Civic Engagement and Student Activism: What Can I Do To Make Lithuania More Inclusive?
Second Annual National Human Rights Forum
Multimedia Contest
Contest Dates: October 1-October 31
The U.S. Embassy in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Youth and Children Center and the Schoolchildren Union of Lithuania invites all students from grades 9-12 to participate in a human rights-focused multimedia contest. The winners will be students who can best share, through different multimedia medium, the importance of civic engagement to address human rights issues in Lithuania. This is a chance to express your personal views and experiences with a hand-drawn or digital comic strip, a 3 minute video, a 3 minute animated short clip, a painting, or other visual medium.
Personnel from the U.S. Embassy and the Human Rights Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will evaluate the multimedia submissions. Evaluators will judge the submissions based on content and your ability to express your ideas, opinions, and insights. If your submission uses words, they must be in English, but please note that you will not be judged on your English level, grammar, or spelling skills. We encourage everyone to participate and share their personal stories or present creative ideas about human rights.
Finalists will be selected and invited to participate in the second annual National Human Rights Forum in Vilnius on December 10 where the winners will be announced at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania to mark International Human Rights Day. You must email your submission to armonaityteg@state.gov using subject line “UDHR Contest 2019” by midnight on October 31. You will receive an email confirming the successful submission of your entry.
Prompt
Your piece should show how important you think human rights are, and should motivate your peers to be more engaged with the issues you care about. You should share your thoughts on how you and others can be more active in raising awareness about human rights issues in Lithuania.
To get started, think about a human rights issue that you care about (disability rights, LGBT rights, immigrant rights, refugee rights, minority rights, anti-bullying, suicide prevention, human trafficking, women issues, etc.) Once you have an issue you care about, think about what you can do in your community to help people understand this issue, and the importance of living in a diverse and welcoming community. Then take your idea and present it visually – make a short video (either a documentary or a drama), create a comic strip or a chapter from a graphic novel, use tools to make an animated short clip, paint a picture or mural, or come up with any other idea to visually present the issue you care about. When thinking about creating your submission, consider some of the questions below. For inspiration check out www.manoteises.lt
- Where has Lithuanian society made the most progress on addressing human rights issues, and where should we continue to focus our attention?
- What can students and young people do to make Lithuania a more inclusive, diverse, and welcoming place (think globally, but act locally)?
- How can one student have an impact on their community?
- What are some major human rights issues in Lithuania?
Evaluation Criteria
- The submission is clear, understandable, unique, and challenges the status quo.
- Examples of human rights issues are accurate, appropriate, and applicable to Lithuania.
- Connections are made between individual experience and possible solutions to human rights issues.
- Creative solutions, interesting insights, and unique perspectives are depicted.
- The visual form connects to civic engagement and student activism and provides examples of how to get engaged.
- The author provides strong ideas for civic engagement in Lithuania.
