From Our Partners

  • I want to infinitely thank [the University Network] on behalf of me, my family, and all Bolivian women and men, because thanks to the work you did, we were able to survive.

    Patricia Arce, Bolivian senator and torture survivor

  • University Network for Human Rights provided, by far, the most instrumental resources and strategies to empower the communities that Sane Energy Project organizes with. We would not have been able to halt a massive fossil fuel expansion in Brooklyn, NY targeting predominantly low-income Black and Latinx communities without the dedication of UNHR and Ruhan Nagra. Our crucial partnership with UNHR has enabled us to navigate complex legal and administrative spaces. We have become a much more powerful, knowledgeable, and accomplished community organization because of University Network for Human Rights.

    Kim Fraczek, Director of Sane Energy Project

  • I witnessed firsthand the [University Network] team's meticulous attention to detail, respect for the victims, and dogged pursuit of truth in the aftermath of the Sacaba [Bolivia] massacre and parastate group attacks. Their report, the first complete independent international investigation published, provided an indispensable landmark in the pursuit of justice and set a high standard for follow-up investigations.

    Katherine Ledeber, Director of the Andean Information Network

  • We have all been so blessed, extremely blessed, that [the University Network] came into our lives. And that what we were thinking all the time, we didn’t have evidence, but now we have the evidence. [Ruhan Nagra] actually got documentation of what we were complaining about. It wasn’t our imagination, we weren’t just dreaming it — it’s real. University Network for Human Rights is a wonderful, wonderful organization.

    Mary Hampton, President of the Concerned Citizens of St. John Parish

  • In 2019, families, the poor, and Indigenous were persecuted and massacred by the regimen of Áñez. The report that the University Network for Human Rights prepared called “They Shot Us Like Animals” helped return the dignity to the victims and re-establish the truth.

    Ruth Llamos, President of Bolivia's Disappeared Association

From Our Students

  • I traveled to Cancer Alley, Louisiana along with thirteen other undergraduates. We worked closely with a community suffering the effects of environmental racism. The University Network gave me an unparalleled opportunity to do real human rights work.

    Noam Shemtov, Stanford University

  • As part of the University Network’s projects with the Concerned Citizens of St. John the Baptist Parish, I observed first-hand how to lift community voices and advocate on the ground. With the University Network, I gained invaluable tools that empower me to be an ethical and effective human rights defender.

    Hannah Smith, Stanford University

  • This was a transformative program, and it provides a unique opportunity to motivate students to try to change the world and address uneven power dynamics in ethical, practically grounded and fundamentally good ways.

    Jake Multker, Wesleyan University

  • When I first applied to the UNHR’s Wesleyan Pilot Program, I never could’ve anticipated how it would change my life. It was through this program that I learned how to actively listen and interview, research and write for a human rights report, craft advocacy programming, film professionally, and connect with affected community members. The close supervision and individualized feedback provided me an unparalleled opportunity to grow as a thinker, advocate, and person. I am done simply learning about social justice in the abstract. The UNHR made me fall in love with the messy, beautiful, real fight for human dignity.

    Anna Grant-Bolton, Trinity College

  • The work I have done with University Network, particularly in Armenia, has been rewarding on an incalculable level. The sense of community, solidarity, and empowerment that this work affords is something that can only be understood once you have experienced it.

    Diego Olivieri, Wesleyan University

  • Working with the University Network has been paramount to my personal and professional development. Through the mentorship of its staff, I have gained an understanding of human rights practice sharper than I ever dreamed of having. As I reflect on the program and my growth, I know that this experience has been invaluable.

    Luis Martinez, Vanderbilt University

  • Learning from and working alongside directly affected community members was a completely transformative experience.

    Justin Ratkovic, Wesleyan University

  • [UNHR] provided me not only with a knowledge of human rights theory. I had opportunities to meet brilliant activists, speak at a criminal justice conference, and have my writing published! This program showed me that there are many ways to engage in advocacy, and this experience has only strengthened my passion for social justice.

    Ifeoma Anyoku, Brown University