Today is Amnesty International Candle Day and students around the world will be singing the John Lennon song, Imagine.

At the suggestion of Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, Yoko Ono has agreed to give Amnesty the rights to the song until the end of 2004, and a new video has been produced by Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer. The powerful video features children singing the song in Northern Ireland, Croatia, Thailand, Cambodia, South Africa and the US.

Amnesty International's Irish Section has distributed human rights education materials, based on the Imagine theme, to schools across Ireland. The video of children singing the Lennon song is accompanied by a folder containing materials and posters.

The Imagine campaign to raise awareness of human rights was launched on Sunday with television broadcasts of the new video. A series of 30-second television slots is being aired for the duration of Human Rights Week, until Saturday.

For further information or to source the Imagine video and resource pack for your school, visit www.amnesty.ie