Niki Lanik at Human Rights Summit 2009
What Niki had to say:
My name is Niki Lanik, I was born in Austria but now live in the UK and I am 22 years old. I have been promoting and raising awareness about the subject of Human Rights since December 2006. My website is www.nikilanik.com.
I’m a professional race car driver, racing Porsches around Europe. I decided I want to be able to use my position as a winning athlete to make the world a better place. For an athlete or musician I find this perfect as we have fans and followers, and many read about us, see us on TV etc. Therefore it’s a perfect combination - youngsters live their teens looking at role models - this is what we athletes, artists and musicians live for.
I decided to promote Human Rights awareness & education after having met LA-based film director Taron Lexton in London. He directed the “30 Rights, 30 Ads” DVD and “United”, which won many awards, one award coming from the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. These were in connection with the campaign Youth for Human Rights International.
I loved the videos so much as the message was so clear and easy to understand that I wanted more people, especially kids, to know about it. I personally had NO IDEA what “Human Rights” meant, and I even had less of an idea of what my 30 Rights were… until of course I read the booklet and watched the DVD. It struck me that it was an important and international problem and that many countries need this data. And so I got involved in promoting the Youth For Human Rights International logo on my race car and started handing out booklets and DVDs to fans and sponsors as well as playing the PSA’s at the race tracks. This of course created interest from the crowd as I was the only race driver who also promoted a good cause.
My races get aired to around 18,000,000 people per year through TV. As an athlete, the pressure is on. The more I win, the more my sponsors and the promotion for Human Rights benefit. “If you’re not first, you’re last!” is the slogan I go with, and yes that is from a racing movie called Talladega Nights with the comedian Will Ferrell…
I promote Human Rights because; I strongly believe every kid has the right to education; I believe that slavery should not exist and that everybody should have the same opportunities; I insist on a fair world were people of all races can unite and work together, live together and have no quarrels and wars; and much more. Every time I get asked that question I come up with a different answer, but the similarity is always that they reflect “peace and wellbeing of mankind”.
Human Rights education works, and changes countries and cultures; these are amazing results that I want to see every village, city and state around the world, poor or rich, black or white, to have Human Rights education as part of their educational curriculums.
The 2009 Youth for Human Rights International Summit, held in Geneva Switzerland, was the most amazing event I have ever attended. I have never ever in my whole life made such good friends within three days. There were around 25 youth delegates from 25 other countries ranging from Mexico to Congo, Vietnam to Jordan, Sri lanka to Austria, Morocco to Denmark, as well as the UK. I consider this group of excellent youth delegates literally my brothers and sisters, and it was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Thinking about them makes me get tears of joy in my eyes of how much I miss every single one of them already only after five days. The way I feel cannot be explained in words - you needed to be there. I am now arranging sponsored flights so I can visit each one of them around the world before the 2010 Summit and attend an event in each country as a guest speaker and help promote Human Rights together with them. I am extremely keen to see everybody’s home country! When I think of the summit and all my new amazing friends, it inspires me to do more and to get others to come onboard and like wise promote Human Rights. We will do it with everyone standing shoulder to shoulder in a coordinated push. Once you are onboard you carry a big responsibility.
All the youth delegates have now networked on Facebook and several other sites (such as http://yhribarbados.ning.com) so we can keep in touch, coordinate events, and help each other get through difficult times. We are now a team, an unstoppable team.
We have many ideas on how to promote and implement human rights education, and believe us, we are young, persistent, optimistic and tough, and most importantly a TEAM, and we will change this world into a better and safer place for us all, and more importantly our children and grandchildren.
See photos on Face Book: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=146387&id=530444501&l=2b5a839cbf
Tags: youth for human rights racing team niki education and a
