About the Imagine Campaign

Yoko Ono Lennon has given Amnesty International a wonderful and generous gift: the rights to use her late husband's song "Imagine" in a campaign for human rights. In her words:

"Those who know the song 'Imagine' understand that it was written with a very deep love for the human race and a concern for its future. It is about the betterment of the world for our children and ourselves. Like the song, Amnesty International gives a voice to the importance of human rights. And like the song, it has been able to effect change."

“Imagine” expresses the hope and idealism that inspire Amnesty International’s vision: that of a world in which every person enjoys all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In its appeal to the power of imagination, the song echoes Amnesty International’s faith in the power of the ordinary individual to make a difference.

Amnesty International, in turn, is the embodiment of what can be accomplished by those who dare to imagine a better world and who have the courage to act on their vision. It was British lawyer Peter Benenson who first "imagined" Amnesty International. He and a group of friends founded the organization in 1961 with a campaign based on a startling premise: that ordinary individuals could exert pressure on government authorities and effect real change. But Amnesty’s first campaign was successful even beyond its founder’s dreams. Within a matter of months, what was planned as a one-year campaign had grown into an international movement.

Today, Amnesty International is the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization, with 1.5 million members in 162 countries. In the 40 years since its founding, Amnesty International members have helped free more than 40,000 people who were unjustly imprisoned. In 1977, the organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its work to protect human rights.

At Amnesty International, we believe in the power of ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things.

       Irene Khan
       Secretary General of Amnesty International

You may say I’m a dreamer,
But I’m not the only one.
I hope some day you’ll join us,
And the world will live as one.

      John Lennon

"IMAGINE" by John Lennon(c) 1971, 1999 Lenono Music (admin. by EMI Blackwood Music Inc.)