Take Action!

This section outlines ways of campaigning around the Voice our Concern topics, or human rights issues on a wider scale. Feel free to use or adapt any of them, and please give us some feedback letting us know how they go, on the discussion board.

Outlined below are some ideas on Taking Action around Human Rights for the Voice our Concern Project, produced by Caroline Vize a Transition Year student from Our Lady's, Terenure

1. Eye catching banners: Students can make eye catching banners, with a simple design and a slogan that focuses on a specific Human Rights Issue.

2. Posters using photographs: Usings photos around a specific Human Rights concern relating to young people, students can produce posters to display in School, or at campaigns events.

3. Powerpoint presentation, or slide show: Students can identify a Human Rights issue that they'd like to highlight, and then design a presentation to show at there School or at an event.

4. Murals: Murals can be painted, or put together using different matrials as a kind of mosaic, and can be created on a dry smooth surface in an inside or outside area. They could be used to focus on, and illustrate, any of the current Amnesty campaigns.

5. Making Christmas Cards or Wrapping paper: Instead of sending a traditional Christmas card you could hand make one, that links Christmas with Human Rights themes. They could either show images that highlight Human Rights issues, or could be a collage card that contains a specific Urgent Action (a letter writing action) linked to the image that you've put on the front of the card.

6. Ways of informing people about International Human Rights Day:

T-shirts, text messages, shows- drama or musicals, guest speakers, cake sales, makingleaflets or cards with images of Human Rights issues on them, and hand them out to members of the public.

7. Hold stalls:

Stalls can be used to inform people about the work that Amnesty is doing, and can be used for circulating information on the current campaigns and to collect signatures for petitions.

8. Organise screenings of films on Human Rights issues:

These could be shown over a number of weeks as part of a series, or in one afternoon. The screenings could be followed by discussion on the human rights issues explored in the films.
Some examples of films that you could show include:
Bend it like Beckham (2002, 12) looks at the world of women’s football and cultural expectations.
In the Name of the Father (1993, 15) Deals with the events surrounding the Guildford pub bombing in 1974 and the subsequent 15- year fight for justice; portrays a nation desperate to find culprits at any cost, however immoral, illegal or brutal.
For further examples of films that touch upon Human Rights issues see page 93- 94 of the Voice our Concern module

9. Media involvement:

If you're planning an event, or are engaging in any of the other activities listed above around Human Rights, you could write a press release and send it to your local newspaper, a magazine or approach your local radio station with details of the event.

Organise an event:

Events can be held to raise awareness of human rights issues, and to encourage people to take action for them. Awareness-raising events can be held in a variety of different locations, using a variety of different methods. Some of the following are suggestions taken from the Voice our Concern module, showing some of the diverse types of events that you can hold.

Human rights speakers:

Invite somebody to the School, or hold a local event, that hosts a local speaker and gives them the opportunity to share their experience of being an asylum seeker or refugee, or of campaigning on behalf of an issue such as Traveller rights or refugee rights.

Creative writing:

Creative writing is a great way to communicate around Human Rights issues. The different ways and types of creative writing that you can use include poetry, plays, short stories, raps and other song lyrics, comic strips and illustrations. If you do create any of these, feel free to pass them on to us so that we can display them on the website.

Organise a DJ or band night:

The following suggestions, taken from Banners and Dragons (see below) page 99-101, show the different ways that you can organize a band or club night to raise awareness of human rights issues:

• Identify local promoters of clubnights by looking in record shops, listing magazines, newspapers and find out what’s happening in your area. Try the local university or further education college, talk to the students union and the entertainments officer. Ask their advice.

• Set up a steering group for your event. Ideally, this should include a promoter, someone from a record label, a PR agent, a DJ agent, a listing editor and a club employee- basically people in the industry who can help you. Convince them of your message. Persuade them to help you run a night in aid of your organization. Get them to help you bring in good DJs appropriate to your audience.

• Check out the different nights. Fridays and Saturdays are usual for clubbing, but look hard at what is going on in your area. It may be that a different night would suit you better. Ask a promoter for advice. Check out venues. Avoid School and Church halls if you want to appeal to a young audience. Consider the variable costs: basic hire is usually at least E450. Ask the venue if you are responsible for providing staff and security measures. Check also whether you have to raise a certain amount at the bar- it you don’t achieve it, you will be liable for further payment to the venue.

• Book the DJs. DJs are today’s rock stars and can command huge fees. You must beg or borrow them to work for free or for very little, effectively donating their fee to your cause. It can be very helpful to pick an unusual night (i.e. not Friday or Saturday) if you want to persuade a DJ to work for nothing. Start on the publicity.

• Listings. You need to place these in relevant publications, which usually have advance deadlines of between one and three months. Try to persuade listings editors to preview your event.

• Arrange publicity. Text messages, emails, flyers and posters should be as good as anything produced by commercial promoters. You should include information about your ‘good cause’, as well as details on the event. Get some quotes and decide whether you can afford to print flyers (they cost around 441 euro for 5,000 to 10,000 leaflets) Flyers and posters need to be prominently displayed wherever young people go in your area. Decide how you will distribute them. It may be easier to pay a distribution company to do this for you. They will charge a set fee. Whatever happens, don’t get into a flyposting war. Flyposting is illegal, and there are bound to be local flyposting companies. Encroach on their sites and they will cover your posters and mark the event as ‘cancelled’.

• Approach potential sponsors for help. After you have decided on your budget, approach companies targeting the local youth market and see if they will sponsor your night in return for publicity on your posters and flyers. Try the flyer distribution company, the club or the local record shop.

• Decorate the venue. Brand it with strong visual images that represent your organization or the good cause you are highlighting. This will make the night memorable for the audience. Ask the local art college or film school if their students would contribute their designs and materials. Make sure that you brand your logo on every available surface, whether it be the DJ deck, the walls, the entrance or the cloakroom.

• Fundraise and campaign! Make sure you set up stalls at the venue with things for people to do, whether it is to sign actions, petitions or emails. Have bucket collections - you may raise thousands of pounds. Mix the clubbing with consciousness raising- you are entitled to stop the music in the middle of the event while someone gives a speech.

• Build an address and e-mail contacts list. You have a captive audience - retain their names and contact details for future events (with their permission!).

• Finally, if you decide that a large-scale event is simply too ambitious for you, you might want to consider a more low-key event with minimum expenditure. These are often run in places like local pubs, bars and school halls. You would be unlikely to reach a new audience and would probably have to rely on friends and family, but this kind of vent is often the most practical and sensible.

Street theatre:

Street theatre has the potential to communicate Human Rights issues to members of the public in a creative and engaging way. The section on street theatre from Banners and Dragons, demonstrates some different forms of Street Theatre. For example, fake ‘kidnapping’ scenarios have been used to highlight the horrific phenomenon of ‘disappearance’ and political killings.

Banners and Dragons by Dan Jones and published by Amnesty International, can be ordered from Amnesty Irish section by calling 01 6776361.