Advocacy & campaigns

Africa: The UmNyango Project

2006-12-07, Issue 281

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/38739

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Rural women in KwaZulu Natal will be using mobile phones to report on violations of their human rights. The UmNyango Project, which is implementing this initiative, was established by Fahamu, a pan African organisation based in Cape Town, Nairobi, Dakar and Oxford.

Rural women to report human rights violations against them using mobile phones

Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa – 6 December 2006
Rural women in KwaZulu Natal will be using mobile phones to report on violations of their human rights.

The UmNyango Project, which is implementing this initiative, was established by Fahamu, a pan African organisation based in Cape Town, Nairobi, Dakar and Oxford.

The UmNyango Project will use SMS technology for rural women and men to access information to and report incidences of violence against women and children, as well as violations of women’s right to land.

This initiative will be tested out in Dondotha, KwaDlangezwa, KwaGcwensa, Limehill and Muden, and if successful, will be rolled out on a wider scale.

As well as using text messaging, the project will be enable women in these areas to produce their own radio programmes which will be made available to local radio stations, as well as being distributed over the internet as ‘podcasts’.

Adv. Anil Naidoo, Project Team Leader said: “We have successfully tested the use of SMS technology for rural women farmers in KwaZulu Natal to access agricultural extension information. There is every indication that this technology will also work for rural women reporting on human rights abuse, including domestic violence.”

Fahamu, the organisation behind this initiative, has already won international awards for its ground-breaking use of new media to support the pan African campaign on the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.

“We are delighted to be implementing this project in association with the Centre for Public Participation, Community Law and Rural Development Centre, Domestic Violence Assistance Project, Indiba-Africa Development Alliance, Participatory Development Initiative and the Rural Women’s Movement,” said Fahamu’s Director, Dr Firoze Manji.

The Project is funded by the Dutch International Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos).

Clickatell, a company that provides global mobile messaging services, has donated free SMS credits so that relevant information on human rights may be transmitted to rural women and men. Patrick Lawson, managing director of Clickatell SA, said: “We are proud to be able to contribute to the promotion of women’s human rights’.

The partners are hopeful that there will be sufficient interest from other donor agencies, government and the private sector to enable this initiative to continue in a more sustainable manner beyond May 2007.
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For further details contact:
Adv. Anil Naidoo, Trustee
Fahamu SA
+27-(0)82-5795431
+27-(0)84-1970033
anil@fahamu.org.za
www.fahamu.org.za
Dr Firoze Manji
Director, Fahamu - Networks for Social Justice (http://www.fahamu.org/)
Editor, Pambazuka News (http://www.pambazuka.org/)
2nd Floor, 51 CORNMARKET STREET, OXFORD OX1 3HA
Cellphone: +44 (0) 77 86 62 86 86
Tel: +44-(0)1865-727006
Fax: +44-(0)1865-727909

About Fahamu:
Fahamu (www.fahamu.org) supports the struggle for human rights and social justice in Africa by supporting social justice advocacy through the innovative use of information and communication technologies; stimulating debate, discussion and analysis;
distributing news and information; developing training materials and running distance-learning courses Fahamu focuses primarily on Africa, although it works with others to support the global movement for human rights and social justice. The word Fahamu means ‘understanding’ or ‘consciousness’ in Kiswahili. Fahamu comprises a small core of highly skilled and experienced staff based in Oxford (UK), Cape Town (South Africa), Dakar (Senegal) and in Nairobi (Kenya).

The organisation publishes the prize winning weekly electronic newsletter ‘Pambazuka News’ (www.pambazuka.org), voted in 2005 ad 2006 as one of the 10 websites changing the world of politics and the internet.
About Clickatell, Inc.
Clickatell is the premier global mobile messaging operator with over 6,000 customers across 578 networks spanning 192 countries. As the world’s leading multimodal messaging provider, the company allows any business to connect customers, employees, and suppliers anywhere, with any message, across any device. Headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, the company has offices in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

For more information, please go to: https://www.clickatell.com/central/campaigns/redir.php?cid=2672

http://www.fahamu.org/

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