Strengthening Individuals & Communities

Using humor to put an oppressive government in a lose-lose situation

The nonviolent civil-resistance movement initiated by Otpor! in Serbia used satire and other unconventional ways of successfully spreading its message of resistance against the tyrannical regime of Slobodan Milosevic.

The Milosevic regime ruled over Serbia and Yugoslavia for about 13 years. To maintain control, the Milosevic regime was infamous for arbitrary arrests, beatings, imprisonment and even murder of avid opponents.

Using fake money to protest prevalence of bribery in public service sectors

The Anti Corruption movement, 5thPillar recently began distributing “Zero Rupee” notes to Indian citizens to give to any civil servant they come across that asks for a bribe. Corruption in the form of bribery is commonplace in India particularly in Chennai where the campaign began, and the Zero Rupee Note serves as a protest of this trend.

Using participatory education to empower communities to exercise their human and civil rights

Education for Life (ELF) uses an accelerated learning system approach with grassroots educators and leaders to contribute to grassroots community empowerment throughout the Philippines. They want grassroots communities to have more power to decide their development, including control of their resources. This empowerment includes the organization of people in the community and access to lifelong education. The key component is an organic grassroots leadership that can be a partner to outside institutions such as NGOs and national government agencies.

Using cinema to promote discussion and understanding of human rights culture

The Human Rights for the Assistance of Prisoners (HRAP) in Egypt used cinema to promote discussion and understanding of human rights culture.  

HRAP wanted to raise public awareness of human rights issues and particularly awareness of the conditions of prisons. The chosen film topics have thus revolved around human rights issues dealing with conditions in prisons for men and women, torture, disappearances, judicial system corruption, wrongful accusations, rights of the accused and imprisonment of the innocent and conditions in mental hospitals.

Using a popular referendum to oppose impunity

The Comisión Nacional Pro-Referéndum (CNR) organized a referendum in Uruguay for the public to vote on the congressional decision to grant impunity to human rights abusers employed by the military.

Nearly every Uruguayan was affected by human rights abuses during the brutal dictatorship from 1973 to 1984. During that time many political dissidents were watched, tortured, and killed. The military and police detained 55,000 people (1 in 50 of the total population) and 300,000 people went into exile either out of fear or because of the rapidly deteriorating economy.

Using a code of conduct to protect labor rights in the garment industry

The Netherlands-based Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC) engages industry, retailers and consumers to promote the rights of garment workers.

The CCC is a consortium of European trade unions and human rights and development organizations formed in the Netherlands in 1990 as a result of increased awareness of poor working conditions in factories worldwide. The CCC is attempting to change this situation by targeting the garment and sportswear industries and raising consumer awareness.

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