Tag: human rights

SMS as an enabler of the Right to Health in Tanzania

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By Ashnah Kalemera |

In its pursuit to establish strategic mechanisms for the promotion and protection of human rights in Tanzania, the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) is progressing awareness on the right to health among vulnerable communities and human rights practitioners in five regions in Tanzania.

CHRAGG’s recent drive which commenced in August 2016 and leverages the existing SMS for Human Rights reporting system has seen capacity building of over 100 staff at its head office in Dar es Salaam and three regional offices in (location of offices) to improve their understating of the right to health and enable them appropriately handle related violation reports received through the platform.

Furthermore, nearly 200 individuals including sexual minorities, the elderly, women, health workers and local leaders have been trained on the principles of right to health to increase their awareness and ability to monitor and report on the same. The training beneficiaries constituted 61% female.  Continue Reading →

SMS System Boosts Reporting of Human Rights Abuses in Tanzania

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Growing the capacity of citizens and civic groups including human rights networks to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to foster free speech, human rights, access to information and open governance is one of the objectives of the ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network. Since April 2014, the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) in Tanzania has conducted a campaign to raise awareness about the SMS for Human Rights system throughout Tanzania.

The system, which was launched on Human Rights Day in December 2012, has made it easier for citizens to report human rights violations to the Commission. In 2013, a total of 173,493 complaints were received through the system. Since then, the number of complaints filed with the Commission has averaged more than 100 per week compared to 10 per week prior to the system’s installation.

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East African Region New Media and Human Rights Institute workshop

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In collaboration with the African Human Rights Consortium, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) conducted a four-day new media, research and advocacy workshop aimed at scaling-up the use of ICTs in human rights and democracy within East Africa. The workshop attracted 14 participants drawn from civil society and media in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Burundi. During the workshop, KHRC took the opportunity to share information on the activities of the ICT4Democracy in East Africa network attracting a lot of interest from participants. Emphasis was placed on the importance of involvement of civil society actors in various ICT forums and projects.

Civil society organisations in East Africa were urged to embrace ICTs in their advocacy interventions.