Asking your teacher for a few minutes before class begins to give a presentation on Amnesty International is a great way to get people involved in your group.
Things You Should Include in Your Speech:
HUMAN RIGHTS
- What are human rights? Give examples. They are inalienable, indivisible, and interdependent
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights — its history, meaning, and what it contains
- Other examples of human rights documents (Convention Against Torture, Convention on the Rights of a Child)
- Commitment of governments to respect human rights
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
- How do governments violate human rights?
- How do non-state actors violate human rights?
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
- History
- Mandate
- How we function
- Our characteristics: effective, impartial, diverse, unrelenting, independent, democratic, self-governing, accurate, and reliable
PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT
- Can one person make a difference
- Does Amnesty work?
- How will joining Amnesty contribute to human rights work?
- Take Action Challenge: bring out a current Amnesty action or petition
