– By Delilah Pearson, HART Prize Coordinator and Languages and Culture Student at St Andrew’s University
As the HART Prize for Human Rights competition approaches its deadline (20 May 2024), I feel truly grateful reflecting on my time spent interning with Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust.
During my internship, I set some personal goals: to share the impactful work of HART with other young people, to educate, and to inspire conversations about contemporary human rights issues.
The HART Prize for Human Rights invites 11–25-year-olds to engage with complex global issues. The competition seeks to drive the momentum already created by youth activists (such as Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai) by providing a safe space for young people to engage in political, environmental, economic, and social dialogue. Entrants are encouraged to submit entries without restricting their creativity.
Working alongside the HART team, I was able to appreciate how the efforts of dedicated team members contributed towards a greater goal: to bring hope in forgotten conflicts. During my internship, HART commissioned its second mobile health clinic to conflict-affected communities in central Nigeria; raised £118,000 for partners in Burma, where the military has intensified its campaign of terror against the country’s pro-democracy movement; and coordinated the delivery of life-saving relief to victims of conflict in Sudan’s Two Areas (Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan).
Not only does HART champion young people’s voices and insights, but it also amplifies stories of injustice from local partners and their community members, many of whom experience severe human rights abuses, oppression and violence.
Since HART’s annual competition was launched last November, hundreds of children and young adults around the world – including in the Philippines, Burma, the UK and Australia – have been educated about its work and inspired to recognise their own power to bring about change.
As this year’s competition draws to a close, we encourage young people in the UK and across the world to engage with pressing global issues by entering the HART Prize for Human Rights. Please follow this link to read more.