Emily Mitchell-Storey (right), 2023 Fellow, Human Rights Watch.
A reliance on voluntary and unpaid roles in human rights has often meant many young people face barriers when pursuing careers in the field.
It’s why the Australian Human Rights Institute at UNSW Sydney made it part of its mission in 2021 to offer transformative educational experiences to students through its Global Student Fellowship program. The paid fellowship provides participants with the opportunity to build a career pathway and forge connections at a leading international development or human rights organisation in Australia or overseas for six weeks.
The pioneering program returns in 2024 with double the host organisations now offering to take on future human rights defenders at UNSW, including Amnesty International, the Australian Human Rights Commission, Engineers Without Borders, Human Rights Watch, the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative, Jubilee Australia, the Justice and Equity Centre, Blue Dragon in Vietnam, and UN Migration in Thailand.
Graduates of the Global Student Fellowship program in February 2024
Past Institute Fellows have gone on to work in policy, advocacy and research in areas across refugee rights, environmental justice, law reform and business and human rights.
"I’m starting as a Judicial Affairs Officer at the United Nations Mission in Kosovo,” said 2023 Fellow Madeline Whittaker. “The fellowship helped prepare me for this role by opening my mind to new areas of human rights law and learning from others in the field."
Samuel Pryde, a 2021 Global Student Fellow, said the opportunity offered him a lifeline. “It really kept the initial optimism that I brought into university about working in human rights alive. The best thing I did in my university career,” he said.
The Institute had more than 100 applications for just seven fellowships in 2023, with hopes of significantly scaling up the program over the coming years with growing philanthropic support.
Applications for 2024/25 fellowships close 1 September 2024. Find further information about the program and past fellows on the Australian Human Rights Institute website.