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‘Fahamu’s innovations benefit humanity’

Oxford, UK, 24 November 2005 –Fahamu, the Kenyan led human rights organisation, has been awarded a Silicon Valley technology award at a recent high profile ceremony in San Jose, California. Fahamu was one of five winners of the Microsoft Education Award, and beat stiff international competition from 85 entries.

The Tech Museum Awards go to the "best of the best technologists whose innovations benefit humanity". The Tech Museum Awards honour organisations that use technology to address critical issues facing humankind today. Located in Silicon Valley, The Tech Museum encourages people to engage in technological innovation.

An Oxford and South Africa-based organisation, Fahamu supports the struggle for human rights and social justice in Africa. Fahamu was recognised for its distance-learning courses, which were developed in collaboration with Oxford University.

These courses are designed for low specification computers and for civil society organisations based in areas where access to the internet is limited. The themes of the training programmes range from human rights, advocacy, leadership and management to fundraising, the media and genocide, as well as gender and conflict.

Fahamu has conducted training programmes for the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights based in Nairobi.
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“This is a recognition by Silicon Valley of the importance of human rights in Africa,” said Firoze Manji, the Director of Fahamu. “It is a tribute to the many human rights activists who have been involved in the development of these learning materials.”

“This is acknowledgement of the power of the technology we have developed, which is now being used by leading institutions such as the UN High Commission for Human Rights, Article 19, the University of Oxford and others,” said Becky Faith, Fahamu’s Production Manager.

In addition to producing training materials, Fahamu stimulates debate, discussion and analysis on social justice in Africa through its authoritative weekly newsletter, Pambazuka News, which provides cutting-edge commentary on politics and current affairs.

For more information, contact:

Firoze Manji, Director of Fahamu
Tel: + 44 (0)1865 727006; +44 (0)7786 628686
Email: [email protected] [2]
Website: www.fahamu.org [3]

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Notes to Editors:

1. Fahamu means ‘understanding’ or ‘consciousness’ in Swahili, a local language which is widely spoken in East Africa.

2. The 25 winners of the Tech Museum Awards were honoured for their application of technology to better the human condition in the categories of environment, economic development, education, equality and health. Now in their fourth year, the awards are a joint effort between the academic world and the corporate sector. Sponsors of these highly prized awards include Microsoft, Intel and Accenture. www.techawards.org [4]

3. Pambazuka News (http://www.pambazuka.org [5]) is a weekly electronic newsletter on social justice in Africa, and is published by Fahamu.