The Ford Foundation Presents "Beyond Conventions: Reimagining Human Rights in a Time of Change"

NEW YORK, September 13, 2011 -

The following is being released by the Ford Foundation:

WHEN:  Tuesday, September 20th, 9am - 5pm

WHAT:  A full-day Ford Foundation 75th anniversary forum bringing together activists, rights defenders, government and private sector leaders, artists and writers to challenge us all to think beyond conventions and to reimagine what human rights can and should be in a time of great change.

Ten years into a new century, is the human rights movement changing along with a changing world? Are the promises of landmark human rights conventions being felt in the lives of people who struggle for basic survival and dignity every day?

Panels include Human Rights on Trial: An Open Hearing on the Movement’s Past -and its Future, Women of the World: A Conversation with Global Leaders, The State of Rights in the U.S., Technology: The Next Frontier, A Conversation with Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Human Rights and the Fight for Economic and Social Inclusion.

WHO:  

• Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State
• Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor, World Wide Web
• Sewell Chan, Deputy Opinion Page Editor, The New York Times
• Jeremy Heimans, Co-founder, Purpose
• Harold Koh, Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of State
• Diego Luna, Mexican actor and producer
• Rebecca MacKinnon, Co-founder, Global Voices Online
• Geoffrey Robertson QC, human rights lawyer and author
• Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South African activist
• Jeffrey Toobin, Staff Writer, The New Yorker
• Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, U.S. Department of State

and many more.

With performances by Sussan Deyhim, Angelique Kidjo and Universes.

WHERE: Ford Foundation, 320 East 43rd Street, New York City

WHY:  For more information: beyondconventions.eventbrite.com/. Learn more about our human rights work: www.fordfoundation.org/issues/human-rights. Follow us on Twitter: @FordBeyond.

Suzana Grego, Ford Foundation Media Chief, s.grego at fordfoundation.org, +1-212-573-5128