New Tactics in Human Rights Internship Program

New Tactics in Human Rights is honored to receive many internship requests from outstanding students every year.  We have created the following guidelines to make the selection process as objective and fair as possible.

Internship Description

The New Tactics staff recognizes the responsibility to make an internship a meaningful learning experience for the student.  At the same time, there are general administrative and clerical functions to be performed that keep the organization functioning.  Our goal is to provide a mix of projects the meets both goals.  Typical projects may include internet research, writing, summarizing online dialogues, creating PowerPoint presentations, attending meetings and typing up notes, creating excel spreadsheets, mailing handbooks, and editing written materials.  Specific projects will vary according to current priorities and the skill and experience set of the individual intern.

Materials to Submit

• Cover Letter – include the following:

  • The specific semester you want to intern
  • The requirements of the internship (number of hours, reporting requirements, etc.)
  • Your start and stop dates
  • Whether you will already be living in the Twin Cities area or will have to look for housing
  • Why you are interested in working with New Tactics
  • Any specific types of projects you like and/or have experience in (research, writing, social media, videos, graphic design, websites, blogging, etc.)

• Current resume -  include the following:

  • Colleges/ universities attended (undergraduate and, if applicable, graduate).  If you’re currently a student, anticipated graduation date
  • Major/minor and GPA
  • Other major areas of study
  • Volunteer activities and/ or internship experiences
  • Work experience
  • Foreign languages spoken and level of proficiency (if applicable)

Send an email with the materials listed above to newtactics [at] cvt [dot] org.

Review Process

After the application deadline, all applications will be reviewed and finalist candidates will be contacted for in-person interviews (or phone interviews for long-distance candidates).

The number of finalist candidates will depend on the number of internships available for a given semester according to current New Tactics projects and priorities.  After the interviews, candidates will be notified according to the schedule below regarding their acceptance status for the upcoming semester.

Criteria

Applications will be considered according to the following criteria.

• Relevant coursework and GPA
• Relevant volunteer, work or internship experiences
• Year in school (juniors and above are preferred but sophomores with relevant experience or skills will be considered and are encouraged to apply)
• Foreign language proficiency (desirable but not required)
• Number of hours available to devote to the internship
• Completeness and organization of materials submitted

In-person interviewees will additionally be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Flexibility
• Ability to work independently
• Enthusiasm and innovative thinking
• Other criteria specific to individual projects as needed

Timeline for the application process

The New Tactics in Human Rights project is a vital component of the Center for Victims of Torture. CVT’s mission is to heal the wounds of torture on individuals, their families and their communities and to stop torture worldwide. New Tactics plays a key role in the movement to end torture by strengthening human rights efforts around the world.

Torture is an issue that is connected to many human rights – the right to free speech and association, the right to a lawyer, the right to be free of cruel and inhumane treatment – and preventing torture requires effective human rights advocacy.  In its relationships with activists from more than 120 countries, New Tactics strengthens their work by sharing with them new ideas and resources, training them on strategic thinking, and connecting them with other activists for advice and support.  By helping activists evaluate possible outcomes and plan for any reprisals, strategic thinking is the first step to carrying out more effective and safer campaigns

Many of CVT’s clients are human rights activists, and for some, the healing process includes finding safe and meaningful ways of participating in the human rights movement again.  New Tactics provides hundreds of examples of ways that activists have implemented successful human rights activities.  Our project opens the door to activism by providing ideas for anyone interested in defending human rights – on any level. 

Those who support CVT are also human rights activists; we want to stop torture.  New Tactics provides a network of allies and new ideas for action.

By joining the New Tactics online community, you have the opportunity to:

• learn from other people's innovative tactics, 
• build and adapt effective strategy and tactics, and
• share your challenges and success; and find new allies.

Explore the New Tactics Resources and Tools to find innovative tactics that have been used by human rights practitioners working on many different issues from all over the world.  Learn about how to build and adapt effective strategies and tactics, and how to train your colleagues and networks on this process.  Join our online community and participate in our online dialogues where you can learn from your peers doing similar work in other countries, reflect on your own work, and share your challenges and success.

For a visual introduction to our website, watch our presentation - Introduction to New Tactics - on Prezi.

In order to join the New Tactics website, you are asked to enter a code at the bottom of the registration form to prove that you are a real person and not a computer program trying to imitate a human. If you are having difficulty with that process, here are some common issues and solutions (source: Yahoo):

If no image appears, please make sure your browser is set to display images, then try again. Follow the instructions for your browser to see if it is blocking images:

Internet Explorer:

1. Select Tools | Internet Options.
2. In the Internet Options dialog box, select the Advanced tab.
3. Scroll down to Multimedia and check Show pictures.
4. Click OK to save your changes.

Firefox on Windows:

1. Select Tools | Options.
2. In the Options window, click Content.
3. Check Load images automatically.
4. Click OK.

Firefox on Mac OS X:

1. From the Firefox menu, select Preferences.
2. In the top section of the Preferences dialog box, click Content.
3. Check Load images automatically.
4. Click OK.

Firefox on Linux:

1. Select Edit | Preferences.
2. In the top section of the Preferences dialog box, click Content.
3. Check Load images automatically.
4. Click OK.

If you are still having trouble, contact us and we can create an account for you.

A number of people that are using Internet Explorer 9 to access our website have told us that they are experiencing problems when they try to add comments.  Problems include:

• They are unable to put their cursor in the comment field.
• When they click "Save", they see an error message that says that the comment field is required.
• They are unable to type any text into the comment field.

We have found a temporary work-around for this issue, that we hope to fully address with our new website (to be launched in October 2012).

In Internet Explorer 9, you will see an image at the top of the browser that looks a torn piece of paper.  That image is a button that you can select to fix compatability issues between the website and the browser.

Click on this button that this should fix the problem.  If you are still experiencing problems after this, contact us.

To join the New Tactics online community, all you need to do is create an account on our website! Once you have an account, you will be able to create content (blog posts, comments in dialogues, testimonials, contact users, etc).

Not sure how to create an account or confused about how to log-in to the website? Follow these steps:

1. Click on the 'Login/Register' link in the top right corner of the website.

2. Enter your 'Login' information (if you have it).

3. If you have an account, but forgot the password, click on the 'Request new password' tab.

4. If you have not created an account yet, click on the 'Create new account' tab.

5. Fill out the registration form...

6. Now that you have created your new account, check your email for a message from New Tactics.

7. Click on the link in the email message, and create a password for your New Tactics account. Then click 'Save.'

That's it! Welcome to the New Tactics online community!

The blogs are for New Tactics members to share their thoughts, reflections, or questions with the world. A "web log" or "blog" is an online journal or diary. Blogs are a very individualized form of communicating with others. Collectively, member blogs make up the New Tactics dialogues area.

One member might use her blog to share day-to-day events in the work of her human rights organization. Another member, a lawyer, might comment on current legal matters of interest. If you have something you would like to share with other human rights advocates and activists, this is the place to do it. Write in your own style. Share images if they seem helpful. It's a flexible format.

Other members can respond to your posts. Then you can respond to those responses.

Blogs are a way of starting a dialogue with people you haven't even met yet. You have no way of knowing what might touch another person.

Your blog is your own place to publish news, reflections, or other announcements 

Your blog is your own place to publish news, reflections, or other announcements that you wish to share with the rest of the community, as well as ask questions to start a dialogue. Readers may wish to post comments (to which you can reply as well), and a dialogue may continue. The dialogues area is simply a collection of these member blog posts.

Your biography is your personal page introducing yourself to the community. Readers may learn more about you by reading your blog and other entries you create on the website, but your biography is where you get to introduce yourself directly, including any extra information you want others to know about you. By entering your biography, you will be included in the member directory.

We will soon be adding a basic guide on how to create a tactical map to this FAQ page.  In the meantime, please see the resources on our Tactical Mapping page and watch our online presentation on how to make a tactical map on Prezi.

If you have participated in a Tactical Mapping session or have used this tool, please let us know how you used it and if it was helpful!  Add a testimonial to our website!

New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners is a compilation of innovative tactics.

The core of the book is 100 stories gathered from around the world and across numerous sectors about innovative human rights work. Tactics are broken into four categories: Prevention, Intervention, Promotion and Building Human Rights Cultures and Institutions. These stories are analyzed within a tactical context – in terms of resources needed, obstacles encountered and the problem being addressed.

The Workbook also includes

• An Introduction to Tactical and Strategic Thinking; and
• Tactical Worksheets to help advocates think creatively about applying and sharing tactics.

To find a wide variety of resources on strategy and tactics, you can use the “Resources and Training Tools” tab or “Quick Links” on the right-hand side bar above.

Select “New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners” to view information and download this book. This book is available for free in PDF format, or may be purchased as a printed copy.

Tactical notebooks are first-person, in-depth case studies that provide a detailed look at how a tactic was implemented and the challenges that were faced along the way.

At present there are more than 45 tactical notebooks covering five continents.

Most notebooks were written in English, but quite a number are now available in other languages such as Spanish, Russian, French, and more national and even local languages.

To find a wide variety of resources on strategy and tactics, you can use the “Resources and Training Tools” tab or “Quick Links” on the right side of the web page.

Select “Tactical Notebook Series” to view information and download these in-depth case studies.

The New Tactics database is currently a collection of 200 tactics, summarized (approximately 700 words) to help human rights advocates think about new ideas for tactics they can apply to different situations.

Each tactic includes a summary of….

• how the tactic was implemented
• tips for transferring the tactic to another situation
• contact information for the individual or group that used it.

This collection is still growing! If you have a tactic to share, please contact us.

To find a wide variety of resources on strategy and tactics, you can use the “Resources and Training Tools” tab or “Resources & Publications Links” on the right-hand sidebar.

Or, at the top of the website, select “Tactics” to view these one-page tactical summaries from many human rights organizations and issue areas around the world.

To read about training workshops and review the resources available, Click the “Resources & Tools” tab.

Since 2002, the New Tactics project has been conducting Regional Training Workshops (Africa; Asia; Central and Eastern Europe; Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East and Turkey; Latin America; and the West Group – Europe and North America).

In 2004, a World Symposium was held in Ankara, Turkey which featured 30 tactical workshops and 5 strategy building workshops. At each workshop, up to three trainers presented different versions of a particular tactic.

Many of the tactical presentations are available online from the Regional Training Workshops and the World Symposium. These can help you create your own tactical presentation. They are great examples of how tactics can be transferred to address different issues.

To read about training workshops and review the resources available, Click the “Resources & Tools” tab.

These resources were developed to help advocates interested in New Tactics to share the project with others. Currently, users can choose to view the "Using the New Tactics Resources" tool in English, French, or Spanish.

To find a wide variety of resources on strategy and tactics, you can use the “Resources and & Tools” tab or “Quick Links” on the right side of web page.

Select “Using the New Tactics Resources” gives you additional ideas for applying these resources into your efforts. For example, if you would like to create your own tactical presentation, click “Train others… under the “I want to share…” section.

Training Tools provide exercises, worksheets and articles designed to help advocates think about their work in terms of strategy and tactics.

You will find featured here:

• Background information on specific concepts, such as Understanding Strategy and Tactics; The Need for Tactical Thinking, Tactical Mapping, etc.
• Many “hands-on” experiential group exercises used in New Tactics training events.

To find a wide variety of resources on strategy and tactics, click the “Resources & Tools” tab or “Quick Links” on the right side of the web page.

Select “Training Tools” to view the resources on training your staff and networks about the importance of strategic and tactical thinking.

You will find Articles and guides, including presentations and handouts you can use for your own trainings.

Fun, educational and useful exercises help groups to both experience and think about strategy and tactics.

In several locations around this website, you will have the opportunity to "tag this page" a page or yourself. A "tag" is simply a keyword or phrase you would use to mark or identify a resource.

For example, the Training Tools page contains many resources, including some that are "group activites". Another page might also contain resources that you find useful as "group activites", and you may choose to add this tag . The tag "group activites" then becomes a way to easilly find these two pages. On any page with tags displayed, clicking on the tag itself will bring you to a list of the other resources that have been marked with that tag, whether by yourself or another community member. As more members add tags to resources, these lists will grow.

Tags are often displayed in "clouds", or groups, usually in alphabetical order. The more popular tags (meaning many people have tagged a resource the same way, or that many resources are marked with the specific tag) appear as bigger text than the others.

These "clouds" can be found on the search page, and offer an alternative way to help you find resources.

Featured resource practitioners are an important part of creating a successful online dialogue!  The featured resource practitioners together help to lead each online dialogue by making a commitment to add comments to the dialogue each day.  The featured resource practitioners often have some experience or knowledge of the topic being discussed in the dialogue. 

Are you interested in joining our growing network of over 300 dialogue featured resource practitioners?  Please read the information below to learn about what commitment and expectations for participants.

Let's start with a reminder of the objectives of each dialogue.  We expect that each featured resource practitioners (and other dialogue participants) will:

1. Share: Participants will share their own approaches (“tactics”) and tools used in their own work so that others may learn.
2. Learn: Participants will learn new approaches (“tactics”) and new tools to apply to their work.
3. Build a network: Participants will meet new people doing similar work that they can someday contact as a resource.

What would the dialogue process require from you?

If you agree to participate in a Tactical Dialogue as a featured resource practitioner (and we hope that you do!), these are the steps that are required from you:

1.  Join the New Tactics Online Community (on our website)

The first step in the dialogue participation process: Join the New Tactics on-line community so you can post comments in any dialogue. Click on “Create new account” in the upper right-hand corner of your computer screen to join.

For help, see our FAQ on how to register - http://www.newtactics.org/en/node/1803

Please add a short bio (around 200 words) to the ‘biography’ on your user account, and upload an image to your account (under edit). 

2.    Commitment of “featured resource practitioners” to post comments

We ask our “featured resource practitioners” to make two posts per day during the dialogue dates. We generally encourage you to check-in on the dialogue twice a day - logging on to the New Tactics website in the morning and late afternoon or evening depending on your internet access situation. We also understand that sometimes logging in twice per day just isn’t possible – so we ask you to make both your comments at the same time. This level of participation results in at least fourteen comments over the course of the week. These can include your own new comment, adding a response to a comment made by another participant, adding a resource, or posing a question.

Team Participation: We also encourage organizations or agencies to join as a “team”. If you have a “team” of people interested, the “team” will also be responsible for at least two posts per day but you can arrange among yourselves how you decide to make these posts. This opportunity is fun, easy and gives a chance for a number of people to share their experiences.

Note: If you decide you are not interested in being one of the “featured resource practitioners” but would like to participate in the dialogue, we greatly welcome you to do so. All you need to do is join the New Tactics website as an on-line community member. 

3.  Conference call participation (optional)

New Tactics has also invited our featured resource practitioners to participate in a one-hour conference call just prior to the opening of the dialogue. We arrange a date and time, usually a day or two prior to the dialogue, that can best accommodate as many of our featured resource practitioners as possible. This call gives you an opportunity to “meet” the other resource people who are able to attend the call. We have always made an effort to include as many as possible – but with the vast time zone differences, we know this can sometimes be difficult to achieve. The feedback from our resource practitioners regarding their participation in this call has been extremely positive.

If you are interested in helping to lead one of our online dialogues by participating as a 'featured resource practitioner' please contact us!

New Tactics hosts group spaces for its online community members. These group spaces can be used for more indepth collaboration, coordination and communication among human rights practitioners. Here are some examples of how New Tactics groups have been utilized:

• Participants in a training use a New Tactics group to keep in contact with each other
• Participants in a dialogue use a group to continue sharing ideas and resources
• A network of human rights defenders use a group to share ideas with each other
• A campaign uses a group to share updates and documents with its members
• An educator uses a group to stay connected to her students
• Students use a group to collaborate online

Once you join a New Tactics online group, you can share information in several different ways:

• You can begin and join group dialogues
• You can share documents, spreadsheets, etc
• You can share images and links to videos
• You can share links to resources, websites, etc
• You can start and add to a group wiki

For a visual introduction to what you can do in a New Tactics group, see our presentation on Prezi.

To join a group, you must be a New Tactics online community member, and you must be logged-in (register or log-in in the top right corner of the website). Once you are logged-in, click on the 'Groups' link under 'Online Community Links' on the right sidebar -------------------------->

You will see a directory of all of the groups in our online community. Scroll down until you find a group you want to join.  Click on 'Join' or 'Request membership' next to the name of the group.

For a visual guide, watch our presentation on how to join a group on Prezi.

Thanks to Google, you have the ability to translate this website into one of several different languages. In the box below, choose the language that you would like to translate the website into. You will then be able to navigate throughout the website in the language you have chosen.

Please note that you will not be able to translate external documents or websites.

Each person that is a member of the New Tactics website has the ability to contact one another through this website. Here are the steps that you can take to contact a community member directly:

1. Find the member.  You may have already found the community member that you would like to contact from a dialogue, or a blog entry, or any other piece of content from the website. If this is the case, move on to step 2 below.  If you are looking for a member that you would like to contact, take a look at our member directory.  Here you can search for members by several categories including country, organization, expertise / interest, and username.
2. Click on the username (this is a hyper link, highlighted in blue). You will find this hyperlinked username if this member is the author of any content on the website, including comments or blog entries. This will bring you to the biography page of this member.  On this biography page, you have several different tabs to choose from including 'view', 'biography', and 'contact'.
3. Click on the 'Contact' tab at the top of the page (under username).
4. Type your message and click the button that reads "Send e-mail".

Your message will be sent as an email from the website, and will be received as an email by the recipient.  We have created the contact process in this way so that those would prefer to stay annonymous have the ability to do so and still be able to accept contact emails from community members. A member does not need to know another member's email address in order to contact them! Nor does one need to know the name of the community member - the only necessary piece of information is a username.

Participating in our online dialogues is easy! Any New Tactics community member can participate. Not a member? You can join anytime! See our FAQ on how to log-in and register.

Follow these steps to participate in a New Tactics online dialogue:

1. Log-in to the New Tactics website.

2. Go to the dialogue page.

You can go to a featured online dialogue (like the example below) or you could go to our past dialogues by clicking on the 'Join the Dialogue' link in the main navigation bar.

3. When you are on the dialogue page, find a discussion thread and click on the title.

4. You can participate in the dialogue by adding a comment to a discussion thread.  To add a comment, you can either:

• Add a new comment to the discussion thread (towards the top of the discussion thread) --> click on 'Add new comment'
• Reply to an existing comment --> click on 'Reply'
• Reply to an existing comment by quoting the author --> click on 'Quote'

5. When you are finished adding your comment, click 'Save'!

Now that you know how to participate in our online dialogues - add your own experiences, ideas, challenges and stories to our dialogues!

To see more information on how to participate in a dialogue, watch this detailed online presentation on SlideShare.

To join the New Tactics online community, all you need to do is create an account on our website! Once you have an account, you will be able to create content (blog posts, comments in dialogues, testimonials, contact users, etc).

Not sure how to create an account or confused about how to log-in to the website? Follow these steps:

1. Click on the 'Login/Register' link in the top right corner of the website.

2. Enter your 'Login' information (if you have it).

3. If you have an account, but forgot the password, click on the 'Request new password' tab.

4. If you have not created an account yet, click on the 'Create new account' tab.

5. Fill out the registration form...

6. Now that you have created your new account, check your email for a message from New Tactics.

7. Click on the link in the email message, and create a password for your New Tactics account. Then click 'Save.'

That's it! Welcome to the New Tactics online community!

The New Tactics Community is designed to be a place for human rights advocates around the world to gather, share thoughts and reflections, hold discussions, and collaborate with others.  Some content may be designated as private by the author (allowing specific groups to view the content, but not all members or the general public).  To respect this privacy, and to maintain the New Tactics Community as a positive environment for interaction with (and respect for) others, membership registration is free but required to participate fully.

Get involved with human rights advocates around the world! Meet and interact with activists, educators, students, and other practitioners. Share ideas and seek feedback, join discussions and collaborate with colleagues.

Get involved with human rights advocates around the world! Meet and interact with activists, educators, students, and other practitioners. Share ideas and seek feedback, join discussions and collaborate with colleagues.

The New Tactics community-based website is an expansion on the resources available through the New Tactics in Human Rights project. In addition to training exercises and tools for strategic thinking and planning, a workbook for practitioners, and materials from several workshops, the New Tactics website focuses on tactic case examples as short descriptions in the Tactics Database, and in-depth case studies as Tactical Notebooks, which provide a detailed look at how a tactic was implemented, and the challenges that were faced along the way.

New interactive features added to the website allow for members to network with each other and seek or give feedback on their activities as human rights advocates. By joining the New Tactics Community, you will gain ways of interacting with others. These include participation in the new dialogues area, professional networking with the member directory, and the ability to join groups. Membership in the website is free and open to anyone interested in sharing ideas relating to human rights as well collaborating with others in a respectful manner. Members will be able to work privately within the community or seek interaction with a broader audience.

Each member of the website will have the opportunity to post to a blog (an online journal or “soapbox”). This is a place to announce plans, campaigns or events as well as share reflections or opinions with the community. The author may choose to share each blog post with the public, or select various audiences within the New Tactics community. Only members of the community will be able to post comments to blogs and other content.

The dialogues area is a collection of community member blogs and serves as a forum to ask questions and participate in dialogue about various issues surrounding human rights and advocacy. Members may participate in dialogues on the website or by “subscribing” to a topic as an email list.

Members of the New Tactics community may also organize themselves into groups based on any area of shared interest. For example, groups can be created for members in a geographical location, attending an event or workshop, or concerned with an issue. Members of a group may post blog entries or hold discussions privately, raise and address issues, and report to each other on events or presentations.

Additional benefits of membership include networking and updates. Members may network with each other by joining or creating new groups, and by creating short biographies of themselves, which are then listed in a members directory. Members may also receive email messages when new blog entries or discussion topics are posted to one of their groups.

Public users (who have not logged in as members) of the New Tactics website will be allowed to read blogs and discussions as indicated by the author, but will not be permitted to post comments or read items intended just for other community members. Public users will have no access to the members directory.

Users may login or register from any page on the New Tactics website (click on “Create new account”). New members will be asked to confirm their email address and will be sent a message containing information on logging in.

We will soon be adding a basic guide on how to create a tactical map to this FAQ page.  In the meantime, please see the resources on our Tactical Mapping page and watch our online presentation on how to make a tactical map on Prezi.

If you have participated in a Tactical Mapping session or have used this tool, please let us know how you used it and if it was helpful!  Add a testimonial to our website!

A tactic is a specific action taken to address a specific situation. A tactic is part of a specific plan or strategy. Tactics take different shapes and forms. A tactic can be as simple as wearing a particular color, or as involved as bringing formal charges against government officials in an attempt to remove them from office. Human rights workers all over the world utilize a wide variety of creative tactics to bring about positive changes in their culture. 

A strategy answers the question "What?" What do you hope to accomplish? What is the goal? A strategy involves a gathering many ideas and making decisions toward a plan. Factors considered in developing a strategy include:

• Selecting key objectives and appropriate targets (people, organizations, laws, etc)
• Understanding the constituencies and resources available and needed
• Reaching a clear understanding of the specific interim goals to reach the strategy
• Deciding which tactics to use and when

Tactics consist of how to make a change, while strategy is deciding what change to make. Tactics are about 'the how,' and strategies are about 'the what.' In other words, a strategy is an approach that makes the best use of resources and other factors to secure advantage for an organization's goal. Tactics are the means for implementing strategy. It's the difference between a plan, and a way of accomplishing a plan.

• What we know how to do influences what we think is possible to do; the tactics we have available to us can determine the strategy we choose. 
• Tactics have different effects on different targets.
• Different tactics appeal to different individuals and groups.
• Tactical flexibility is a source of surprise.
• Tactics serve as a lesson about how to engage in the world.
• Tactics open one's eyes to possibilities.
• Tactics are training systems for engaging others in an organization's work.

For more information, visit Tactics and Tactical Thinking. 

Twenty years ago, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) resisted the word 'strategy,' which is now commonplace in NGO language and planning. Strategic planning has helped human rights organizations and other NGOs become more effective. We believe the human rights community will also benefit from incorporating 'tactics' and tactical thinking into its language.

A long time. More than two thousand years ago, Sun Tzu taught that strategy emerges from understanding our adversary, understanding ourselves, and understanding the terrain (where the battle will be fought). Tactics are a key component of strategy. What we can accomplish, including which tactics we know, will affect the formation of our strategy. Tactics and tactical thinking aren't new. But consciously recognizing tactics - seeing what's possible and forming a strategy - is the challenge facing human rights activists today.