Human Rights for Youth: Scientology’s Community-Led Education Focus
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BRUSSELS — 29 January 2026 — The Church of Scientology-supported human-rights education programmes through United for Human Rights and Youth for Human Rights (YHRI) continue to highlight the UDHR as a practical civic reference for everyday civic life, with a focus on youth, schools and community organisations in diverse European communities.
The approach rests on a simple idea: understanding rights helps strengthen respect for them. Approved by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948, the UDHR lists 30 articles describing basic rights and freedoms.
Programme partners highlight a common challenge: many people endorse human rights as a principle but do not know the UDHR’s specific articles, including topics such as non-discrimination, due process and freedom of thought.
United for Human Rights says it was launched around the 60th anniversary of the UDHR to provide educational tools that broaden awareness and encourage implementation of the Declaration. Youth for Human Rights International, founded in 2001 by Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, focuses on introducing young people to the UDHR and strengthening everyday tolerance and peace.
Both initiatives present their work as education and public information, mapping learning modules and media resources to the UDHR’s 30 articles. The organisations are described as nonreligious, while being sponsored and supported by the Church of Scientology, and their resources are used by schools, civic groups and local partners depending on national context.
A recurring feature is a “toolkit” approach: adaptable media resources and structured learning tools designed for classrooms, youth groups and community settings. The package includes “The Story of Human Rights” documentary and a series of PSAs often described as “30 Rights, 30 Ads”. Interactive websites host resources in 17 languages, helping educators adapt delivery to local audiences.
The Church of Scientology links its support for human-rights education to wider prevention- and education-based community initiatives. Its published materials reference Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard on the importance of safeguarding fundamental rights and human dignity, and cite the Code of a Scientologist as encouraging humanitarian engagement in the field of human rights.
Ivan Arjona-Pelado, Scientology’s representative to the European Union, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the United Nations, said:
“Human rights are reinforced when people can recognise them, explain them and apply them in daily life—especially in schools and neighbourhoods where diversity is lived every day. Europe’s democratic culture is strengthened when young people learn the UDHR early and treat respect, equality and non-discrimination as practical responsibilities.”
Into 2026, the emphasis remains on usability: clear language, eu news today modular content and training formats that support lesson plans and community discussions without requiring specialist legal knowledge. Common activities include training for educators and youth workers, community workshops and cooperation with civil-society partners in areas such as inclusion, anti-bullying and equal treatment.
The Church of Scientology, its churches, missions, groups and members are present across the European continent. Scientology Europe reports a continent-wide presence through more than 140 churches, missions and affiliated groups in at least 27 European nations, alongside thousands of community-based social betterment and reform initiatives focused on education, prevention and neighbourhood-level support, inspired by the work of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Within Europe’s diverse national frameworks for religion, the Church’s recognitions continue to expand, with administrative and judicial authorities in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany Slovakia and others, as well as the European Court of Human Rights, having addressed and acknowledged Scientology communities as protected by the national and international provisions of Freedom of Religion or belief.
Read the full release here: Human Rights for Youth: Scientology’s Community Focus.
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