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Amnesty International celebrates Auckland Girls' Grammar School - 2014 Dove Award winners

ARTICLE: 10 June 2014 [Original website story]

An Auckland Girls’ Grammar School (AGGS) group has been awarded one of Amnesty International’s most prestigious accolades, the 2014 Dove Award.

Student leaders from the AGGS Human Rights Group were presented the award by Amnesty International New Zealand’s Executive Director Grant Bayldon at an assembly on Thursday 5 June, to commend their outstanding efforts to promote and protect human rights.

“Whenever you see this group in action – you see the partnership that exists between teachers and students – and the backbone of absolute support from the wider school leadership. These questioning, opinionated and activist-hearted students are an inspiration to us here at Amnesty International,” said Grant Bayldon.

The AGGS Human Rights Group is consistently impressive, but in the last year their achievements have been outstanding.

They painted a fantastic mural depicting Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and global women’s rights issues, which went on to win a national award and was featured in local media and national and international Amnesty publications.

Their ‘Chalk like an Egyptian: Stand up for Women’s Rights’ campaign was a huge success throughout the school with its colourful stalls and costumes, and they received great coverage in local newspapers.

“Receiving this award was a really big accomplishment for our group. It’s a huge privilege and we felt truly honoured to be chosen,” said student co-leader Jolie Lam.

“It’s also been a great motivation for us to keep doing human rights work, and we are really revved up for this year’s Freedom Challenge now!”

Fellow co-leader Katrina Seno added, “Our group has been successful because we’re all such passionate people when it comes to human rights. We feel that our teamwork is something to be proud of - we have a great sense of sisterhood.”

Background

The Amnesty International Dove Award was inaugurated in 2001 to provide Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand with a way of celebrating the individuals or teams who have impressed with their commitment to protecting and promoting human rights during the year.

Amnesty International celebrates Auckland Girls' Grammar School - 2014 Dove Award winners

 
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