A conference “Human Rights: A tool for change in Massachusetts”  commemorating the 58th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was held on Dec 10th, International Human Rights Day 2006, from 1-5 pm at the Boston Public Library - Copley Square. The conference was organized by Coalition for a Strong United Nations in partnership with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the Massachusetts CEDAW Project. The Quincy Human Rights Commission was among the Co Sponsors of the conference.

The Conference opened with a talk on “Current Human Rights Issues in the US in the context of  our historical involvement with the United Nations”  by Keynote Speaker, Ms. Blanche Wiesen Cook, a distinguished Professor of History at City University of New York and author of the national best seller “Biography of Eleanor Roosevelt”, mother of  international Declaration of Human Rights. Followed by  a talk on “The Political Economy of Crime in Massachusetts” by Peter Costanza of the Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services and a panel on “Strategies for implementing Human Rights”, the conference broke into three working groups.

Kumu Gupta, from the Quincy Human Rights Commission, presented the suggested action items, to the conference, on her group topic “How to involve state and local governments in Human Rights”. Some of the suggestions from those in this workshop were – to form a task force at the state level, media outreach and education of the citizens in Human Rights and the constitution.

The conference ended with remarks from Grace Ross, independent party candidate for Governor in the recent elections.

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