One Minute Voices from Pittsburgh

2009 is the 20th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). The CRC is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights – civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights. It was adopted by the United Nations in 1989 when world leaders felt that children needed a specific convention since their rights were so often overlooked. The CRC spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere should have: • The right to survival • The right to develop to the fullest • The right to be protected from harmful influences, abuse, and exploitation • The right to participate fully in family, cultural, and social life In honor of the 20th anniversary of this important document UNICEF is using its oneminutesjr initiative to get perspectives from young people around the world. The videos by the children of Pittsburgh through the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh will serve as the exclusive voice from the United States. The videos will be featured in local public places, but will also raise the world’s awareness of Pittsburgh and its youth. Additionally, the videos will be featured on UNICEF’s website on the 20th anniversary of the CRC. The top videos will be selected for inclusion on the Top CRC oneminutesjr compilation that will be distributed to all UNICEF offices and made available to broadcasters around the world.
The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and UNICEF will collaborate on the creation of a youth video project. This project will feature the video work of 20 Pittsburgh youth through the production of oneminutesjr. videos. Oneminutesjr videos are sixty-second videos made by young people between the ages of 12 and 20 from all over the world. One Minute Voices from Pittsburgh will be the exclusive American voice of the 20th anniversary of the CRC.

One Minute Voices from Pittsburgh gives young people, especially those who are under-privileged, the opportunity to have their voices heard and to share their ideas, dreams, fascinations, anxieties, and viewpoints of the world.

The creative and production processes equip the young filmmakers with the fundamental skill of self-expression that is needed to fully participate in society. Through a five-day workshop, visual artists work with a group of young people recruited by the Children’s Museum through the Museum’s after-school youth programs to:

• teach them basic camera and production skills
• develop their idea and film
• edit and produce each participant’s one-minute final film

The sixty second videos are positive and powerful examples of the way visual arts integrated with technology work as a communication tool across cultural, geographic, and national borders.