Introduction
Introducing resources by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe including a guide, How to Message on Human Rights: A Communications Guide for Organisations Promoting Human Rights, and related course.
These resources are for organisations in the human rights sector that want to communicate more effectively with the public to build support for human rights-related causes. This includes civil society organisations, foundations, international organisations and national bodies promoting human rights.
How to Message on Human Rights: A Communications Guide for Organisations Promoting Human Rights
The guide is divided into three parts:
- Part One sets out 4 general rules for how to talk about human rights.
- Rule 1: Explain what rights bring to the lives of your audience.
- Rule 2: Explain who is doing what and why to cause the problem.
- Rule 3: Neutralise your opponents’ messages by exposing their malign motives.
- Rule 4: Emphasise what you want things to look like and how your solutions deliver that.
- Part Two outlines how to structure a persuasive message.
- Values
- Problem
- Solution
- Examples
- Part Three offers guidance on what kinds of visual materials to use when delivering your message over social media.
- Images
- Videos
- Humour
The guide draws heavily on the work of Anat Shenker-Osorio of ASO Communications on various human rights and social justice causes and related projects, such as We Make The Future. Much of the advice in this guide uses or adapts messages tested by these organisations in the USA. However, users can only be sure that these messages are effective by testing them in their national context and adjusting them as necessary.
Guide Excerpts
Access Full Guide
How to Message on Human Rights Course
The How to Message on Human Rights Course is a standalone crash course on how to communicate around human rights issues. It will introduce you to some basic rules you can apply to talk about human rights-related causes more persuasively with a public audience. We will flag common communications habits that are working against you, explain why, and outline what to do instead. You will also learn what goes into a persuasive message and what structure you should follow.
The course content is delivered through a series of short videos, with additional guidance and examples in text, as well as quizzes you can work through to check how much you’ve learnt. Each unit has a video of roughly 5 minutes in length, followed by a short quiz on the content of that unit, meaning each unit can be completed carefully in roughly 10-15 minutes, and the entire course in roughly one hour. You will receive a diploma certifying your training within one month of completing the course.
In addition, the Civil Liberties Union for Europe also offers a 7-module e-learning messaging course called ‘Messaging Course for Campaigners to Grow Support for Their Causes’ on their Liberties’ knowledge hub.
Related Messaging Guide
‘How to message on the rights of people from marginalised groups’
The guide:
- Highlights the most common messaging mistakes you might be making when talking to a public audience,
- Explains why these bad habits don’t work or even backfire and
- Tells you what to do instead.
