OMOD

 

Activity 11:
Giving Human Rights
a Human Face

Overview

Participants produce a creative expression of an article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). This activity can be modified to make the resulting creations into a guessing game, a community presentation, or a celebration for December 10, Human Rights Day. Participants could also create posters to serve as reminders for creating a human rights environment or community.

Time: Variable
Materials: Copies of the UDHR, complete or simplified version
Art supplies
Setting: Elementary school - Adult groups

Procedure

1. Working individually or in small groups, participants select an article of the UDHR that they feel is especially important. They might illustrate a right enjoyed, denied, defended, or all three.

2. Create –

  • a skit or mime

  • a graphic illustration or mural
  • a song, dance, proverb, or game (these might include adaptations of traditional culture)
  • a poem or story
  • a commercial advertisement

  • a flag or a banner

Note: The project should not reveal the number of the article it illustrates.

3. When the projects are complete, ask each team or individual to show their creation. The rest of the participants try to guess which article of the UDHR is illustrated. When it is correctly identified, the person or team that answers correctly reads the full article aloud. These presentations might be structured as a team competition with points to the teams that identify the correct article.

Going Further

1. Display – Post graphic illustrations in a library, children’s museum, or community building or use them to create a calendar or a mural.

2. Present – The skits, mimes, songs, dances, or writings can be presented as a performance for classmates, parents, or other groups in the community.

3. Celebrate – One can celebrate Human Rights Day by planning a December 10th Festival around these materials. Invite your local newspaper, TV stations, and public officials.

Adaptation

1. Posters for Public Places – Create illustrations or posters that remind others that human rights should be part of everyone’s lives. For example, create posters that remind everyone that the workplace or school is a "human rights community." Where special problems exist, these posters could serve as a basis for action. Strategize how to use these posters to ensure that rights are honored and changes take place in your community.

 

Source: Human Rights Educators’ Network, Amnesty International USA

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