Northeastern Law’s Center for Global Law and Justice (CGLJ) has been accepted into the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI), joining a network of more than 80 institutes across 35 countries dedicated to human rights research and education. The membership was formalized following the center’s participation in AHRI’s September 2025 conference in Peru, which legal program manager Amy Van Zyl-Chavarro attended.

The Peru conference was one of several recent international engagements for the center. Van Zyl-Chavarro also represented the center at two international law conferences in New York: the Peoples’ UPR, focused on the Universal Periodic Review of the United States before the UN Human Rights Council, and International Law Weekend, hosted by the American Branch of the International Law Association at Fordham School of Law. She was accompanied by Lauren Resner ’27 at both events and by Ebyan Abshir ’28 at International Law Weekend, where the students engaged with global human rights issues including climate change, human trafficking, gender equality, access to food and housing, healthcare, and the rights of children and detained persons.

“Hearing directly from affected individuals reminded students of the importance of centering their advocacy on the hopes, needs and perspectives of impacted communities and victims,” said Van Zyl-Chavarro. “Our new partnership with AHRI will enhance CGLJ’s capacity to address human rights challenges around the world and provide students with a deeper understanding of the issues.”

“Attending these conferences was both sobering and inspiring,” said Resner. “It was a reminder of the immense human toll of injustice, cruelty and apathy — yet also of the power of collective action to reclaim our shared humanity.”