Human Rights: Conversations Across Generations

Alice Achan is the Founder and Executive Director of the Te-Kworo Foundation, a community-based organization providing education, maternal and child healthcare, and social protection to girls, women, and children in northern Uganda. Founded in 2002, Te-Kworo has grown to include three boarding schools and has educated more than 4,000 girls, while its healthcare programs have expanded from mobile clinics and maternal care to a new hospital in Agago.
Alice’s commitment to educating girls is rooted in her own extraordinary story. She was 13 when the Lord’s Resistance Army first terrorized her village, beginning years in which war repeatedly forced her from school and sent her family running and hiding to escape rebel abduction. Through those years, her father remained unwavering in his belief in his daughter’s education. Alice eventually completed her education and trained in social work before returning to northern Uganda to work with girls coming home from LRA captivity, many of whom returned with children of their own. They faced stigma and rejection within their own communities.
Alice shares how gatherings with women beneath a kworo tree became the beginning of what she calls a “School of Restoration.” By listening to the needs of girls and young mothers, she developed an approach to healing and education that extended far beyond the classroom.
Today, that vision extends from education into maternal and child healthcare. In this episode, we discuss the remarkable full-circle story of former students who became nurses and midwives and are now caring for women in their own communities.
SHOW NOTES
Episode Transcript
Te-Kworo Foundation
Support and Donate: Te-Kworo Foundation
2025 Annual Impact Report: Te-Kworo Foundation
Book:
Alice Achan & Philippa Tyndale: The School of Restoration
Resources & Podcast Episodes:
Fix The News Podcast: How Education Is Rebuilding Northern Uganda: Girls, Hope & Healing featuring Alice Achan
UC Berkeley Human Rights Center: Pader Girls Academy
Human Rights: Conversations Across Generations Podcast, Professor Eric Stover

Professor Paul Hunt is a British-New Zealand human rights lawyer and Emeritus Professor at the University of Essex. His work has been particularly influential in advancing social rights and establishing the right to health as a practical human rights framework. Paul served on the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights before becoming the first UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health. He later advised the World Health Organization and served as Chief Human Rights Commissioner of New Zealand.
His experiences in Palestine and The Gambia shaped that work from its earliest years. Paul and our co-host, Professor Bert B. Lockwood, also share more than thirty years of friendship through Human Rights Quarterly and the University of Essex.
“Human rights are meant to control states, but states control human rights,” Paul writes in his 2026 Human Rights Quarterly article, “Empowering Human Rights for Revolutionary Change.” Paul argues for strengthening human rights from the ground up and placing greater power in the hands of people and communities.
At a time when the movement is confronting renewed authoritarianism, Paul continues to look ahead. His vision is not to abandon the human rights framework, but to rethink where power sits within it. It is a call to build on decades of progress while making human rights more responsive to the people they are meant to serve.
SHOW NOTES
Episode Transcript Here
Professor Paul Hunt, University of Essex
Human Rights Quarterly Articles:
Empowering Human Rights for Revolutionary Change, Human Rights Quarterly
Children’s Rights in West Africa: The Case of The Gambia’s Almudos, Human Rights Quarterly
Configuring the UN Human Rights System in the “Era of Implementation”: Mainland and Archipelago, Human Rights Quarterly
Resources: Articles, Reports, and Media
Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health, The Lancet
Equality: The Road Less Travelled, TEDx University of Essex
In Conversation with Professor Paul Hunt, RightsCast Podcast
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health: Mission to Sweden, Uganda, the World Bank and the IMF, United Nations
Maranga Mai! Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission

Across the United States and around the world, legal protections for LGBTQIA+ communities are being tested in ways that would have been difficult to imagine just a decade ago. Courtrooms have become battlegrounds over gender identity, conversion therapy, marriage equality, and the recognition of queer families. At the same time, governments in dozens of countries continue to criminalize same-sex relationships and, in some cases, impose the death penalty.
In this episode of Human Rights: Conversations Across Generations, we welcome Professor Ryan Thoreson, Associate Professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Deputy Editor of Human Rights Quarterly, and colleague of our co-host, Professor Bert B. Lockwood. Before joining UC, Ryan served as Senior Researcher in the LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch, where he spent more than a decade documenting human rights abuses and advancing LGBTQIA+ rights around the world.
He is the author of Transnational LGBT Activism: Working for Sexual Rights Worldwide and co-editor of The SAGE Handbook of Global Sexualities. Today, Ryan's scholarship and teaching focus on constitutional law, international human rights law, and the evolving legal landscape surrounding LGBTQIA+ rights.
Ryan reflects on the experiences that first drew him to human rights, from growing up in North Dakota to witnessing the fight for marriage equality as a college student. Those early moments continue to shape how he approaches constitutional law, scholarship, and the classroom today.
Together, we examine the rapidly changing legal landscape surrounding conversion therapy, marriage equality, anti-trans legislation, and the criminalization of same-sex relationships. Drawing on years of documenting human rights abuses, Ryan reflects on the power of listening. Behind every court decision is a person, a family, and a lived experience that deserves to be seen with dignity.
The discussion also turns to Human Rights Quarterly, where Ryan serves as Deputy Editor alongside Professor Lockwood. Together, they reflect on the journal's enduring role in advancing global human rights.
SHOW NOTES
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT PDF
Ryan Thoreson: Website
University of Cincinnati College of Law: Ryan Thoreson Faculty Profile
Human Rights Quarterly, Johns Hopkins University Press
Human Rights Watch: Ryan Thoreson
Transnational LGBT Activism: Working for Sexual Rights Worldwide, University of Minnesota Press
The Dream of a Common Movement: Selected Writings of Urvashi Vaid, Human Rights Quarterly Book Review
The SAGE Handbook of Global Sexualities
Can Global LGBTQ Rights Jurisprudence Survive the Authoritarian Turn? Jotwell: Equality
Newsweek: Supreme Court to Hear New Case Tied to Same-Sex Couples
Newsweek: Map Shows States Banning Transgender Athletes as Supreme Court Rules
Cincinnati Edition, WVXU: What Impact Could a SCOTUS Decision Have on Cincinnati's Conversion Therapy Ban?
Matthew Shepard Foundation | Our Story
Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023 - Human Dignity Trust
 

Ruth Kimani has spent more than two decades working alongside communities across Africa to address some of the world's most complex human rights challenges. Today, as Head of Programs for Africa at the Freedom Fund, she leads initiatives across Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Nigeria that have invested more than $26 million in frontline partners and directly impacted more than 223,000 people through locally led efforts to combat modern slavery.
In this episode, Ruth joins us to discuss one of the world's most widespread yet least visible forms of modern slavery: child domestic work. Hidden behind closed doors, at least 10 million children, many of them girls, spend their days cooking, cleaning, and caring for households instead of attending school, often isolated from their families and vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Together, we explore why community-led solutions are essential to protecting children's rights, how trust-based philanthropy is reshaping international development, and what it takes to create lasting, systemic change.
Ruth also shares how the Freedom Fund's hotspot model is transforming communities across Africa. We discuss the impact of international funding cuts and why ending child domestic work requires long-term investment, stronger protections, and communities working together.
 
SHOW NOTES
Ruth Kimani | Head of Programs for Africa, Freedom Fund
Freedom Fund
Donate to the Freedom Fund
Reports, Articles, and Resources
2025–2026: Freedom Fund Impact Report
What Is Modern Slavery? Understanding Child Domestic Work
Freedom Fund's African Hotspots: 
Kenya Hotspot: Ending Child Domestic Work
Nigeria Hotspot: Ending Child Domestic Work
Ethiopia Hotspot: Ending Child Domestic Work
Behind Closed Doors: Millions of Girls Are Working Instead of Learning | More to Her Story by Ruth Kimani
What Three Years of Listening Have Taught Us About Child Domestic Work | Global Peer Learning Group
Ideas in Action: Pilot Program Evaluation in Nigeria | NORC at the University of Chicago, The Khana Group & The Freedom Fund

Human rights defenders are often the first to expose injustice, challenge those in power, and protect the rights of the world's most vulnerable communities. They also face extraordinary risks for doing so. For more than five decades, Hans Thoolen has worked to ensure these courageous individuals are recognized, protected, and never forgotten.
Today, Hans focuses much of his work on advancing the protection of human rights defenders around the world. In 2006, he established True Heroes Films, a nonprofit organization that partners with human rights defenders and organizations to produce films, strengthen communications, and bring their stories to audiences that can inspire action. Through his blog, Human Rights Defenders, Hans shares news, analysis, and resources from across the global human rights movement while advocating for greater recognition and protection of those on the frontlines. He also serves on the Board of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, one of the world's most prestigious awards recognizing individuals who have demonstrated exceptional courage in defending human rights.
Hans' commitment to human rights spans more than fifty years. He founded the Netherlands Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights, served as Executive Secretary of the International Commission of Jurists, was the first Director of the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, and spent fifteen years with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He also co-founded HURIDOCS and International Alert, helping build institutions that continue to strengthen the global human rights movement today.
In this conversation, Hans reflects on the experiences that shaped his remarkable career, from his early involvement in the anti-apartheid movement to helping build institutions, documentation systems, and storytelling initiatives that have strengthened the protection of human rights defenders. We explore the power of documentation and film, the stories of courageous defenders on the frontlines of justice, and the challenges facing the global human rights movement today.
SHOW NOTES
Show Episode Transcript
True Heroes Films Website
True Heroes Films Trailer Video 
Human Rights Defenders Blog
Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders
HURIDOCS
International Commission of Jurists
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
True Heroes Films Featured:
Huda Al-Sarari Story
Ana Paula Gomes de Oliveira | Martin Ennals Award 

Human rights defenders are essential to every movement for justice. They expose abuses, defend their communities, challenge those in power, and help advance the rights many of us rely on every day. Yet across the globe, the space for this work is rapidly shrinking, making the defense of human rights itself an increasingly dangerous act.
Our guest is Guadalupe Marengo, Head of Amnesty International's Global Human Rights Defenders Team and Head of the Global Relief Programme. Amnesty International is one of the world's most respected human rights organizations, with a movement of more than 10 million people across the globe. She leads the efforts to protect and support human rights defenders around the world while overseeing emergency assistance for those facing persecution because of their peaceful work.
With more than two decades of experience spanning research, advocacy, and campaigning, Guadalupe has worked alongside defenders across Latin America and beyond, helping ensure they are not left to face these risks alone.
In this conversation, she introduces us to the remarkable people behind the title "human rights defender." We discuss why attacks against defenders are increasing across the globe, the communities most at risk, Amnesty International's work to protect them, and why safeguarding those who defend the rights of others is essential to protecting human rights for us all.
SHOW NOTES
Episode Transcript Here
Amnesty International
Get Involved with Amnesty International
Instagram: Amnesty International
Facebook: Amnesty International
TikTok: Amnesty International
LinkedIn: Amnesty International 
Human Rights Defenders Memorial
Rainforest Alliance
Front Line Defenders
Declaration on Human Rights Defenders +25
Report & Article
Amnesty International: State of the World's Human Rights Report (2025)
Why Protecting Human Rights Defenders Must Be a Priority for Us All by Guadalupe Marengo
 

Professor Terry Coonan is the Founder and Executive Director of the Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights and Associate Professor of Criminology at Florida State University. Terry has created an interdisciplinary home for students and faculty working across law, film, social work, religion, and public service.
Before he founded the FSU Center, Terry was one of Professor Bert B. Lockwood's students at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He was also an Urban Morgan Fellow and the Managing Editor of Human Rights Quarterly, for which he was selected as the first UMI Fellow for the U.S. Department of Justice Honors Program. Over the decades, their relationship evolved from professor and student to colleagues and lifelong friends. Growing up, Meredith always knew Terry for his warmth, humility, and one of the most contagious laughs you'll ever hear.
His work has taken him from Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship to immigration courts in the United States. Today, he continues to represent refugee and immigrant families facing immense challenges within the U.S. legal system. Along the way, he has trained judges, partnered with journalists, and worked with filmmakers to expand how human rights are taught and practiced.
This conversation explores the experiences that shaped Terry's life and career. We discuss why he believes human rights are too important to be left to lawyers alone. This is an important episode that highlights the ongoing hardships facing refugees and asylum seekers in a rapidly changing world.
SHOW NOTES
Episode Transcript Here
Professor Terry Coonan: Executive Director, Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights
Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights
Threshold: A Dance Film: Produced by Professor Malia Bruker and choreographed by Professor Ilana Goldman, Threshold is a 360-degree dance film commissioned by the Florida State University Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. Drawing on the experiences of survivors of wartime sexual violence, sex trafficking, and other gender-based human rights violations, the film explores trauma, resilience, and healing through movement.
Interdisciplinary Human Rights Major, FSU: Florida State University's interdisciplinary undergraduate major brings together courses across multiple disciplines and reflects the Center's belief that human rights are too important to be left to lawyers alone.
Human Rights Quarterly
Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, University of Cincinnati College of Law

Professor Manfred Nowak has helped shape international human rights law for more than four decades.
An Austrian human rights lawyer, academic, and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred has spent his career investigating some of the world's most hidden human rights violations. His work has taken him into prisons, detention centers, and conflict zones across the globe. Along the way, he has listened to the stories of torture survivors, families searching for disappeared loved ones, and children living without freedom. Those experiences would go on to shape both his scholarship and advocacy, including his leadership of the landmark United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty. Today, he serves as Secretary General of the Global Campus of Human Rights.
Their longstanding connection extends to the University of Pennsylvania Press. Manfred is the author of Human Rights or Global Capitalism: The Limits of Privatization, published in the Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights series, where Professor Bert B. Lockwood serves as Series Editor.
In this conversation, Manfred reflects on the moments and people that shaped his understanding of justice, dignity, and human rights. We discuss what it means to deprive a child of liberty and why those systems often remain hidden from public view. You'll hear us explore the role of human rights education and the importance of artistic freedom.  We focus on the challenges facing the international human rights movement at a time of growing global instability.
We are especially grateful to Manfred for sharing personal reflections from his decades of human rights work, including his firsthand experiences interviewing torture survivors and children deprived of liberty. His insights offer a rare window into both the progress that has been made and the work that still lies ahead.
SHOW NOTES
Episode Transcript Here
Professor Manfred Nowak, Global Campus of Human Rights
Manfred Nowak, Independent Expert for the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty
Report & Books
Report: United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty
Human Rights or Global Capitalism: The Limits of Privatization
Torture: An Expert's Confrontation with an Everyday Evil
The Routledge Companion to Music and Human Rights

We are so lucky to welcome Brian Derrick, Founder of Oath, to the show. Oath is a data-driven political giving platform designed to help donors make more strategic decisions about where to direct their contributions. By analyzing thousands of races across the country, Oath helps donors identify candidates and campaigns to support.
Brian is one of Meredith's favorite go-to political strategists, helping people navigate complex political issues and election cycles through his trusted whiteboard breakdowns. Our conversation begins with shared Ohio roots, from the University of Cincinnati to Ohio State University, before turning to some of the most pressing political questions facing the United States today.
We explore the continued dismantling of the Voting Rights Act and the growing impact of gerrymandering across the South. Together, we examine Trump’s escalating corruption, the influence of billionaire money in politics, and the role media algorithms increasingly play in shaping public opinion. The conversation also explores voter engagement, Latino voting trends, the future of the Democratic Party, and why helping people believe politics can improve their lives remains one of the most important challenges facing American democracy today.
SHOW NOTES
Episode Transcript Here
Brian Derrick & Oath
Oath Website - Become a Donor 
Follow Brian Derrick on Instagram: @brianderrick
Follow Oath on Instagram: oath.vote
Politico Magazine featuring Brian Derrick's Interview, “Democrats Have a Billionaire Problem. This App Is Trying to Fix It."
Voting Rights & Democracy
The New York Times Editorial Board, “There Has Never Been an Example of Presidential Corruption Like This”
Business Insider,“Viral ‘Last Breath of the Confederacy’ Speech Puts Louisiana Man on Political Map”
Podcasts
The Right for Your Vote to Count Podcast: Featuring Brian Derrick
Stacey Abrams' Podcast, Assembly Required:
Episode: “How SCOTUS Is Erasing Black Voters” featuring Abby Phillip
Episode: “What’s Next for Voting Rights and Why Activism Matters” featuring Jane Fonda
 

Today we are joined by Professor Tara Van Ho, a leading scholar in the field of business and human rights whose work examines the growing intersection of corporate power, economic inequality, international law, and human dignity.
Tara is a Professor of Law and Director of the International Legal Studies Program at St. Mary’s University School of Law. Prior to joining St. Mary’s, she taught at the University of Essex School of Law and worked closely with the Essex Human Rights Centre, one of the most influential institutions in the development of modern international human rights law. Her scholarship and advocacy have focused on corporate accountability, climate justice, investor-state dispute settlement, and the responsibilities of multinational corporations under international law.
This conversation also carries a special connection for us personally. Tara is a fellow Ohioan from Cleveland, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Law, and a former fellow of the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights. Throughout the episode, we reflect not only on the evolution of the business and human rights movement, but also on the importance of mentorship, community, and the shaping the next generation of human rights scholars and advocates.
We dive into growing legal and moral questions surrounding climate accountability, and why business and human rights has become one of the most important and rapidly evolving areas of international law today.
Tara also shares insights into her own path into the field, her experience studying under pioneers of human rights law, and how legal education can help students think critically about systems of power, governance, and justice in an increasingly interconnected world.
SHOW NOTES
Episode Transcript Here
Professor Tara Van Ho: St. Mary’s University School of Law Faculty Profile
Academic Journal Article
George, E., Martin, J. and Van Ho, T., (2021). Reckoning: A Dialogue about Racism, AntiRacists, and Business & Human Rights
Human Rights Quarterly: Defining the Relationships: "Cause, Contribute, and Directly Linked to" in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by Tara Van Ho
Resources
Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
Essex University: Human Rights Centre
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
The Nathaniel R. Jones Center for Race, Gender, and Social Justice - University of Cincinnati