Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign

The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC) is a coalition of grassroots organizations, community groups, and non-profit organizations in the United States of America committed to uniting the poor across color lines as the basis for a broad movement to abolish poverty. The PPEHRC seeks to advance economic human rights as outlined in Articles 23, 25, and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These include the rights to education, food, health, housing, communication, and a living wage job.

The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign was founded by Cheri Honkala and formally established in 1998. The PPEHRC was spearheaded by the now defunct affordable housing advocacy organization Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU). In June 1998 KWRU organized the New Freedom Bus Tour, a national bus tour to bring awareness to the issues of poverty and economic human rights. During the tour KWRU made contact with many groups and organizations from across the country that were interested in working to gain and ensure economic human rights for all people. In October 1998 the Poor People’s Summit on Human Rights was held in Philadelphia, PA with many organizations dedicated to economic human rights in attendance. It was out of this meeting and the New Freedom Bus Tour that the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign was formed. The Poor People's Economic Human Right's Campaign announced it was organizing a "March for Our Lives" at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

Most member organizations of the PPEHRC are community-based and headed by people living in poverty themselves. The organizations are varied, and do not all focus exclusively - or even primarily - on the economic aspect of human rights. However all member organizations agree to endorse and participate in the collective work of the campaign.

The University of the Poor is a community-based, web-centered institution dedicated to training and educating leaders in the larger movement to end poverty. It was created in 1999 as the national education division of the PPEHRC and was intended to focus on the unity and development of the leaders of the campaign. The University of the Poor is not a degree-granting organization.

The University of the Poor was brought about as a result of the gathering of economic human rights groups that occurred for the March of the Americas. During the march it was realized that each group had complementary skills, knowledge, and experiences that would benefit the movement if they were shared and taught among member groups.

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