Austrian GT-Driver Integrates Sport and Humanitarianism

Niki Lanik (22) is an Austrian GT car racer, currently residing in England. He recently returned from Geneva, Switzerland, where he was one of the recipients of the "Human Rights Activist Award" at the Youth for Human Rights International Summit 2009.

In a recent interview, Niki described his life and how he integrates his twin passions: sport and human rights. "Extreme Sports is what I live for. I am an adrenaline junkie and love speed and competition. Travelling and meeting new people and cultures is also a passion of mine. After living in USA and Great Britain, I speak better English than German, although I still consider myself Austrian."

Niki was introduced to Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) when he was in London with some friends in November 2006. Through some friends, he met Taron Lexton, the young director of the UNITED music video and the "30 Rights, 30 Ads" DVD, both produced by Youth for Human Rights. "Taron taught me that everyone on this planet is entitled to the same human rights. I needed to watch the videos to really appreciate his work. After watching them, I decided to use my career as a professional GT race driver to promote human rights to the rest of the world. I have promoted YHRI on my race car, through my websites, press releases, etc. I have always wanted to help on a big scale, and this was a perfect combination."

When he was younger, Niki was aware of discrimination as a human rights issue. While he feels he grew up in a relatively safe environment, some of his friends from other countries told him stories of human rights abuse that were simply unbelievable: "These stories involved discrimination, human trafficking, parents being enslaved, not having the right to education, not having the right to trial or to express oneself freely, and so on. I want my kids to grow up in a safe environment which follows the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, because they and also all other kids have that right and freedom."

Asked about the effect that his involvement with Youth for Human Rights has had on his awareness of human rights, Niki said: "It affected me a lot. I realized that there were a lot of people in many countries who struggle in life and who constantly have their rights taken away. You can literally talk to anyone, rich or poor, old or young, and any nationality, and you will find that somewhere along the line, someone violated their human rights. People are discriminating against each other and even killing each other. There are more slaves now than there were in the 18th century. More than a billion people cannot read. These are just a few reasons why it is important to promote human rights internationally."

Speaking about how his participation has affected his outlook on life, Niki pointed out: "I have more appreciation for foreign cultures. I have met a lot of people. I have a lot more countries to visit and people to meet. I treat all people as human beings. I do not care if they are 5 years old or 80, black or white, male or female. I simply do not care. I treat them with respect and with affinity. I respect people, I help people, I am there for people.

"The thing that gives me a kick is that people are happy about the YHRI booklet "What Are Human Rights", and with the YHRI DVD. They are inspired and they start promoting human rights awareness. This is what makes me feel that I need to do more, and more, and more, so that I can reach everybody in every country. The more I do, the more important it becomes for me. I literally try to be active 24/7 on my career and the promotion of human rights awareness. I love it when people's lives change for the better and they can make their families and friends happy. That's what I live for — to help others lead a quarrel-free and enjoyable life."

Niki is particularly proud of the effect that he observes by promoting human rights to others. "Seeing people's lives change, and people asking me ´Can I help you to promote human rights?´ Getting other people involved is a fantastic experience — people love it, because they love helping others."

Niki was very enthusiastic about his experience at the YHRI summit in Geneva. "It was amazing! I met around 25 youth delegates. Never before have I bonded so closely and so quickly with other people. We are all like-minded and smart individuals with a common purpose to make a fair world where all can be free and safe because they abide by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. There are a lot of people to reach, but the amazing thing is that we as a group of delegates are so powerful and have so much respect for each other. We all have such great personalities and have our unique and amazing qualities in how we choose to promote Human Rights. We help each other every day to become more active and effective human rights promoters helping our neighborhood, city, country and continent. For example, I am helping the delegates from Barbados, Columbia, Mexico and Belgium to coordinate events and promotional activities. In fact, I decided to visit each of the other delegates in their home country."

Besides using his racing career to promote human rights to his fans, Niki reaches out to VIPS, business associates and even strangers that he meets at the supermarket. "When I tell them about what I do with human rights, they sense the adventure that it brings to my life."

Youth for Human Rights International Summit 2009 brought together youth delegates, representatives of governments, United Nations organizations and non-government organizations for three days of presentations and workshops in Geneva, Switzerland. Participants came from as far away as Sri Lanka, South Africa and Barbados. The speakers included youth delegates, ambassadors, a senior UN official, and noteworthy professors. Participants viewed audiovisual presentations that teach the human rights contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the new video "The Story of Human Rights."

Youth for Human Rights International (youthforhumanrights.org) is a non-profit, secular organization founded in 2001 by educator Mary Shuttleworth to teach human rights to young people. YHRI brings awareness and knowledge of the United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights to youth through essay and art contests and by providing teaching guides for educators and materials for students, including the UNITED music video and other audiovisual productions.

Niki Lanik can be found online at www.nikilanik.com.