Alumna Coauthors Reports Submitted to UN Human Rights Council

Ellen (Narotsky) Kennedy, a Northern Michigan University alumna and 2023 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award, has brought human rights concerns to the attention of global decision-makers. As coauthor of two Shadow Reports submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, she documents U.S. violations of the human rights to bodily autonomy and to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

The report on bodily autonomy details patterns of discrimination and restrictive laws that limit individuals' ability to make decisions about their own bodies and explores devastating impacts of federal rollbacks. The climate report examines widespread U.S. executive and legislative action prioritizing fossil fuel use over green energy, denying impacts of the climate crisis, and systematically dismantling existing environmental protection regulations to protect the environment.

Every 4.5 years, UN member countries are reviewed on their human rights policies and practices. Reports allow civil society organizations to introduce critical issues that the country under review may have omitted or presented less than accurately or fully. The reports, submitted by a coalition of national non-profit organizations led by World Without Genocide, urge international attention to these issues.

Kennedy has two masters' degrees from NMU and is a Marquette native. She also holds a BA degree from the University of Michigan and an MA and two PhD degrees from the University of Minnesota.

She is the founder and executive director of World Without Genocide, a human rights organization located in Minneapolis, and with Special Consultative Status to the United Nations. She teaches, speaks, and writes locally and globally about critical issues including genocide prevention, the climate crisis and gender-based violence.

Kennedy advocates for policy and legislation at city, state and national levels to support peace and justice. She is a representative to the United Nations Department of Global Communications and an adjunct professor of law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, St. Paul. She is also active in local organizations, including serving on the Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters and on the Social Justice Committee of Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul.

Read the Shadow Reports at https://www.worldwithoutgenocide.org/UNshadowreporting.

This press release was prepared by World Without Genocide.