May 14, 2008
St. John's University School of Law is pleased to announce that
Jennifer Ismat ’09 is one of the twelve law student winners of the
2008 Helton Fellowships for projects in international law.
The American Society of International Law (ASIL) established the
Helton Fellowship Program in 2004 in honor of Arthur C. Helton, an
internationally renowned lawyer and advocate for protecting the
rights of refugees and internationally displaced persons.
Helton died in the August 19, 2003, bombing of the United Nations
(UN) mission in Baghdad.
Jennifer will be working with the Africa and Middle East Refugee
Assistance (AMERA) organization in Cairo, Egypt, this summer.
Through AMERA, Jennifer will directly provide legal services to
refugees in Egypt as well as work on several advocacy projects that
entail the examination of refugee rights and the efficacy of
international human rights in Cairo.
ASIL is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational membership
organization. It was founded in 1906, chartered by the U.S.
Congress in 1950, and has held Category II Consultative Status to
the Economic and Social Council of the UN since 1993. ASIL’s
mission is to foster the study of international law and to promote
the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the
basis of law and justice. The Society’s 4,000 members (from
nearly 100 countries) comprise attorneys, academics, corporate
counsel, judges, representatives of governments and nongovernmental
organizations, international civil servants, students, and others
interested in international law. For more information, visit
www.asil.org.