Youth teams, festival goers and local artists learned their human rights today, as they wielded paint brushes and together created a 50-foot long mural during the annual arts festival in Alexandria, Virginia. Illustrating each of the thirty articles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the mural will be seen for the next two years by passers-by in the Del Rey community.

Niko Papaheraklis, President of the Washington, DC Chapter of Youth for Human Rights, delivered a presentation about human rights to participating youth teams before the festival. "We've tried to instill in them that it's not just the activity of painting but what the painting communicates,” says Papaheraklis. “As time goes on, they'll see it every day as part of their community. For them, doing this—having fun painting—they're exercising their human rights.” In other words, festival goers who participated in creating the mural got first-hand experience exercising human right number 19—Freedom of Expression.

Youth for Human Rights International educates youth and adults about their fundamental human rights, both in the classroom and in non-traditional educational settings, reaching people from diverse backgrounds with materials which appeal across generations. YHRI activities to promote human rights education have included walk-a-thons, sponsorship of race cars, events for youth groups and orphanages as well as benefit concerts in cities throughout the world.

By raising awareness of human rights through all means—from conferences and workshops to hip-hop and dancing—this message has reached 600 million people around the world.