Graduate Students Scheduled to Attend UN Training Session

By Stefano Gennarini, J.D. | 2013

NEW YORK, October 25 (C-FAM) What does the future hold for the pro-life cause? If recent polls are true there is good news.

All indications are that pro-life beliefs are making inroads with younger generations. Not only do pro-life youth outnumber their pro-choice friends, they are also more passionate about defending life than pro-choice youth are about abortion.

C-FAM, publisher of the Friday Fax, recruits talented students every year to join the pro-life fight at the United Nations through the Edmund Burke Fellowship. The Fellowship identifies and equips promising students who will defend the unborn child, the family and national sovereignty in international law and policy. Dispersing throughout the world, serving in different fields of work, the students will become tomorrow’s leaders in the international pro-life movement.

The Edmund Burke Fellowship brings graduate students to UN headquarters in New York City for an intense week of practical study on international law and policy. Pro-life policy experts transmit their knowledge and experience to future generations.

Students gain firsthand knowledge from UN delegates, scholars, and experts during lectures and meetings in the first full week of January (January 6-10 in 2014). The program covers travel and lodging expenses. Students who complete all program requirements are awarded a scholarship.

Last year, students from the United States, Canada, Jamaica and Venezuela participated in seminars with international law scholars like Professor Jeremy Rabkin of George Mason University School of Law, and Professor Paolo Carozza of Notre Dame School of Law. They learned from experts like former U.S. Ambassador to East Timor Joseph Rees and Piero Tozzi then of Alliance Defending Freedom. Fellows also met U.S. diplomats, delegates from various countries, the Holy See and UN staff from the UN Population Division.

The lectures and diplomatic visits during the week in New York cover subjects often overlooked by mainstream academic programs in international law and policy. The program familiarizes selected students with the status of the unborn in international law, forces that conspire against human life and dignity, and the efforts of the pro-life movement at the United Nations.

Students are invited to wrestle with the nature of international law, its normative force, and the proper scope of action for of international organizations.

The Edmund Burke Fellowship focuses on human rights mechanisms at the United Nations, especially UN treaty bodies, inviting students to reclaim the human right tradition from groups that use these systems to promote abortion. Students learn about the origins and development of the UN human rights mechanisms, the natural law roots of the UN human rights tradition, and recent efforts to reform and strengthen human rights institutions. Students are also asked to identify key areas where they can contribute original research.

The deadline for applications for the 2014 Edmund Burke Fellowship is fast approaching – they may be submitted until November 1, 2013. Applicants must be law students or graduate students with a demonstrated interest in international law, policy and institutions. Application requirements can be found here.

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