Human Rights Day: A Viral Video for Human Rights

In honor of Human Rights Day, IREX is pleased to share the story of how four Jordanian women joined efforts to combat verbal abuse with the help of new media.

Using a glass of clear water as a symbol of a Jordanian woman and ink drops as the cumulative effect of verbal abuse on a person over time, a small group of activists created a powerful video for human rights. It was eventually picked up by the news website khaberni.com and viewed more than 8,000 times. More importantly, the video sparked the conversation the women sought, with colleagues throughout the country commenting on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other media.

When activists Haya al Ramahi, Samah Masoud, Reem Abdeen and Diana Habashneh signed up for a digital filmmaking workshop, they had little idea of what a viral video entails. All they knew was they wanted to spread a message and spark a discussion about an issue important to them. With zero budget, the women used materials in the room to build a set. A glass, ink, a cardboard box and a flash drive loaded with royalty-free music were all that was available. In just three takes and an hour and a half of editing, the group produced a simple yet effective video to deliver their message. As they used their Facebook and Twitter accounts to share the video with friends and colleagues, it began to snowball through the Internet.

"In my work at the Justice Center for Legal Aid, I meet people who can’t protect their rights. Children, women and vulnerable people are often abused and exploited and have no voice to speak for them,” says co-producer Reem Abdeen. "I never thought that viral videos would be something we would use, but to everyone's surprise, it turns out to be one of the most effective tools we have."

The concept of viral videos is still very new to the Middle East. Although public service announcements (PSAs) are common on television, few of the production houses in the region have expertise in using the Internet to help a video go viral. Recently IREX partnered with the Adaleh Center for Human Rights, a Jordanian NGO, to organize a workshop in digital filmmaking for a group of 20 young activists. The participants, who represented a variety of organizations across Jordan, spent the first day discussing effective messaging and script-writing and listening to panelists talk about digital filmmaking. They also viewed public service announcements (PSAs) and discussed what made them effective or ineffective. On the second day, participants picked up video cameras for the first time and learned by doing, shooting and editing their own PSAs.

As part of the Social Media | Social Action program funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative, IREX is helping civil society organizations in Jordan and across the region build skills and master new media to further their missions. When organizations learn how to use social media effectively, stakeholders become active participants in the process of disseminating information and engage broader audiences.