{"id":105242,"date":"2015-10-16T09:36:38","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T13:36:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=105242"},"modified":"2021-11-09T14:42:16","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T19:42:16","slug":"president-clinton-awarded-dodd-prize-for-human-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2015\/10\/president-clinton-awarded-dodd-prize-for-human-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"President Clinton Awarded Dodd Prize for Human Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"President<\/a>
Former President Bill Clinton, center, receives the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights from former U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, left, and Helena Foulkes, chair of the Dodd Center’s national advisory board, at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 15. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last night, during a University-wide ceremony that recognized human rights leaders with the awarding of two Thomas J. Dodd Prizes, the focus frequently returned to the power of all individuals to effect change.<\/p>\n

The awards, given to former President Bill Clinton and Tostan founder Molly Melching, were part of a celebration for the 20th anniversary of UConn\u2019s Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, named for the late U.S. Senator from Connecticut. For Clinton, it was a return to UConn exactly 20 years after his visit for the inauguration of the Dodd Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes the empowerment of people to help themselves is the most important thing you can do,\u201d said Clinton, 42nd President of the United States and founder of the Clinton Foundation. \u201cYou all have the power to be soldiers for human rights. I urge you to use that power.\u201d Click here to watch Clinton’s entire speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Molly<\/a>
Molly Melching, center, founder and chief executive officer of the human rights organization Tostan, receives the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights from former U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, left, and Helena Foulkes, chair of the Dodd Center’s national advisory board. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights is awarded biennially to an individual or group who has made a significant effort to advance the cause of international justice and human rights around the world.<\/p>\n

Throughout the evening at the packed Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, the award recipients cited examples of individuals \u2013 from women in small African villages whose voices united behind efforts to abandon the practice of female genital cutting, to students who donate to human rights organizations with the stroke of a computer key \u2013 to emphasize the message that human rights issues are everyone\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may not want to do what Molly [Melching] did,\u201d said Clinton, \u201cbut you can support people who do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"President<\/a>
Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the Dodd Prize ceremony. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1971, Melching visited Senegal intending to remain for a few months, yet stayed more than 40 years. She founded Tostan, an international human rights organization that has worked to empower African communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation based on respect for human rights.<\/p>\n

Tostan\u2019s innovative approach, called the Community Empowerment Program, is rooted in the belief that every human being has a fundamental right to human dignity. The program got its start with the development of a set of shared beliefs about human rights, including that everyone has the right to be free from discrimination, the right to be free from violence, the right to pursue an education and work, and the right not to be exploited, said Melching.<\/p>\n

\"Molly<\/a>
Molly Melching, center, founder and chief executive officer of the human rights organization Tostan, speaks during the event. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The work of Tostan has been recognized in the past, notably by Hillary Clinton when she was Frst Lady, Melching said, before citing the words of another former First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt: \u201cWhere, after all do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home, so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI dedicate this award to all those who work for human rights in small places around the world,\u201d Melching added.<\/p>\n

Clinton was recognized for the efforts of the foundation he established after leaving office. The Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation works to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for girls and women, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change.<\/p>\n

University Provost Mun Choi ended the ceremony with the same call to action emphasized throughout the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Clinton, I thank you for your service to the nation and the greater humanity,\u201d said Choi, before turning to the audience to state, \u201cGo forth and make an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clinton was one of two recipients honored during a ceremony for the 20th anniversary of the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at UConn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":105245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2429,1715,2318,2312,2233,70],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[175],"class_list":["post-105242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards-scholarships","category-community-impact","category-dodd-impact","category-hri","category-university-news","category-video"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 05:26:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105242"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105275,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105242\/revisions\/105275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/105245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105242"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=105242"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=105242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}