MetaSocial Institute, a non-profit organisation based in Brazil with the stated vision of changing society by making it inclusive in nature, in which all are respected for their differences, recently launched an interactive petition-site campaign “"It´s Normal to be Different, and Rights are the Same" to help promote inclusion for all.
The Campaign was launched at the United Nations on 3rd December 2009, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, with the aim of engaging people worldwide to fight against all forms of discrimination, while at the same time promoting the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
The campaign consists of an interactive website to promote inclusion by raising awareness about persons with disabilities. In a lighthearted and fun approach, it invites the web user to change his or her own image using an electronic tool, transforming them to look like someone with Down syndrome, thus praising human diversity.
When it was first presented in Brazil, the “It’s Normal to be Different” website reached 600,000 hits in the first weekend. It was also launched at the Brazilian Day Festival in New York City, to a live public of more than 1.5 million people. The website has also collected 2 prizes at the Brazilian Advertising Festival, in Rio de Janeiro and an international prize for Best Non-Profit Website at the International Festival of Social Advertising, Public and Business Communication - Ad Spot Award - in Florence, Italy, in October 2009.
You can visit the website in Portuguese at www.serdiferenteenormal.org.br or in English at www.itsnormaltobedifferent.com/en.
MetaSocial Institute has been campaigning for more than 15 years, developing actions within the media to promote social inclusion. Their aim is to highlight the positive potential of all people, regardless of their limitations, and to show that everyone has the same human value and deserves to be treated with respect and dignity.
For further information you can visit their website www.metasocial.org.br or contact Patricia Almeida at contato@metasocial.org.br.
