ICTs in Democracy and Human Rights

Kenya Human Rights CommissionPresented By Beryl Aidi

Programme Officer-Media, Communication and Publicity

The Reforms Through Citizen Participation and Government Accountability project is an ICT-based campaign that seeks to entrench the principles of good governance by demanding accountability and rule of law in Kenya. These problems are detrimental to the economy and it is the masses who bear the brunt of the problems above.

The kind of transformation that Kenyans want is predicated in the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, (CoK 2010), which is the culmination of twenty years of agitation for reform for transparency and accountability. Since its inception in 1992 the KHRC has advocated for constitutional reforms and was at the forefront of the designing of the human rights-based and people-centred CoK 2010.

April 12, 2023Kenya Human Rights Commission

Goal: HURINETs and particularly their youth membership have improved understanding of and commitment to building a human rights state and society

Objective 1: To engage citizens in dialogue and establishing the rule of law in the context of democratic governance to ensure a decline in human rights violations.

Objective 2: To increase government accountability through monitoring service delivery at county level in the devolved government


The particular areas of concern are education, water sector reforms and livelihoods. It is expected that through these campaigns, Kenyan public from across the board will be able to demand for services, accountability and make decisions to vote for leaders who can help the country move or otherwise vote out corrupt and unprogressive leaders. Thus the project will contribute to citizen participation and citizen empowerment.


The primary beneficiaries of this project are the 10 selected Human Rights Networks (HURINETS) out of the 27 groups that the KHRC works with on the ground who will benefit directly from capacity building in technology through both skills transfer and equipping.

Aim is to build a core-group


Secondary Target groups The secondary target groups with whom the

networks work is the youth and especially university students, women, survivors of past injustices and influential leaders of the society including the local administration and other stakeholders/interest groups working in the target regions.


The increasing widespread use of mobile phones in even the remotest areas of Kenya provides an opportunity to engage communities in knowing and claiming their rights and for monitoring human rights abuses and Government actions.

In order to manage the information that the KHRC and the HURINETs generate, we plan to install a Management Information System fitted with an intranet for the purposes of information sharing internally and also among the HURINETS as well as affording the KHRC a remote mechanism to monitor the activities of the HURINETS.


The KHRC planed to tap into the potential of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to increase citizen participation, monitor human rights violations, monitor the electoral processes, monitor government fulfilment of promises, carry out campaigns and also inform and educate its constituents and the public on various human rights and governance issues.

Working with the HURINETs by building their capacity in ICTs to enable them take advantage of existing social networking platforms to monitor government performance as well as social organising and mobilisation.

The rationale for engaging various networks and community groups is to facilitate the creation of a vibrant social movement that would ensure a future where this country is free of human rights abuses.


Bulk sms Intranet Social media- FB, Twitter and blogs Website: www.civicaction.or.ke A Ushahidi crowdsourcing platform eg

Uchaguzi for elections and Hakireport- web and sms based

Institutional strengthening- intranet/extranet


Kwale Hurinet blog VIFANET People for Rural Change Trust(PRCT)- Kuria


Capacity building◦ AHRC

TI-Kenya (Enhancing the crowdmap) CREAW’s KCSIS portal My Societies.com (www.mzalendo.com)

Global Partnership for Leadership in Human Rights ( Ford Foundation)


Policy Advocacy on Internet Freedom Global Partners Association-UK on freedom online and

capacity building for CSOs International Network of Civil Liberties Union

Organizations (INCLO) – Information Rights and Privacy Freedom Online

Electoral Governance KTI – Elections monitoring Norwegian and DAP on electoral governance


Slow momentum with the HURINETs

Human ResourceToll free number not easy to getNew SMS directives


The time to be VIGILANT IS NOW, kwa hivyo, TWENDE KAZI!

Asanteni!!!


ICTs in Democracy and Human Rights

Technology

Transcript of ICTs in Democracy and Human Rights