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Human Rights Connection enables human rights activists around the world to share lessons, tools and practical strategies to advance their work. It has three noteworthy characteristics:
- FREE MANUALS AND CASE STUDIES: The site has short, easy-to-use articles and checklists that activists can download, print out and carry away for free. In addition, case studies will provide real-world examples of how activists implemented the techniques described in the manuals. A particular emphasis will be placed on finding and highlighting materials developed in the global South for local activists.
- AVAILABLE IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES: Manuals will be available in five languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. Other languages, such as Mandarin and Russian, will be included as the site grows.
- INFORMATION EXCHANGE: The key to HRC's success is the ability of activists and groups to share the case studies, best practices and other information that suit their needs. By providing their email addresses to us, activists will get regular updates on new information. An Advisory Committee of activists from different parts of the world reviews documents to ensure that they are applicable and are presented in a user-friendly manner. Activists who use our site can give feedback on site material.
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How HRC Addresses Problems Faced by Rights Activists |
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Problem |
Our Solution |
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Limited access to training |
Material locally accessible via the Internet allowing activists to teach themselves |
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Expensive material hard to obtain |
Material available for free via the Internet, circumventing unreliable and expensive mail and fax systems |
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Overwhelming online material |
Brief, easily downloadable documents |
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Language barriers |
Material available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic |
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Material not tailored to activists |
Material suggested and written by activists from around the world | |
Our immediate target audience are the several hundred activists that make up the combined networks of the Coordinating Committee. More broadly, we believe that HRC will be an important resource for the thousands of activists around the world who can access the web and can work in one of the languages that we have available.
The Internet is the cheapest, fastest and safest way to distribute material to activists around the world. Mail service in many countries is often slow and unreliable, and sending documents by international courier is expensive. Faxed documents are hard to read in countries with substandard phone lines. Even in countries with poor telecommunications systems, many activists are able to get online, even for only brief periods of time. Since Internet access is expensive, these activists want to be able to download what they need quickly without having to spend a lot of time looking for it.
We can reach the activists who need our material because the Coordinating Committee organizations have worked directly with hundreds of activists around the world, many of whom are in touch with other activists in their regions.
 The Need for Our Work • Advisory Committee
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