Timo Muller
of Germany began a personal initiative to ride an epic, 20,000km
bicycle trip from his homeland to Australia, posting news and photos of
his trip online to raise awareness and fundraise. Under the sponsorship
of Amnesty International, Muller was able to generate 23, 056 euros
(32,570 US dollars) for the organization, exceeding his goal of a euro
per kilometer, and to highlight human rights concerns in the
communities he passed through to a global audience. His success
portrays the ability for an individual to turn a personal test of
endurance into a grassroots fundraising and awareness building
initiative.

In 2006, a group of Israeli and Jordanian youth filmed and produced the movie SOUR: Skateboarding for Peace in the Middle East. This autonomous group of youth put their skateboarding talent to use in their attempt to create dialogue among youth of different cultures who all had one thing in common: their passion for skateboarding. With the slogan, "Doing the things you love, with the people you are not supposed to like," these youth undermine the contemporary political atmosphere between Israel and its neighboring Arab states, and put forth a different description about the possibilities of peace in the region. 

Exemplifying the simple strategy of doing what you love and what you are good at for the causes you support, these youth have arguably made a much greater impace on the global extreme sports community than any political discussion has. Not only have they produced this initiative on their own, they have done so with remarkable artistic quality as the film received remarkable attention and positive reviews from numerous film festivals, both in the USA and abroad.

The use of humor in human rights activism is no new phenomenon with examples of it dating back to Norwegian popular resistance in World War II. Ranging from thought-provoking to humiliating, comical to satirical, humor can be manifested in such a multitude of ways that it has often been the venue of action for many human rights practitioners. Although at first thought it may seem that organizations using humor in their advocacy are doing so only for attention and publicity, this is certainly not true. The experiences of numerous years of humor have brought a deeper understanding of the effects it can have in advocacy.

Related New Tactics Resources

Related Groups: 

Advocates of Humor

Shadow reports,
also referred to as alternative or parallel reports, are documents
submitted by NGO’s to international treaty body organizations which
supplement and challenge the periodic country reports that governments
are required to submit as a party to the treaty. The findings of treaty
bodies, such as the Committee for the Convention of the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW), are significantly influential to the development of human
rights in the respective member states. Through shadow reports, NGO’s
can incorporate themselves into this evaluation process, strengthening
and expanding their cause.