humanrights - Heather Wokusch

Human Rights

INCLUSIVE, INTERGENERATIONAL ENGAGEMENT

As a career educator with decades of global experience, I have had the honor of accompanying generations of young people on their path to self-discovery.

In my view, empowerment is inherent – not provided. So, the best mentoring involves creating opportunities for young people to explore their own potential in safe, inclusive, innovative and cooperative environments.

That approach is reflected in all of the activities I initiate and organize, such as the World Youth Skills Day event at the United Nations in Vienna in 2023 (shown in photo). This event featured a corresponding Bridging Climate Divides workshop for inclusive development of transformative narratives.

I also work to engage communities in scaling psychological solutions, destigmatizing personal narratives, advocating for social change, and other areas of fostering social cohesion.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS

My work towards increasing awareness about trafficking has included, for
example, developing messaging strategies with stakeholders in aviation
security and education.

I also lead development of an interactive digital showcase spotlighting people
with lived experience and others working against modern slavery and human
trafficking. This includes making public-access television segments.

I organized an art exhibition, interactive installation, and event in London: The
SDGs and Human Trafficking: Lived Experience Leads. Prior to that, I led a
televised World Day against Trafficking in Persons event in Vienna.

Currently, I am mentoring multiple projects such as Footprint to Freedom and
the African Survivor Coalition. This includes closely supporting the creation
of the African Survivor Leadership Academy.

TOLERANCE AND NON-DISCRIMINATION

In 2018, I cofounded SDG 5 Thrive with four young women from the MENA region. We promote creative storytelling and dialogue with the goal of tackling racism, xenophobia and religious intolerance.

I also support the development of various initiatives in Africa aimed at fostering mutual respect and understanding. One example is Footprint to Climate, which links climate action and human-trafficking prevention.

For many years, I have worked with the Austrian Parliament in its flagship Democracy Workshop program for strengthening democracy education in the Western Balkans.

An eLearning project I helped develop in relation to non-discrimination was launched at the Irish Parliament in November 2023.

GENDER TOPICS

I support the development of gender-mainstreamed capacity-building projects for corporations and governmental entities.

I have also initiated and organized related conferences, such as Achieving Gender Equality and Female Empowerment: A Collaborative Vision of SDG 5 at the United Nations in Vienna.

In that regard, I created the SDG 5 Hub and its Changemaker Challenge, which was featured in a Learning Session of the United Nation High-Level Political Forum.

I have spoken on panels and led ‘Chatham House’ style workshops on AI implications for online hate speech and related violence against women; discussions have covered everything from deep fakes to preventive algorithms.