireland Youth Forum—a youth-led non-governmental organization working to ensure that the views of young people are properly represented in government.  Using lessons from Human Rights for All, Street Law staff met weekly with youth to discuss the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to encourage a dialogue about the issue of human rights in Northern Ireland. 

In 1999, Street Law hosted a group of young people from the Northern Ireland Youth Forum on a visit to the United States.  In December of 1999, those youth wanted to share their newfound knowledge of human rights with their peers.  In partnership with Street Law, Inc., the Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Ulster Law Departments, and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, The Northern Ireland Youth Forum organized a conference—Right Here, Right Now! A Human Rights Conference for Young Adults.  More than 250 young people were in attendance.

Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland: A Training Manual

In 2000, Street Law collaborated with the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) and a consortium of other organizations to develop a training manual on the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights. The objective of the manual was to educate citizens about their human rights that are protected by law and to encourage people to participate in the development of a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights.

The training manual is available for free download at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission web site:  Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland: A Training Manual.