The Midwest is the Heartland, where grassroots social justice and human rights movements, like the pioneering work of Jane Addams and Ida Barnett Wells, have a long history. Efforts to abolish child labor, establish the eight-hour workday at Pullman and Haymarket, and the decades long effort to establish immigrants' rights had their start in the Midwest.

In keeping with this tradition, fifteen Midwest human rights organizations convened in Chicago in 1995 to form the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights. Comprised of academic institutions, advocacy and service organizations, and legal and clinical associations concerned with human rights issues, the Coalition aimed at providing broader visibility for human rights issues and a strong Midwest advocacy voice in the human rights debate, both in the U.S. and abroad. This one concerted voice would enhance advocacy efforts of the Coalition members and increase leverage on policy matters in the U.S. and other countries by showing a regional base of support for human rights.

Organizational Principles

• The Midwest Coalition will use the standards found in international human rights treaties, declarations, and customary norms to guide its work.
• The Midwest Coalition will work as a network to share information, to respond collectively to urgent human rights issues, to conduct joint investigations, and to sponsor educational programs.
• Members of the Midwest Coalition will meet at least bi-annually to discuss common activities and programs.
• We seek to work by consensus; each organizational member is afforded a vote in the Coalition.