Relief International boosting ICTs in order to promote human rights

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Friday, 03 December 2010

Author / Source : IT Reporter

Media can play an important role in safeguarding human rights in democratic countries, and consequently media professionals have the potential to act as  vocal advocates of human rights. With the wide scale deployment of Information Technology in the developing world, the civil society organizations are in an influential position to use the new ICT in order to promote human rights and democratic principles in all spheres of society. These were observed by Nazrul Islam, Country Director of Relief International, Bangladesh. Recognising the vital role that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can play in advancing human and social development, the government of the country, civil society, and private sector are all working together to achieve the vision of having a “Digital Bangladesh”.
Currently more than 70 million people of the country  use cellular phones regularly, and this practice has created  opportunities for the cellular phone to be used as an effective tool for addressing numerous social issues, including protection of human rights.
Relief International (RI), which is INGO, as been implementing a two year long project on Human Rights in 20 districts of the country since June 2010. Funded by the European Commission, the programme titled ‘Transparency for Human Rights in Bangladesh’ (THR) is designed to raise awareness about the importance of human rights in the nation through innovative use of media and technology.
The targeted districts include Dhaka, Chittagong, Gazipur, Naraynaganj, Comilla, Chandpur, Jessore, Bagerhat, Khulna, Joypurhat and 10 more. Democracywatch is the local implementing partner of the programme.
The program, implemented under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), will engage around 2000 journalism professionals and 2500 community members, religious leaders and youth in the programme. 1,000 representatives of educational institutions, civil society, and local government will also participate in regional conferences.
It aims to create and develop a National Network of Concerned Journalists, who will be trained on various important laws related to human rights, and on best practices of journalism.
Moreover, they will be trained on the use of ICT, which will help them report incidences of human rights violations more effectively. The THR programme will also host Radio Talk Shows where renowned members of the society will discuss various important issues pertaining to human rights.
The project activities, which are in sync with the Government’s current initiatives to achieve “Digital Bangladesh” by the year 2021, are all recorded on a virtual site which is accessible by all members of the public who wish to participate in programme activities.
The THR programme also boasts innovative features such as ‘The Human Rights SMS Portal’. The SMS portal maintains a mobile number where participating journalists, youth, religious leaders, and community members can report violations. In order to reach a wider audience of stakeholders, every report submitted through SMS is stored and displayed on the website. Moreover, the portal disseminates HR information pertinent to the project such as announcement for HR focused events, special day celebration, and the like.
It will also facilitate an SMS-based alert system, which will report incidences of violations and advocacy opportunities by and to registered users.