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Learn from the experiences of human rights defenders by browsing and searching our previous New Tactics Conversations. You can search for a particular topic or geographic region and find human rights defenders you can connect with. Or, see the entire list of topics on one page.

Physical spaces as catalysts for greater digital citizen participation

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Thank you for joining Rising Voices, Social Media Exchange (SMEX) and the New Tactics online community for an online dialogue on Physical spaces as catalysts for greater digital citizen participation from August 8 to 14, 2012.  Across the globe, new physical spaces are emerging that are acting as catalysts for greater citizen participation using digital technologies. Community libraries are rethinking their traditional role, and many are now offering internet access to their users in order to provide opportunities to gather around local issues where they can produce, not simply consume information. Telecenters are going beyond providing computer access to communities, to providing workshops to train citizens on how to use digital technology effectively to promote change. Hacklabs offer a physical space where activists and technologists can come together to find innovative solutions to local problems. These are just a few examples of the innovative use of physical space to encourage and empower greater digital citizen participation.

Tactics for sustaining the well-being and security of defenders

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Thank you for joining Analia Penchaszadeh and Katherine Ronderos (co-facilitators) of the Women Human Rights Defenders Initiative, Association for Women's Rights in Development for this important conversation! This dialogue was an opportunity to explore the innovative ways that practitioners promote and support their well-being, self-care and security as well as their colleagues.  New Tactics has hosted a series of dialogues on keeping human rights defenders safe and well.  From this base of individuals, organizations and information, we hosted a dialogue that focused on the next steps and tactics in sustaining the well-being and security of defenders, with particular attention paid to the needs of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs).  

Archiving Human Rights for Advocacy, Justice and Memory

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Thank you for joining Grace Lile of WITNESS and the New Tactics community for this conversation on archiving. Archiving and preservation have long taken a backseat to more urgent aspects of human rights documentation and advocacy, but that is beginning to change. Human rights archives are increasingly playing a pivotal role in advocacy, restorative justice, historical memory, and struggles against impunity. At the same time, however, archivists and activists alike are grappling with the mounting challenges posed by the proliferation of digital documentation. How can we ensure that the critical documentation created today will be preserved and accessible in the future?  Dialogue participants discussed the tactics and methods used by archivists to preserve human rights information.

Working with corporations to assess and improve human rights impact

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Corporations can have an enormous impact on human rights - both good and bad.  As corporations become more global, the potential impact on human rights also grows. Targeting governments as the primary duty-bearers for upholding their citizens’ rights, the international community has created a collection of treaties to hold governments accountable for their human rights impact.  Without comparable treaties and mechanisms to define the responsibilities of corporations and hold them accountable, how can we ensure that corporations do not have a negative impact on human rights?

Strengthening Citizen Participation in Local Governance

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The involvement of citizens in the political process is an essential part of democracy.  Tactics and strategies for increased citizen participation in local governance can be seen around the globe.  In the municipality of Nejapa, El Salvador, the municipal government partnered with local NGOs and sought to increase public involvement in local politics, resulting in huge increases in access to potable water, latrines, and electricity for its residents. In India, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) has been deeply involved in a collective process which has shaped and influenced the Campaign for the Right to Information in India. MKSS makes the case that without access to information and transparency there can be no genuine participation of all members of society, particularly the poor, in democracy. This dialogue served as an opportunity for those involved in strengthening citizen participation in local governments, as well as those interested in it, to discuss these questions and share their experiences and ideas.

Advancing Children's Right to Education

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Education is a basic human right, enshrined in law all over the world. Yet, according to the Right to Education Project, 69 million children are still out of school, more than 700 million can't read.  Despite these overwhelming numbers, practitioners have developed innovative and successful ways of ensuring that children in their communities have access to education. Access to education is critical in ensuring other rights.

Fundraising for Human Rights: Lessons-learned and practical advice

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Protecting and promoting human rights is valuable and important work.  In order to do this work, organizations need financial resources.  Although there are many funders that recognize the value in financially supporting human rights efforts, many organizations struggle to find enough funding to support their work. This dialogue was an opportunity to bring together human rights practitioners, fundraisers, funders and others to discuss essential questions around funding human rights work.

Using Citizen Media Tools to Promote Under-Represented Languages

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Thank you for joining New Tactics, Rising Voices, Indigenous Tweets, and other practitioners for an online dialogue on Using Citizen Media Tools to Promote Under-Represented Languages*. The United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) regularly publishes an Atlas documenting and mapping more than 2,500 global languages that are classified as vulnerable, endangered, or extinct. UNESCO also estimates that of the 6,000 current languages spoken today, more than half will be extinct by the start of the next century, adding that "with the disappearance of unwritten and undocumented languages, humanity will lose not only a cultural wealth, but also important ancestral knowledge embedded, in particular, in indigenous languages."

Faith-Based Peacebuilding: Applying a gender perspective

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Thank you for joining New Tactics and the International Fellowship of Reconciliation's Women Peacemakers Program (IFOR/WPP) for an online dialogue on the topic of "Faith-based peacebuilding: Applying a gender perspective". The role of religion in conflict and peacebuilding, the rise of religious fundamentalism, and the threat this poses for women's human rights are issues receiving increasing attention. IFOR/WPP and its partners have been exploring the link between gender, religion and (inter)faith-based peacebuilding, including the positive role religion can play in promoting peacebuilding, and human and women's rights.

Using Technology to Promote Transparency

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Thank you for joining the Tech for Transparency Team and New Tactics for a conversation on Using Technology to Promote Transparency. There has been an expanding and increasingly global movement of technology and digital media projects aimed at promoting government transparency, accountability, and public participation in political processes.  In Kenya, Mzalendo seeks to make information more accessible from the proceedings of the country’s parliament. In Jordan, Ishki aims to involve citizens in developing solutions to civic problems. Vota Inteligente in Chile promotes government transparency by informing Chilean citizens about corruption and policy debates through the use of social media.  The Technology for Transparency Network, a project of Rising Voices, is documenting these transparency projects to gain a better understanding of their current impact, obstacles, and future potential.

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