2019 ESSAY CONTESTS

END ON DECEMBER 10

$1000 and $500 Prizes

This year the Kemper Human Rights Education Foundation is offering a $1000 first prize and a $500 second prize to high school students in the United States and a $1000 first prize and a $500 second prize to high school students who are citizens and residents of other countries judged to have written the best answers to the following

QUESTION

Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, said, “hate is moving into the mainstream – in liberal democracies and authoritarian states alike.”* Others, such as Prince ZeidRa’ad Al Hussein, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, claim that intolerance manifested in religious extremism, xenophobia, racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, misogyny, homophobia, and hatred of immigrants, is on the rise.** Do you agree that one or more of these forms of intolerance is or are on the rise in the world, in your country in particular, or both? If so what do you think are the causes and implications of the increase and how do you think it should be addressed? If you disagree, explain the reason you disagree.
*Remarks to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, February 25, 2019
**ZeidRa’ad Al Hussein,  “Human Rights Are Not A Luxury,” Washington Post, June 15, 2018

Deadline: December 10, 2019 Human Rights Day.
Requirements: Essays of between 1000 and 2500 words should be submitted as a Microsoft Word attachment to kemperhumanrights@gmail.com or by regular mail to KHREF, 184 Fillow Street, Norwalk, CT 06850. And, all submissions should include a cover page with the:

• title of the essay,
• author’s name,
• name and address of the high school,
• name of a teacher or administrator at the high school,
• author’s grade level,
• date submitted, and
• the following statement signed by the author and author’s parent or guardian: “I give the Kemper Human Rights Education Foundation permission to publish this essay.”

Awards: Winners will be announced and awards presented on January 14, 2020.Essays will be judged according to how clearly and well they answer the question posed and the extent to which they are supported by research.