Creative Action

Amnesty isn't just about letter writing!

There are many things you can do to TAKE ACTION! on human rights.

Here are a few of our favourite action ideas. But don't stop there! If you have suggestions to add or stories to share, e-mail us at youth@amnesty.ca

Design and print a postcard dealing with a specific action or campaign. Reproduce many copies of this card and have them signed by members of the public.
Create a petition based on an Amnesty action or campaign. Drop it off at local businesses and have as many people sign it as possible.
Organize a demonstration, protest or march to raise awareness about an issue. Gather a large group of people, make signs and don't forget to inform the media!
Hold an Alternative Summit. Large conference or meeting near your home town? Want to protest against or simply call attention to the policies of the participants? Consider holding a People's Summit/Alternative Summit. These are large conferences that allow participants to discuss issues in a more human-rights oriented context. For a better idea of what to do, check out a successful alternative summit (http://www.g6bpeoplessummit.org/) from 2002.
Get Celebrity Support. Enlist local celebrities to join the AI cause. Speak to them about Amnesty International and use their endorsement in your campaign work.
Place a Classified Ad: Place a missing/disappeared persons report in the Lost and Found section of the classifieds in your local newspaper. Advertise the disappearance of a prisoner of conscience, and be sure to include group contact information for interested readers who wish to become involved in your group.

Get in the News! Write a letter-to-the-editor on an issue that particularly interests you, or even write a feature article for your local or school paper. You could also write feature stories or news releases for events that you or your group undertake. Check out Media 101 for more information.
Talk back to the radio. Many radio stations offer call-in programs to listeners. Call in and voice your support for human rights! Call a dedication program and send a song out to a specific human-rights defender. Be sure to direct callers to amnesty.ca for more information about the case! Or, talk to your local radio station about using already-created Radio Amnesty programs and public service announcements.
Organize an Awareness Week or Fair. Do this on your own or invite other issues-oriented groups in your school, campus or community to set up information tables in a common area. Have speakers on different issues and ask local musicians to voice their talents. Set up a computer station where people can check out various Amnesty and human rights internet sites. Advertise your event to the public and charge a fee for admission, as well as a tabling fee for participating organizations.
Table. "Tabling" is one of the most popular awareness-raising activities for student groups. Check out our Tabling information page to find out how to do it!
11. Take 30 Steps to Human Rights. Decorate a high-traffic area in a public space (your school, local shopping mall, using chalk on a sidewalk) with cut-out footprints detailing "30 Steps to Human Rights." Each footprint could explain one article of the Declaration of Human Rights, give one fact about Amnesty International or profile a case or action that your group is taking action on. Cover the feet with clear tape to protect them from all curious walkers!
Create stickers and signs. Design signs or stickers that people can place in the front window of their house, on their car, or on their school notebook declaring support for the UDHR and human rights. You may even wish to relate these to a current Amnesty campaign or theme.
Design and print campaign bookmarks that can be handed out at local bookstores and libraries.
Organize a bike rally, walk or run. Distribute Citizen of the World pledge forms and fundraising pledge forms to everyone who signs up to participate. Get your community involved and obtain publicity and interest in human rights and your involvement in AI. Add a fun element to attract more people, such as t-shirt and prizes.

Declare you school or community a "human rights zone". Invite a prominent person (your school principal, dean of the university, mayor of the town or city) to make the official declaration. Leave a permanent record of the even by placing a plaque on the wall, or even have the entire Universal Declaration (full text or the plain language version) reprinted in the newspaper. This is a great activity to mark Human Rights Day on December 10, or choose another day from the Human Rights Calendar (insert link on last 3 words). Encourage people attending the event to make public announcements about what they will do to protect human rights locally or around the world.
Create a Human Rights quilt. Made of cloth or paper, illustrate the articles of the UDHR with words or images. Ask individuals or groups in your community to design squares which are most relevant to them. For example, ask a faith community to depict the right to freedom of religion.
Hold a mock funeral or "die-in". Conduct these events in silence and have information ready to distribute to onlookers. Carry coffins in a procession or lay motionless on the ground as symbolic victims of human rights abuses. A speaker could address assembled onlookers and explain why these people have died.
Mobilize! with a human rights defenders march. Organize a vigil or march on behalf of human rights defenders. End with a rally where local celebrities pledge their commitment to human rights.
Organize a candle lighting ceremony. Remember the phrase "it's better to light a candle than curse the darkness"? Organize a candle lighting event in a prominent place in your community. Invite local celebrities to make pubic statements about their personal commitments to human rights.
Take part in a 30 Hour Candle Vigil. Keep 30 candles (or a series of candles in 30 candle holders) burning for 30 hours. During the vigil, keep participants awake and entertained with music, performances and mural painting along human rights themes. This could also be combined with a write-a-thon on cases of human rights defenders.

Present a public screening of video/film series. Organise a public viewing of films (see our video catalogue) relating to human rights. If it's summer, organize outdoor screenings in parks or projected onto sides of buildings.
Get Dramatic. Use your writing talents to create a play or other dramatic piece to be used for Human Rights Education. Or, use your performance talents to stage a production of an already-written play. There are tonnes of variations on this idea - instead of a play hold a musical recital or poetry slam!
Run a Contest. Run a contest in which participants use art, music, writing and multi-media to express their personal commitment to human rights. Ask local businesses to donate prizes for the winners. Hold a showing of the entries and assemble a panel of local celebrities to act as judges - and make sure the media is invited, too. Charge admission for the event, or accept donations.
Create and test a Human Rights Game. This could be a board game, a role playing game, CD-ROM, interactive web site, and so on. If your game works well, send it in to the national office!
Create merchandise. Develop youth-oriented merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, patches, etc) using a campaign logo or your own design. Include a brochure with each item or create a special tag for merchandise which encourages people to find out more about Amnesty campaigns and how they can help. Approach shops which cater to youth and ask them to help sell your products or even embark on a joint merchandising venture!
Plant a tree (or many) in the name of human rights. Invite local politicians or celebrities to help you plant, to demonstrate their support for human rights. Be sure to place a plaque at the base of the tree identifying it's purpose. For a bigger project, plant 30 trees, each symbolizing an article of the UDHR.
Name a street. Lobby your town council to name a park or street after a prominent national or international human rights figure such as John Humphrey (http://www.udhr.org/history/Biographies/biojh.htm) or Peter Benenson (http://www.amnesty.org.uk/action/events/biography.shtml).
Stage a Mock trial, abduction or caging. Highlight the cases of human rights defenders through mock trials, abductions or cagings (mock prison cells) in communities or schools. For example, a teacher or well known student leader could be "abducted" during a lecture or school assembly. Their "release" could be announced after a certain number of campaign pledges were collected or signatures gathered on a petition for the real case being dramatized by the abduction.
**Take care, however, not to make your dramatizations too realistic as members of the "audience" may themselves have experienced human rights violations. Be sure to follow-up the dramatization with a clear explanation of why you were doing it and provide witnesses with a straightforward way to take action.

Present a Performance/Speakers Tour. Approach a school of the performing arts and/or youth theatre companies to help organize a regional tour of schools. Develop sketches, songs and speeches raising human rights issues and challenging young people to get involved.
Or, sponsor the speaking tour of former prisoners-of-conscience or experts on human rights.
Confer an Honorary Degree. Ask universities and colleges to grant honorary degrees to some of the human rights defenders features in campaigns. Link the degree to the work of the activist or their profession. Please be sure to let the national office know about any such event!
Organize a HR Conference or Symposium. Work with other human rights NGOs and youth organizations to organize a conference for youth on human rights. Provide a balance of sessions on human rights issues and activist skills. Be sure to provide a follow-up activity for people to exchange ideas and report on their progress with a newsletter, e-mail listserve, or even a follow-up conference.
Create a web site
Create a CD ROM
Create a book/TV program profiling young activists
Develop Human Rights Curriculum. Design activities teachers can use to educate their students about human rights.
Talk to your Student Council/Union. See if they have any involvement with Amnesty International. Encourage them to sign on as a multi-issue club, or to fundraise for Amnesty at their next event.
Involve a local business in human rights work. Ask businesses to hang posters with information on Amnesty actions or on your Amnesty group. If organizing a silent auction or fundraiser, solicit donations for prizes. Provide for these businesses AI Canadas information on Business and Human Rights.
38. Break the silence! Create a minute of noise. Refuse to be silent about human rights injustices in the world. Encourage others in your community to participate in a planned "minute of noise" to break the silence about human rights abuses in Canada and around the world.
39. Create a "violence free" or "human rights" space in the community. Choose a park or public square. Use fake police tape to cordon off the area, then invite people to enjoy the space.
Reach out! Contact local groups and offer to speak to them about Amnesty International's work and human rights. Faith communities, service clubs and labour associations and others might all be interested in your work.
Network! Contact other Amnesty groups in your area to see what they're doing. They might have ideas for a project to collaborate on or great ideas for past actions you can adopt as your own.

FUNDRAISING ACTIONS

Sell Amnesty International merchandise. We have T-Shirts, sweatshirts, badges, posters, cards, videos etc. which can be sold at a profit by groups.
Put out a collection jar. Be sure to have a donation jar available at information tables for people who come by. You'll be amazed how fast small change can add up!
Dance the night away at your school. Get a good dj, pick a theme, make some posters, advertise with posters and PA announcements, be creative and have fun!
Organize a concert. Several high school groups have raised hundreds of dollars by having an Amnesty International night at an all-ages club or university pub. Performers may be willing to donate some of their fee to AI or play for free.
Stage a coffeehouse or international café. Organize an international café or (fair trade!) coffee house featuring food and music from countries highlighted in Amnesty campaigns. Be sure to have plenty of action material available - you may wish to combine this with a letter-writing event!
Hold an Auction. Raise some money for human rights work by holding an auction of 30 articles, each of which symbolically represents an Article of the UDHR. During the auction, a description of the item being big on is accompanied by an explanation of an Article of the UDHR. Invite a local celebrity to be the auctioneer. Collect signatures for actions at the event.
Go for the tried, tested and true. Garage sales, car washes, bake sales, lemonade stands. They're popular because they work - and can be a lot of fun!
Work at a Fundraising Bingo. Get a bunch of AI supporters together to work for an evening at a charity Bingo. Many organizations raise money this way. Usually you need to have a group of people to work the floor selling tickets and at the end of the night they will give your group a portion of the money raised.
Take Amnesty to Work with you. Talk to your employer or your parent's employer about workplace giving.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
Check the rule book. Be sure to find out if you need permission to undertake any of these actions from your school, local police or city. You may need to apply for permits for some events, especially if you're expecting large crowds.

AFTER YOU FINISH:
Let us know how it went. Was your action a huge success? Did you take learn something useful to share with other Amnesty groups? Are there lots of crazy pictures? Let us know all about your Actions - your action might be featured on here on in a future edition of In the Mix.