The Human Rights Center assists human rights advocates, monitors, students, educators, and volunteers access effective tools, practices, and networks to promote a culture of human rights and responsibilities in our local, national, and international communities.

The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center was inaugurated December 1988 on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The principal focus of the Human Rights Center is to help train effective human rights professionals and volunteers. The Human Rights Center assists human rights advocates, monitors, students, and educators through five primary programs:

Applied Human Rights Research to assist human rights advocates and activists in improving the effectiveness of their work;

Educational Tools through the development of UN human rights monitoring and training manuals, the Human Rights Education Series, and human rights passports;

Field and Training Opportunities through the Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship Program, Center internships and fellowships, university courses, volunteer trainings,  annual Training of Trainers for Human Rights Education in the U.S, and other Program Collaborations;

Human Rights On-line through the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library and Resource Center as well as our on-line catalog of human rights education resources;

Learning Communities and Partnerships through presentations, workshops, and distribution of more than 100 human rights education materials for 20 non-profit organizations to local, regional, national, and international communities.