1. 1
SIT Human Rights International Honors Program Spring 2014
Illinois Wesleyan University
Strategies for Promoting
Student Engagement
in Human Rights
Understanding how the implementation of Human Rights campaigns to engage youth are
affected by history, what incentives, inspiration and motivation current youth leaders have for
their involvement, and what reforms should be made to continue and increase student
involvement.
Nicole Jovicevic
Fieldwork Ethics and Comparative Research Methods ANTH 3500
Noam Schimmel
04/29/2014

2. 2
I. Introduction
As many Human Rights organizations have realized in the past and continue to verify in
the 21st century, youth are the pillars of reform and the key to creative energy when it comes to
campaigning for Human Rights. Personally, I was drawn into the work of Human Rights through
Amnesty International (AI or Amnesty) at my high school and continued to take further
responsibilities with Amnesty when given the opportunity in college. As a Student Activist
Coordinator for Amnesty Illinois in the United States, it is my responsibility to engage youth and
educate leaders on how they can get more youth to engage in their chapters; however, I found I
was just as confused an disoriented with many questions leaders would ask me such as how to
combat apathy and what events have been most successful in the past. I felt this gap could be
easily filled if more information was published on what other successful Human Rights groups
and Amnesty chapters do in order to address these concerns and create better strategies for
engaging youth. The opportunity to choose my own research, therefore, led me to try and
understand what methods successful Amnesty chapters were using to engage and keep
passionate, committed members on the Human Rights team and bring these strategies to share
to the rest of the youth community.
By interviewing with other youth activists across the globe, I have been able to
understand what the youth in Nepal, Jordan, and Chile have done to gain members into the
Human Rights movement. To understand why certain strategies have been effective or not
effective, it was also crucial to know and share the countries’ context and frameworks that
shape each groups’ movements and choices. In order to not just list different events that have
been effective and to create a sense of understanding and commonality between the different
groups, I would like to give some practical frameworks of each of the organizations, blended
with the personal perspectives of the students. I believe together that this information will give
Amnesty students, and students working on engaging any youth on Human Rights, a better
understanding of what challenges other groups are facing, and how they have dealt with their
issues. In order to do this, I will explore three pillars that work together to inform action.
1. Implementation: My research will address the implementations of Human Rights
campaigns and how they are influenced. This includes how the history of each country
influences student involvement, which campaigns are chosen, how the basic structure
enhances or doesn’t enhance student involvement, and what creative strategies have
been used by youth to work on Amnesty campaigns.

3. 3
2. Incentives, Inspiration and Motivation: What unique appeals does Amnesty or other
respective Human Rights organization have that has encouraged these student leaders
to join? What incentives do they find most effective in getting other students engaged?
3. Reforms: What reforms should Amnesty allow for in order to address certain concerns
from its members.
I would like to thank all of the incredible youth I have had the opportunity to talk to and
engage with during my research process. The credit for information goes to these individuals
who have done the work and pushed passed barriers within their communities to create a better
world for all. The way they opened up their hearts and their homes to me during these past
months is what has allowed me to write this research paper and share their incredible creativity
and compassion within every youth working on Human Rights and bring our family closer
together.
II. Research Question and Methodology
Through the process of my research, my initial question was augmented. At the start, I
was focused on combating student apathy within Amnesty because my understanding was
shaped solely by my experiences in the United States Amnesty youth groups. Upon my first few
interviews in Nepal, I realized that I was asking the wrong questions because the campaigns
chosen, the functional structure, and the historical background of each of the countries’ groups
was so different that outlining the information I received on these topics alone would give
different perspectives and methodologies to explore. I also realized that my interviews would
focus my attention on the students’ personal reasons for involvement, what work they enjoyed
doing, and their ideas for reform that would help engage youth.
With a main focus on Amnesty youth, the question I will be answering is the following:
How does the practical aspect of engaging youth in Human Rights through Amnesty play out on
the ground, and how have the methods so far been effective or ineffective within the context
they function in? How can we move forward in an educated way?
The preliminary questions I crafted include the following:
1. Why have you or haven’t you decided to use Amnesty as the vehicle for your
cause? How did you get involved?
2. What role do you see Amnesty playing in your community or in your world.
3. What motivates your action? Is it anger? An idea of justice? And how does or
doesn’t Amnesty allow you to do something about it?

4. 4
4. What is it in particular about your home community that activates you to action?
5. What do you get out of your continued involvement in Amnesty? Why do you
come back?
My additional questions developed into:
1. What other NGOs are most popular among youth? Why do you think that is?
2. What is it about AI that is particularly useful or relevant to student HR activists?
Why did you choose Amnesty to promote and advance your cause over other
groups that work on these issues?
3. How do you think AI is flawed? How have you worked around that?
4. What was your most memorable experience? What events have been most
successful?
5. Why did you personally decide to join the group?
For my main form of research, I used interviews and observation. I had the opportunity
to interview 27 youth working on Human Rights, ask extended questions related to my research
with four speakers hosted by IHP, and participate in press releases and meetings for multiple
groups. My interviews consisted of multiple one on one interviews and a couple group
interviews with multiple Amnesty leaders that proved to be very supportive and informative. The
reason interviews seemed to be the best method for my research is because the student
leaders would have more information on experiences and events dealing with my topic than any
published materials by Amnesty. The reason I chose to interview youth is because I feel they
are more free to discuss and understand the issues they face than the insight much of the
administration would be able to give me.
Most of my research is focused on the micro community of Amnesty youth, but, because
of research limitations, my interviews have extended to other organizations working on Human
Rights issues and engaging youth. In Jordan, there were no Amnesty chapters at all, and in
Chile there were no Amnesty youth groups. In Jordan, I was able to interview our staff who have
worked on Human Rights issues through other organizations as well as a group of students
from a group called Loyac that gets students to volunteer, and a Palestinian students working
with the Women’s Program Center follow administratively by UNRWA. In Chile, I was still able to
interview youth, but took into consideration that their main goal is not collegiate recruitment.
The history of each country also shaped my interviews and what information I received
from the youth. Because each country has a different political system and because Amnesty is
at a different level of development in each country, much of my research was developed in
Nepal where Amnesty has been well established. My research in Jordan addresses shortly why

5. 5
Amnesty has not been successful there, but then pushes further to student involvement in
Human Rights in Jordan in general. For Chile, since the movement is very new, I focus on the
positives of their structure, what challenges are holding them back, and what they could use to
move forward in a more positive way.
I also must acknowledge my language limitation with this research. Because I can only
speak English, I was only able to speak to those students who speak English or with those I was
able to find a translator for which includes most of the speakers I site. In Nepal, I feel this did not
limit my research much because most of the individuals spoke English from learning it in school.
In Jordan and Chile, I feel like it limited my research significantly because many did not speak
English and those who did had privileges like studying in the United States for a while, being
immigrants from European countries, or being highly educated.
My final limitation was time. Because I only stayed in each of the countries for about one
month while moving to different areas of the countries for various excursions, this limited the
amount of interviews and in-depth involvement I could engage in to further my research.
With these limitations included, I still feel I was able to attain information that would be
substantial and useful for understanding the current successes, and challenges facing youth
working on Human Rights issues.
III. Implementation
Brief Histories and Its Influence
Nepal has recently come out of a civil war fought between the Maoists and the
government. During the war, individuals could be persecuted for being on one side of the
conflict or the other. However, being affiliated with Amnesty International did not put you on one
side or another and allowed for some protections (Regmi). In 2007, after the King stepped down
from power, a temporary government was put in place. Still in the process of building their state,
Nepal is in the middle of writing a new constitution in order to create a solidified governing body
and rule of law. A few key reasons Amnesty has had such a thriving community in Nepal is due
to its neutrality in political parties, the lack of similar organizations having a presence in Nepal,
and the lack of an organized government to voice concerns. Amnesty was and continues to be
one of the few organizations in Nepal that focuses on a broad spectrum of Human Rights issues
and gives an organized forum for individuals to voice their concerns. Because Nepal has been
between Constitutions and governance in the past few years, Amnesty has given students a
platform to learn about issues, voice their concerns to their government, and additionally do
something concrete about the issues by educating their community. This influences both which

6. 6
campaigns AI Nepal chooses to work on and the large impact AI Nepal is able to make through
its youth network. AI Nepal has a tendency to choose campaigns that education and discussion
can help resolve.
Jordan is currently under a monarchy where most of the organizations working on
Human Rights issues and political reform to enhance Human Rights are founded and sponsored
by the royal family. When asking Elise Auerbach, the Jordanian Country Specialist for Amnesty
International, why there were no Amnesty chapters in Jordan, she responded that there was,
“an attempt made to set up something in Jordan many years ago, but it didn’t work out…there
was apparently a big problem with registration of non-Jordanian NGOs and it was just too
cumbersome.” Although these restrictions limit the influence of organizations such as Amnesty,
youth do have various centers and ministries they can volunteer and work at that address
Human Rights issues including a center focused specifically on Human Rights, multiple shelters
for helping women, and a family protection unit that works to help children who are being
abused. In terms of local political influence, the Arab Spring has also spurred an increase on
how much youth are willing to talk about politics. Students are beginning to have a louder voice
on issues of freedom of speech, asking about their rights, and saying louder that this is their
voice (Aloun). They are beginning to have a more critical view of the structures around them
and are actually engaging in discourse around these topics (Aloun). Some students believe that
they were voicing their concerns on these topics before, but the Arab Spring has only added a
spotlight to it (Alhaija et al.). Either way, the Arab Spring has brought a new stage and it
depends on the youth how this spotlight will influence future opportunities to speak out.
Students have the opportunity to build a foundation for a new platform for dialogue, or they
could push too far and have the government create harsher restrictions. Because the political
climate is still sensitive and very conservative, if students decide to try and jump to complete
freedoms and liberation they will ultimately be shut down and fail in their goals (Aloun). Because
of the current situation, taking small, step by step victories towards larger goals will help with a
smooth transition that can be maintained and continue on past the era of the Arab Spring
(Aloun).
In Chile on September 11th 1973, General Augusto Pinochet and his army hosted a
coup on the Socialist regime of Salvador Allende. Pinochet’s dictatorship was themed by fear,
mass disappearances, and torture. When international pressure forced Pinochet to create a
referendum to decide whether the dictatorship would stay of go, Chile voted in 1990 that the
dictatorship had to end. The years up until now have been filled by both conservative and liberal
elected officials slowly working to amend the constitution put into place during the Pinochet era.

7. 7
The resistance to the dictatorship was colored by violent protests, and occupations that gave
the Human Rights movement a very left leaning label and a negative reputation. Currently,
many of the protests being organized by students are focused on creating joyful and fun
protests that would not seem appropriate to shut down with violence in order to wipe away the
stigma of protests from the past decades (Alywin). Amnesty in Chile is also fighting to gain a
positive and well known reputation. Students working with Amnesty Chile have noted that,
“there is a difference between AI worldwide and Chile. In the world, they are much more well
known and respected (Bertschik).” This is partially due to the already politically engaged youth.
Increasingly in high schools and universities, many of the students will get involved with their
student governments, but unlike students governments in the United States, these groups plan
protests to make quality education available to all along with the usual democratic elections.
Choosing Campaigns: International versus Domestic Focus
In Nepal, the main campaigns are currently about migrant workers, sexual and
reproductive rights, and demand dignity (Budhathoki). The campaigns chosen by AI Nepal and
student groups are influenced by a country wide focus and belief in the right to education, the
right to health, the right to information, and the right to marry (Joshi et al.). Amnesty’s recent
research report launch discussed the issue of uterin prolapse. This is a physical issue for
women where their uterus begins to fall out of the vagina and can become a painful and deadly
health hazard. Working on uterin prolapse is an issue very specific to Nepal. The campaign is
very controversial because it has a clear focus on health rights rather than civil and political
rights as most Amnesty campaigns are focused on. Amnesty Nepal believes that uterin prolapse
is a campaign Amnesty should work on because it is directly linked to gender discrimination and
the government does not yet have regulations to address this issue yet (Amnesty). During the
report launch, there were tensions and criticisms for working on this issue because the
international support that Amnesty focuses on is not enough to solve the problem. The support
for this problem has to come from within Nepal and that is not something Amnesty usually
facilitates with its funding. In addition to this campaign, AI Nepal also works on raising
awareness for those disappeared by the Maoists during the previous civil war, discrimination of
women, and other health concerns including AIDs awareness. The focus on campaigns that are
solvable or fixable through youth education and informations such as health and gender are the
ones Nepal chooses to focus on at this time. It is my assumption that this is due to the
unproductive nature of legal reform in Nepal when the legal structure has no method of
implementation at this time.

8. 8
Although there is no Amnesty in Jordan, there were a few commentaries made during
my interviews that informed me as to what campaigns are really a focus in Jordan. Through the
direction of the monarchy, students very much focus on volunteerism and helping through
monetary terms. This limits much of the involvement in Jordan to the upper class, and does not
allow for the youth to take initiatives and creative activism on behalf of a cause they choose.
The campaigns are limited to issues that the government deems as acceptable to work on, as
well as opportunities to help with issues abroad concerning health and medical issues.
The international campaigns Chile has chosen to focus on in 2014-2015 are My Body
My Rights and the Stop Torture campaign (Carmona). Although these are international
campaigns, they break down into smaller, domestic campaigns. One of such campaign is a
legal reform to change police protocol when maintaining order during protests and mobilization.
Currently, this information is kept private, and Amnesty believes this information is the property
of the public (Carmona). Similarly to Nepal, AI Chile has a focus on reparations and justice for
those disappeared during the Pinochet dictatorship (Bertschik). In addition to these issues, they
have a focus on reforming the strict abortion laws, and working on LGBT issues. This can be
seen through the teams that AI Chile is broken up into including migration, sexual diversity,
priority countries, and education in Human Rights. Many of the programs work on specifically
reforming laws or getting legal retribution for losses within Chile.
One of the choices each Amnesty headquarters must make is what domestic issues to
work on and what international issues to work on. Amnesty in the United States has found
difficulties with balancing the two focusing much of its energy on international campaigns. In
comparison, many of the groups I visited in these three countries focus almost solely on
domestic issues and only peripherally focus on international issues. When asked to speak on
choosing between international and domestic issues, Nepalese activist Pasang Sherpa noted,
“It is much harder to do issues abroad because people don’t connect. They don’t have the
emotional attachment. But I think telling a specific story of a specific other person helps [bridge
that connection] and we are teaching the importance of humanity and human responsibility.”
Other Nepal groups noted that focusing on domestic issues, “makes us smile because we are a
part of helping our country,” and “we can give them our moral support with signature but we
have our own problems” (Joshi et al.). Similarly, Chilean Coordinator of Activism, Pamela
Carmona, agrees that, “[m]ost of the time, they choose to do campaigns that focus on Chilean
laws they can influence. If they do choose an international campaign, it is mostly for Mexico and
Columbia because those two country are more receptive to Chile who is known for its diplomacy
in Latin America.” Carmona believes, “international solidarity is vital, but it is very difficult

9. 9
because people don’t care. That’s why keeping the campaigns at least in Latin America makes
things seem relevant.” A similar theme is addressed in all the Amnesty chapters I have had the
opportunity to talk to during my work in Illinois.
Amnesty USA has been working on adjusting their international versus domestic focuses
in recent campaigns that have been sent out to Amnesty USA leaders. This includes the
Amnesty 2014 Pride Tool kit to address the issue of LGBT rights. The campaign highlights one
law, ENDA, in the US that needs backing and one International case that needs international
support in order to put pressure on authorities not to violently suppress the marches for LGBT
rights in Belgrade. It would benefit all Amnesty headquarters to take the statements from the
students into considerations when creating and packaging campaigns because the same issues
are prevalent in every chapter, and addressing one domestic issue and one international issues
would be the best way to combat this aversion to international politics and focus on domestic
policy while still creating international solidarity.
How does the basic structure enhances or not enhance student involvement?
Across my research, the most effective way to engage youth is to get them engaged
within their own school. Having student led school groups has been fairly successful in
continuously engaging youth and should be strived for by those sections that do not have
chapters in their high schools or colleges. Activists Roshan Budhathoki noted that, “[i]n school,
it is easy because you come to school everyday and you see and talk to them everyday even
just for five min. And that time is a chance to inspire them to get involved.” Dwaipayan Regmi
highlighted the necessity of, “[g]et[ing] into the high school and teach[ing] them about what the
UDHR is.” Human Rights groups that failed to use youth engagement were shown to be able to
make respectable policy change, but limited cultural change and put a great risk to their
sustainability (Various). A common rule to follow if one does engage students is to now host any
events near or during exam times.
Nepal has many structural frameworks in place to increase and sustain the validity of
Amnesty’s work. This includes that groups are required to have 50 members in order to be
considered as a legitimate group and have a youth coordinator. All the youths involved who are
part of Amnesty are dues paying members paying a minimum of 75 rupees per member.
However, for many student groups, the funding allocated by AI Nepal is not enough to create
their posters and host their events so the students will charge 100-200 rupees extra per person
in order to raise funds to create their campaigns (Regmi, AI Nepal). In order to help structure
student groups, AI Nepal has made strict positions for the students groups. Before this, there

10. 10
was only a President and a Vice President but now there are seven different titles all serving
two year terms on the board. After the first year of serving, the group decides who will be voted
in and those individuals shadow the current board for a year until they replace them (Regmi).
The youth leaders can also get support from the five students on the Youth Network Advisory
Panel. They do not have Student Activist Coordinators like the United States because Nepal is
small enough that adding this position would add too many leaders (Regmi). The students are
given specific campaigns that they are required to do signature and informational events on.
This limits how students are able to shape their campaigns. Some students have wanted to
work on the Sri Lanka campaigns organized by USA member Jim McDonald, however, given
that AI Nepal does not spend resources on these campaigns, the events are a lot less effective
and the groups do not have incentives to continue with these events. There is also a large
difference between how members are measured in Nepal versus the United States. In Nepal, if
a student pays dues, they are considered a member, whereas in the United states, there are
many youth who do not pay the dues but are considered members. I realized this when I was
getting distorted figures of membership of 200-300 members in one school. For these groups,
although that many students pay membership to Amnesty, only about 5-20 students are actually
active members of the student groups (Joshi et al., Razen). The reason I believe these groups
are more effective structurally is because they include multiple schools in one youth network in
order to promote collaboration and make the groups larger. The other strong asset AI Nepal
contributes to the youth that even the US cannot compare to is trainings. AI Nepal has about 5-6
informational trainings a year that are themed to different campaigns like My Body, My Rights.
Groups are allowed to send two students for every one hundred members they have. These
students come back and educate their group on the issue and begin to plan the campaign
(Budhathoki). These trainings, such as the Youthmila, are able to inspire students and keep
them involved. Pasang Sherpa praised the Youthmila stating, “I was not so concerned about
HR, but this taught me how to run campaigns and why we do our campaigns. Then I shared info
with my friends. The question for me became how to bring a youth network into existence.” If we
are able to give more trainings and educational tools to students, this will greatly increase
student engagement and education. Below, I have outlined how a successful student group at
Kathmandu University has structured their mission as a student group that I would propose to
be the mission for every Amnesty youth chapter.
Goals for AI Universities
1. Get members: At the beginning of the semester, we need to really focus on meeting new
people and motivation them to realize what opportunities they have as AI members. AI

11. 11
members leads other clubs in our school. You become familiar (friends) with people. We do
this by advertising what we have done, what Amnesty is, what are Youth Networks, and
what you get from being involved.
2. Trainings: In the first semester, we try and have 2-3 workshops and only those first year
members who are really involved get to go. They are usually on campaigns like My Body My
Rights. Because we have over 300 members, we get to send up to 6 from our network a
minimum of one boy and one girl. For every 100 students you get two members who can
attend the training. Occasionally the coordinator will go. In the second semester, we prep for
the Training of the Trainers. Here students get an introduction to what Human Rights are,
what campaigns we are working on, how do we run a campaign. The NYAP gets to teach a
bit. You really get to learn how the youth can make a difference. Then there is the
Youthmila, which literally translates to Youth Fate. Others get to present and share what
their group is doing and how others can implement the events that why put on.
3. Events and meetings: We try to do 3 signatures campaigns a year, a letter writing campaign,
have a training once a semester, and 3-4 out of the box ideas a year. We have about 4-5
meetings a month, but if there is no campaign we have no meeting. A different person
organizes each of the campaigns. Most of our events are at the beginning of the semester
because exams take up time at the end of the semester.
In Jordan, since there is no Amnesty structure, the one suggestion I received to help
engage students in university as to create a system of credits give out by the university for being
involved in Human Rights work. Currently at Yarmouk University, students are required to do 15
hours in different majors so having three hours to community work to introduce them to this
would educate individuals (Alhaija et al.). Similarly to Nepal, trainings and workshops through
universities have been an effective method of recruitment in other Human Rights groups as well
(Aloun).
In Chile, they do not specifically have groups at Universities or even for sections of
Universities. Instead, they have working groups that students can be assigned to. These include
the activism group, migration, sexual diversity, priority countries and education in Human Rights
section. The Activism group is the only one that does not work on a specific topic but works to
help design and plan street activities. The Director of Campaigns receives all of the campaigns
from the International Secretariat and together with the Chile staff decides which campaigns are
appropriate for Chile. The groups receive their respective campaigns or work together if they
cross over and decide what actions they want to take. They map out the cost and put a request
in for the money they need. Because of funding AI Chile staff is very small and only includes

12. 12
about 12-15 people and the rest of the roles are filled by volunteers (Bertschik). Because most
of the funding comes from London, they are usually left with limited funds to actually create the
events they envision (Bertschik). The separate groups will generally have two hour weekly
meetings coordinated by student leaders. For example, the group on sexual minorities is
comprised of about 10 individuals. The meetings are led by Monse Das Sepulveda and about 5
usual attend to help plan the activities and help design the campaign (Bertschik). Asking new
members to help design campaign has proven very effective. This is why giving students the
leverage to design campaigns on their campus is vital. Trainings in Chile are exceptional,
hosting about one or two on international campaign. However, given the current reputation of
Amnesty and AI Chile’s resources, dividing the roles of responsibilities by activism group,
specific topic groups, cyber activists, specialists group, and the activist network is a great
utilization of resources and an effective way to keep people feeling committed to a specific topic.
I would encourage student groups to use this separation of responsibilities especially when it
comes to the activist network which is comprised of people who want to be a part of the
movement but cannot make meeting so they are only contacted for big events. Additionally,
every third tuesday of the month Amnesty Chile hosts a Welcoming Workshop to talk about
which activities they are hosting in the near future and to assign those who would like to be
involved to working committees (Carmona).
Creative Youth Initiated Engagement Strategies
Because students have so much that is taking their attention away from Human Rights
issues, many of the leaders involved in Human Rights campaigns focus on making Human
Rights seem fun. This is why I have included a list of the creative strategies youth have been
using to gain members. This way, other groups can use these successful platforms to initiate
campaigns at their respective universities.
By far, Nepal had some of the most uniquely creative strategies I have seen in students
groups to date. Ideas included:
• Speech, Debate, or Poetry competition on various campaigns between multiple schools. Each
school sends two students, and the best speech gets a medal, certificate, and a book that
deals with Human Rights. Usually these are hosted in honor of various holidays like
International Children’s Day. This way, at least two students become very educated on the
issue, and the students and parents watching get to educate themselves on the Human Rights
issues as well. (Joshi et al., Regmi, Sherpa)

13. 13
• Interaction Program where youth talk to people of top influence around an issue and they give
solutions to the individuals. It gives youth an opportunity to get involved with government
community leaders and inspire government actors to make further change.
• Marathon race or playoffs to encourage and attract the multitude of youth that really like
sports. Rampur Youth Network had over 100 students involved and had 30 more students
pledge to Amnesty. (Ankur)
• Flower campaign on Women’s Day were flowers are to every woman on behalf of Amnesty.
(Joshi et al.)
• T-shirt sales are effective because all college students love t-shirts. The group designs the
shirts, has them printed, and sells them for a three dollar profit to help fund their activities and
advertisements. (Joshi et al.)
• One Rupee campaign during the month of May which is Amnesty month, one rupee is
collected from every student and used for a better cause. Collectively, the money is used to
help fund scholarships for children workers to go to school for a year without working. (Joshi
et al.)
• Children’s Day clothes drive
• Freshman recruitment is key to continuing the movement and getting new energy onto your
team
• Consulting with a women’s organization in a rural area where we started a health campaign.
We go to the rural village about 4 hours from Kathmandu and distribute medicine from the
government and bring gynecologists there. We try to use the local radio there to advertise
what we are doing. (Joshi et al.)
• Online My Body My Rights campaign where you share a picture of yourself with a board that
describes your thoughts about your body. (Joshi et al.)
• Doing visual demonstration in the center of Kathmandu where it is visible
• Day of the Disappeared candle lighting and signature campaign
• Arial Act We that spell out words such as “Where are the disappeared?”
• Conduct meetings in open spaces with Amnesty t-shirts and flags. This at leasts gets people
to start asking questions about what is going on. (Joshi et al.)
• International AIDS day campaign where youth are handed fliers, exposed to posters, and
brought to presentations to expose them to causes and prevention of AIDS. (Budhathoki)
• Creating a radio show story of a boy who is in college, gets in an armed group, and how he
gets out of that. It makes students think about what enabled the character to get in and to get
out, it helps theme with starting community dialogue, and creates an engagement space for

14. 14
youth to get involved so they don’t feel like they are just being told not to join armed groups.
The students would then facilitate a discussion after listening to the story and they would get
to shape how the drama unfolded in the next episode. They use student media to show that
something else is possible (Mulmi)
• Seed grants for students who can come up with the most creative strategies for Peace
Transformation (Mulmi)
• Dohara impromptu karaoke where the two in conflict discuss their issues through these
personalized karaoke dialogues (Mulmi)
From what my research showed, Jordan had a lot more of a business and analytical
approach to Human Rights engagement. Many of the great ideas included trainings and
workshops rather than one day events. However, creativity was seen when looking at how youth
tried to change culture and confidence within their communities.
• Every semester students with talents gather to perform and are allowed to express what they
are feeling through these different mediums (Alhaija et al.)
• Flash mob of students wearing the same t-shrt in the street where they pose in a position of
violence. Students would then go around asking spectators how they feel about the situation,
how it can be prevented, and, if the student gives them a smile or laugh, they get an apple.
The key was getting TV coverage, being featured in university news, and online Scoops. Each
person had a 10 person team after that and each person had a specific part to play. This way,
the next time they see that person, they will smile and think about how to prevent the violent
situation. (Alhaija et al.)
• Painting houses for poor people, hosting a clothing drive, and hosting blood drives are
common ways for youth to engage in helping society (Alhaija et al.)
• Trainings where those participating had to show a presentation at the end of the training. For
those, the volunteers are normally 20-30 years old. One of these trainings gave her two weeks
to go volunteer in her community. They were trained on how to observe the government on
how they run elections and then they were required to publish reports on that. The trainings
have an open door policy so anyone who wants to volunteer can volunteer. The volunteers
don’t get paid, but transportation is paid for and you become a messenger for them to other
students. The next time, they will ask you to bring your friends or colleagues because they
want people to know their rights. (Aloun)
• International Training Experience where 11 different countries send three representatives
each to participate. Each talk about the same issues like women, labor laws, refugees. The

15. 15
goal is to make it a comparative training so you can compare the Middle East on these issues
to the other countries (Aloun)
• A group of secondary girls coming to a women’s center to take a workshop about self-
confidence and how to stand up for themselves and talk about any topic in front of others. A
lot of the girls return to the center to take more workshops related to different topics (Msallam)
• Innovation training hosted in Jeresh for three days where they try to make students into
innovators. The workshop goes from 8 am to 11 pm and the last day students present two
companies that have a problem and what the student would suggest as a solution to these
problems (Alhaija et al.)
In Chile, much of the creativity has been through the way the organizations are
structured in allowing students to feel important to the cause as well as the regularly creative
ideas that can be use for specific events.
• Advertising at demonstration in Plaza Italia gives an opportunity to speak to protesters there.
Not only will the students already be interested in the issue, but because the demonstrations
usually start late, they want to talk (Bertschik)
• Hosting a 1,000 person debate to decide which actions should be taken to promote a cause
everyone at the discussion believes in. It allows for participation, arguments, and the practice
of collaboration (Alywin)
• Thriller flash mob where a huge group of students were dancing thriller and dressing up in
front of the government palace.
• We shouldn't highlight the leaders because the leaders are a problem to the movement.
Leaders are important, but it is more important that students don't delegate their decisions to
their leaders, but that we get there together. For this reason, progress is slower, but we get
there together (Alywin)
• Frequent, formal, democratic elections to exercise democracy encourages continued exercise
of the democratic process, and harbors a skill of politically solving problems together through
democracy (Alywin)
I was only able to talk to a few students in the US to discuss what strategies they use,
however, I wished to include them in my research because they are an inspiration when it
comes to youth event planning.
• Mock arrest, and mock execution where students can involved a police officer and the Dean to
come in and arrest a student. After being read their Miranda rights, a public announcement is
made that a trial and execution will follow in the courtyard (Yacoob)

16. 16
• JAmnesty is where students host a multitude of bands and between songs or acts the
students get informed on a selected Human Rights issue. There are places to show support
with your signature and write letters while listening to music as well (Yacoob)
• AmnesTea partnered with ReligiosiTea is an event where students can sit around in a relaxed
environment to discuss how religion and Human Rights cross over and work together.
IV. Incentives, Inspiration, and Motivation
What unique appeals does Amnesty or other respective Human Rights organization have that
has encouraged these student leaders to join? What has been affective in helping other
members join?
According to the students I have interviewed, the most desirable and unique appeals of
Amnesty in comparison to other Human Rights organizations is that the brand names brings a
credibility familiarity to all of the campaigns worked on, Amnesty dedication to multiplying
voices, the international shared funding to help support chapters with lower funds, its non-
violent letter writing strategy, the leadership opportunities, the clear roles and responsibilities
that comes with Amnesty, and, of course, the family.
Amnesty credibility and familiarity is something countless students stated as the big
appeal of Amnesty. In Nepal, activist Dwaipayan Regmi stated that, “everyone accepts Amnesty
facts as true” (Regmi). Because of Amnesty’s credibility, students do not have to convince
people that their information is correct and verified. They can focus more on simply informing. In
the Rampur Youth Network, individuals were so familiar with Amnesty’s acronym, AI, that at one
point, there was a lecture called Lifestyles and AI at a school and everyone mistook it for
Amnesty International because that is what they knew. People were really confused when the
lecture was about Lifestyles and Artificial Insemination (Balga et al.). Being able to achieve this
familiarity within networks allows for smoother campaigns, less time spent on defending the
organization, and more time informing the people. Part of the reason this is so effective is
because of Amnesty politically neutral stance. Backing Human Rights rather than a particular
political party attracts many youths that desire to make a change but not be roped into the
drudgery of politics.
Amnesty’s role in multiplying unheard voices was also noted as an inspiration to
dedicating time and energy to Amnesty. Statements such as, “one drop, one drop, big ocean”
and “AI matches and raises voices” (Budhathoki, Regmi) defend Amnesty’s core ideal of

17. 17
creating a voice for those who are being denied theirs. Within the leaders I spoke to there is an
strong belief that this methodology is important and vital to enhancing a global community.
The international shared funding was also a factor of importance. In Nepal, 10% of the
funds were from Nepal members and the rest was funded by London (Regmi). In Chile,
Amnesty International Norway donated $5,000 in order for AI Chile work on an Education,
Empowerment and Justice campaign focusing on reaching young people to teach them about
sexual and reproductive rights. In this way, Amnesty is fully utilizing the international funding it
received to properly support those countries where Amnesty is not as prevalent or the countries
capital is not complimentary to the funding needed. This encourages even lower income
countries to participate in defending their own Human Rights rather than solely relying on
London to come in and say what is necessary.
AI uses the unique concept of letter wiring. It is non-violent. And in Nepal, citizens
frequently address their concerns to government authorities but through methods of violence
and strikes that affect the whole community. In this way, Amnesty give a public and non-violent
platform for people to address their concerns and raise their voices (Sherpa). The letter writing
method was continuously praised as something that works when thousands come together, a
method of reform that has power, and something that bring people together (Balga et al.,
Budhathoki, Regmi). In this way, the letter writing campaigns which started Amnesty continue to
bring compassion, and power to the movement and the students do realize this.
As was evidenced in the previous sections, leadership opportunities are a key asset in
appealing to youth. Amnesty gives a unique opportunity to transform campaigns and strategies
and experiment with organizing leadership. Amir Joshi decided to join Amnesty when he
realized that the leadership positions in the Red Cross organizations were planned out and well-
functioning. The flexibility and creativity he could use to improve the Amnesty chapter at his
school encouraged him to join and led to him helping create one of the most innovative chapters
in Nepal. There is a evident way to progress to leadership from coming to events, to joining
meeting, to helping plan events, and then being the person who walks around with Amnesty
papers at all times. (Sherpa). Having the opportunity to feel empowered and important is one
unique aspect of Amnesty that attracts youth.
Amnesty chapters that have a clear definition of what responsibilities are required of
each position create a sense of duty and give a mission to those unsure of what they should do.
Amnesty has already or is on its way to defining all of its leadership roles and creating a special
responsibility for each of the roles. This is unique because the roles are defined by goals and
allow for freedom and flexibility on how one chooses to accomplish those goals. This also

18. 18
translates to having specific accomplishments on your resume and certificates that validate your
work for Amnesty. In Nepal, this encourages many to join because the more certificates a
student collects, the higher your chances of being allowed to study in schools abroad. This is
why these specific roles and placards of accomplishments must be continued.
The family, or as I and many of my friends have lovingly coined it, the FAmnesty, is a
key unique quality of the Amnesty brand in Human Rights youth work. Every single individual I
talked to stressed how inspired they were by the people who they are surrounded by in
Amnesty. Each of the individuals stressed how Amnesty allowed them to do something for
someone else, to reach peace, to resolve conflicts, and to feel like you are making change
(Sherpa, Regmi, Joshi et al.). When one joins an Amnesty youth network, they are adopted into
a sort of fraternity or religious following that wants to create a better world. This is a key factor of
why some Amnesty chapters work and others don’t. Creating a sense of family is created
through the qualities listed above and making everyone feel welcomed. If a chapter fails to do
this, it creates animosity within the group and discourages many members from continuing
participation (Kinns, Jones).
V. Reforms
What reforms should Amnesty allow for in order to address certain concerns from its members?
Sometimes the best ideas for creating a better network can come from those who give
up their time for free. While talking to the students, I wanted to give a platform to suggest new
ideas to help create better solidarity and better work amongst youth.
For starters, Amnesty Chile should continue to build its student movement. The best way
of doing this is to begin building their individual university groups that can being to function as
separate entities and reach more individuals. In order to create incentive for a student to build
an Amnesty chapter at their school, official volunteer positions or internship positions should be
allotted for every university. By using the youth volunteers you currently have to scout the
universities for a dedicated candidate or group, they can begin to guide the university leaders in
their mission and goals. If the leaders do a good job, they should receive a recommendation
letter that they can send along with their applications and have a defined title to put on their
resume.
Although the youth have been fairly strong in their own networks, they do not feel a part
of the global community. When discussing this issue with Dwaipayan Regmi we decided it
would be beneficial if Amnesty youth chapters were matched with Amnesty chapters outside of

19. 19
their countries. This would help create support, accountability, and stimulate creativity among
the groups. This would be a plan that is easily implemented and strengthens the networking
appeal of Amnesty.
Having a specific description and layout for the responsibilities of university groups is
ideal to keeping students accountable and on task. Framing this around the outlined goals that
Kathmandu University has would be an ideal for every university to strive to. Other than sharing
this outline of responsibilities, sending out group starter kits as has been done in the United
States has proven to be motivational and effective at empowering and energizing students to
create their own movements.
Amnesty USA should also give importance and priority to gaining monetary members.
Although this is not the goal, being able to say that your campus has 200 Amnesty dues paying
members is a way to advertise and begin to make people feel responsible towards the university
chapter. If students begin to learn when they are younger to priorities Human Rights work, they
will search out the opportunities themselves rather than Amnesty sending out more resources to
attain members.
In addition to the large focus on university groups, there is a great importance in
collegiate members motivating and training high school members. The earlier Amnesty is able
to reach out to students, the more likely students will be involved going further in life.
Combining international campaigns with local campaigns is vital to keeping Amnesty
intentionally international framework of support relevant to the organization. If countries continue
to only focus on domestic campaigns, the international movement will cease to be important. If
the groups choose to only work on international issues, Amnesty will begin to lose supporters
and be putting too much effort into policies that are much harder to change outside of the
borders.

20. 20
Bibliography
AIUSA LGBT Human Rights Coordination Group. 2014 Pride Toolkit. Online. Accessed April 19,
2014.
Akramawi, Rima. Interviewed by author. Written notes. Amman, Jordan. March 25, 2014.
Alhaija, Hala abu, Amani Aloutom, Razan al Radaydh, Mohamed Anan, Roqaya Smadi, and
Raed Mo’ad. Interviwed by author. Written notes. Irbid, Jordan. March 27, 2014.
Aloun, Dema. Interviewed by author. Written notes. Amman, Jordan. March 25, 2014.
Alywin, Sebastian. “Comparative Discussion on Student Activism.” Lecture, Q&A, and interview
by IHP Human Rights class and author. Written notes. Santiago, Chile. April 04, 2014.
Amnesty International (2014). My Body My Rights Research Report Launch.
Auerbach, Elise. E-mail message to author. April 07, 2014.
Balga, Jamil Alexander, Sujog Giri, Amir Joshi, Jayanti Joshi, Rejendra Konga, Rashmita Limtu,
Apekshya Niraula, Ankur Poudel, Dwaipayan Regmi, and Pasang Sherpa. Interviwed by
author. Written notes. Kathmandu, Nepal. February 20, 2014.
Bertschik, Sara. Interviewed by author. Tape recording. Santiago, Chile. April 06, 2014.
Budhathoki, Roshan. Interviewed by author. Tape recording. Kathmandu, Nepal. February 14,
2014.
Carmona, Pamela. Interviewed by author. Written notes. Santiago, Chile. Monday 21, 2014.
Jones, Mary. Interviewed by author. Written notes. New York, New York. January 20, 2014.
Joshi, Amir, Nirajan Kumar Piya, Dhiraj Neupane, and Ramesh Tiwari. Interviewed by author.
Tape recording. Kathmandu, Nepal. February 21, 2014.
Kinns, Tricia. Interviewed by author. Written notes. New York, New York. January 27, 2014.
Msallam, Rami. Interviewed by author. Written responses. Amman, Jordan. March 16, 2014.
Mulmi, Rajendra. “Search for Common Ground.” Lecture and Q&A Session, SIT Human Rights
International Honors Program, Kathmandu, Nepal. February 17, 2014.
Regmi, Dwaipayan and Smjhana Gisi. Interviewed by author. Tape recording. Kathmandu,
Nepal. February 15, 2014.

21. 21
Sepulveda, Monse Das. Interviewed by author. Written notes. Santiago, Chile. April 04, 2014.
Sherpa, Pasang. Interviewed by author. Written notes. Kathmandu, Nepal. February 20th, 2014.
Various staff members. “Blue Diamond Society of Nepal.” Lecture and Q&A Session, SIT
Human Rights International Honors Program, Kathmandu, Nepal. February 18, 2014.
Yacoob, Aquib. Various conversations. January, February, March, April 2014.