Lowe teams with UN Human Rights commission to celebrate "humanity's birthday"

The 'Celebrate human right's day' campaign represents the first time the UN human rights office has used social media to promote the annual celebration of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. It was launched yesterday in Geneva, by Navi Pillay, UN Commissioner for Human Rights, and Tony Wright, global chairmaon for Lowe.

The campaign offers users of Facebook and other social media networks the chance to make a birthday wish for "humanity", with each option connected to one of the 30 articles in the universal declaration. From "We are all free and equal (#1) " to "Access to justice for all (#8)", these articles offer the world a benchmark standard that all governments should strive for. The campaign, fraturing a cake with 30 slices and the opportunity to wish, share, and even blow out candles, can be found at www. celebratehumanrights.org, as well as on social media.

Wright told Campaign that Lowe's relationship with the UN human rights office was a new one, but he hopes the campaign will continue to be used and refreshed for future years. He says it was designed to create an audience for the themes and ideas behind Human Rights Day, beyond the government and non-government organisations working directly in the field. "Our job was to make this feel more human and more accessible," he said.

Development of the campaign was hampered by some difficult deadlines. It began with an internal competition from all agencies within Lowe and Partners, with the Bangkok office's ideas taken on as a base. But, he said, all groups worked together well to come up with the final executions.

"The UN Human Rights team’s decision to leverage digital and social media reflects their understanding of how vital the internet’s influence is and they are embracing its power – reminding us to get involved and stay involved," he said. "We are very proud to work with them on this campaign.”

Pillay says he was excited about making what she calls "a beautiful text" accessible and engaging for a much wider audience around the world. "The campaign’s starting point is to encourage as many people as possible to read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," she said. "“The aim is to get more people to realise they have internationally recognised human rights, and to celebrate that fact, to get excited about it. We are also trying to get across the idea that anyone can, in their own way, be a human rights defender."