The Human Rights Research and Education Centre organizes many initiatives seeking to raise awareness about current human rights issues in Canada and abroad. Some activities include:
The objective of the Arts + Human Rights Program is to raise awareness and engage individuals in a multidisciplinary interrogation of human rights issues that is framed through various forms of creative artistic expression such as visual, performance, media, cinematographic, musical and literary arts.
CAFA is a project created to increase awareness and advocacy in defence of academic freedom across the Americas, aimed at developing and concretizing relevant human rights standards, both as a means of protecting higher education spaces in the western hemisphere, and modeling best practices elsewhere.
Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of higher education institutions dedicated to protecting threatened scholars, preventing attacks on higher education communities and promoting academic freedom worldwide.
Voices in Exile was created by Associate Professor Nadia Abu-Zahra, Joint Chair in Women's Studies - University of Ottawa and Carleton University, and Neuberger-Jesin Professor John Packer, HRREC Director. It supports activists in exile who are trying to make the home they left a better place. Those voices are important for the perspectives they offer and for the ideas they generate. Voices in Exile will provide platforms for those who would otherwise not be heard, in situations of violent conflict.