ABOUT US
Our Vision
A world that manifests a culture of peace and human rights.
Our Mission
We work to advance dignity, freedom, justice, and security through collaborative relationships and transformative education on peace and human rights.
Our Values
We value and are committed to fostering a culture of peace and human rights through:
Courageous approaches to systems change
Caring for the land and waters for all of life and for generations to come
Creating conditions for community and hope
Shining light on hidden truths
Amplifying voices of those most marginalized
Strategic Objectives (2025–2030)
1. Empower Youth for Human Rights and Peacebuilding
Engage children and youth in peace and human rights education and support their leadership on the issues they identify as priorities, both in and beyond the classroom.
2. Advance Lifelong Learning and Human Rights-Based Community Development
Foster adult and educator learning, strengthen community collaboration, and promote human rights-based community development through facilitated dialogue, capacity building, and resource creation.
3. Strengthen Human Rights Implementation Across Sectors
Collaborate with governments, businesses, educators, and civil society to advance human rights practices and promote accountability for Canada’s domestic and international obligations to human rights.
4. Drive Participatory Community-Based Research and Systems Change
Conduct and share participatory, community-based research on pressing human rights issues to inform and shape policy through amplifying lived experience to co-create systems and cultural change to advance peace and human rights.
Theory of Change
The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights (JHC) works to contribute to building societies based on four foundational values to a human rights community; the right to freedom, justice, dignity and security. Each of these values correlates to four pillars that should guarantee individual and community access to human rights, the right to protection from violation of rights, remedy when rights have been violated, participation in the decisions that affect one's life, and access to basic rights.
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There are four areas of human rights action necessary for building a rights based community where all are valued, included and belong. These action areas are to educate, facilitate, document, and advocate on human rights. These four areas intersect and are interdependent, and thus, JHC's action for change flows through these action areas.
To know one's human rights is fundamental in order to be able to claim rights and be able to stand up for what one needs in community. Thus educating on human rights for children, youth and adults is at the core of JHC's work. JHC provides education to policy makers, decision makers, organizations, businesses, children, youth and the larger community on human rights. We educate on the roles and responsibilities of all people living together in community, or at an organizational level, to cultivate a culture of peace, inclusion, respect, and reciprocity. JHC educates on human rights as values and tools.
To participate in community and the decisions that affect us requires the act of facilitating. JHC works to build community solutions through facilitation of dialogue and collective action across difference and diversity. Through these spaces of facilitation, we model good relations and build community.
To monitor and inform policy and decision making, documenting human rights issues is necessary. JHC conducts community based research on human rights issues, informing and bringing together the collective wisdom in community for sustainable solutions. The data and information collected through JHC facilitation and advocacy also informs education and capacity building efforts.
To access needs in community or to seek remedy when injustice exists requires the act of advocating. JHC connects people to access supports for immediate needs and further supports community in self advocacy and navigation of human rights mechanisms to remedy discrimination or rights violations.
The John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights integrates our work across these four pillars of action to create an eco-system advancing a culture of peace and human rights. We work to centre children; working to make generational shifts in advancing the values of human rights. By creating spaces across diversity and where community engages in discourse on human rights, we are not only modeling human rights as a way of being, we are also creating bridges in community that break down stereotypes, prejudice and misunderstandings.
PLEASE NOTE: We Have a Zero Tolerance Policy
Absolutely NO: harassment, discrimination of race, ability, class, sexual orientation, faith or gender, or posts with any sexually suggestive or explicit comments. Violation of these rules will result in immediate removal of the comment without warning on all of our social media platforms.