Asia Video Advocacy Project

The Asia Video Advocacy Project has facilitated the strategic and sustainable use of video in community-based and regional movements to challenge and change policies and projects driving forced displacement in Asia.  The Project included three components from 2008-2010: a Workshop, Network and Seed Fund. The Video Advocacy Workshop The Video Advocacy Workshop (VAW) was the inaugural event of the Asia Video Advocacy Project.  IAP, WITNESS, EarthRights International, Komas, and Chiang Mai University’s Unit for Social and Environmental Research convened this Workshop for displacement activists in Chiang Mai, Thailand in September 2008.  The VAW brought together a diverse and dynamic group of 15 activists from nine countries: Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, plus a facilitation team with members from the US, UK, Malaysia, Thailand, and India! Check out a video blog from the VAW on the WITNESS Hub. Watch completed videos from graduates of the Video Advocacy Workshop! During the workshop participants learned how to design and execute a strategic action plan to integrate video into their campaign work for development justice.  The workshop featured the internationally acclaimed methodology of WITNESS, the preeminent organization that trains human rights advocates and organizations globally in the use of video advocacy as a complementary tool in human rights campaigns. The Video Advocacy Network and Seed Fund In the year and half following the VAW, each graduate worked to complete and distribute their advocacy video to their target audience.  The Video Advocacy Network and Seed Fund provided graduates with additional support to make this happen. The Video Advocacy Network of individuals and popular communications organizations in the region, now years after the training, continues to facilitate ongoing communication among graduates and other video activists internationally who are committed to using video in their human rights campaigns.  The Video Advocacy Seed Fund enabled highly-motivated VAW graduates to apply for small grants to complete and distribute their advocacy videos.  Check out graduates completed videos here!