eNotes  -  August 2006

In Other News

Vance Center Launches Updated Website

The Vance Center is ending the summer with a fresh look — at least on its website. The site was updated and re-launched this month, and includes the most recent docket of Global Clearinghouse cases and projects; an updated set of partners from the Center's expanding work in Latin America; and a Spanish page. Check back throughout the fall for updates on the Center's work and conference series in Latin America.

For more information about the Vance Center website, contact Alyson Zureick.

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Comings and Goings: Vance Center Welcomes Staff Member, Says Goodbye to Others

The Vance Center welcomed a new project assistant, Alyson Zureick, to the City Bar on June 26. A Princeton Project 55 fellow, Ms. Zureick received her B.A. in politics with honors and election to Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University in 2006. She will spend the next year as a project assistant at the Vance Center, where she will administer the South African Visiting Lawyer Program (SAVLP), edit the Center's website and newsletter, and provide general administrative support to the staff.

Ms. Zureick replaces former Princeton Project 55 fellow Jennifer Bréa, who finished her tenure at the Vance Center during the first week of July. Ms. Bréa, graduated with a B.A. in politics from Princeton University in 2005. She will spend the next year studying in China.

During her time at the Vance Center, Ms. Bréa coordinated the SAVLP, served as Vance Center webmaster, edited eNotes and developed the technical infrastructure for the Global Network for Justice Initiatives (GNJI).

"In her year here, Jen made an invaluable contribution to the development of the Vance Center's use of technology to carry out its mission," Joan Vermeulen, the Vance Center's executive director, said. "She played the major role in the development of GNJI, which is going to be significant in facilitating greater collaboration between all of us in the Americas who are working on access to justice concerns."

The Vance Center is also preparing to say goodbye to Henry Schneider, the Center's first summer intern. Mr. Schneider will return to Oberlin College, where he will begin his junior year at the end of the month. He is currently studying for his B.A. in history.

While at the Vance Center, Mr. Schneider conducted research on the development of pro bono in Latin America.

"The work of the Vance Center would be very limited were it not for the volunteers who contribute their time and knowledge to our work," Ms. Vermeulen said. "This summer we were fortunate to have someone like Henry, with knowledge of Spanish, to assist in our work to stimulate the continued growth of pro bono in Latin America."

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 National Human Rights Commission of Korea Visits the City Bar

On July 10, the Vance Center staff met with representatives of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea to discuss human rights standards and anti-discrimination law in the United States and the development of the Vance Center's work in Latin America. The South Korean delegation included human rights investigator Kyung Hye Nam and discrimination investigators Hyun Jung Kim, Mi Ra Seo and Cho-Ah Song. Jennifer Kim, director of the City Bar Justice Center's Refugee Assistance Program, also attended.

The Korean representatives discussed the evolution of human rights standards in South Korea and the need to develop a body of law to protect migrant workers. Jennifer Kim drew on her work with the City Bar's refugee project to answer delegates' questions about the development of such law in the United States. The Vance Center staff also discussed the center's work on pro bono and the Global Network for Justice Initiatives.

The South Korean delegates spent 48 days in the United States and Canada researching immigration and anti-discrimination law as well as the work and organizational structure of human rights bodies in those countries. The trip was sponsored by the South Korean government and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, which is administratively and structurally independent of the government.

The Human Rights Commission of Korea was established by the South Korean government on November 25, 2001. The commission formulates policy recommendations on human rights issues, investigates complaints on discrimination and human rights abuses, develops human rights educational programs and works with a range of domestic and international bodies on these issues.

For more information on the Vance Center's meeting with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea contact Joan Vermeulen.

  Back to eNotes August 2006