December 10th, 2021; This Human Rights Day we pay tribute to our partners who are using WhatsApp-based chat services to further human rights globally – and especially supporting this year’s theme of Equality.
“Equality is at the heart of human rights,” says Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights – and it is what underpins the impactful work done by many of our partner organisations.
Among those that are using Chat to provide communities with access to information and critical resources are:
SameSame which supports the mental health and resilience of LGBTQ+ youth as they navigate a time in their lives that has the potential to shape their entire future.
Ladysmith Collective, Red Dot Foundation and Basic Rights Watch, which have all created WhatsApp-based chat services that work to help eliminate violence against women.
Voices of Venezuela - a WhatsApp helpdesk that provides all the information Venezuelan migrants in Colombia need, in one safe and secure place.
Reach52 - a tech social enterprise delivering health services in markets others don't reach across South and Southeast Asia and East Africa.
Praekelt.org which uses technology to improve the health of individuals and communities across many different projects and parts of the world.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) which directs international health within the United Nations' system and leads partners in global health responses.
Worldreader - an international nonprofit organisation supporting vulnerable and underserved communities by providing digital reading solutions to improve literacy development, learning outcomes, and gender equality.
Sesame Workshop - an independent nonprofit organisation on a mission to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.
South Africa’s Department of Basic Education and E³, who created TeacherConnect as a way to empower and support teachers, by providing access to the best learning content on WhatsApp.
These – and other - social impact organisations and projects are fulfilling the UN’s call to honour this Human Rights Day by addressing and finding solutions “for deep-rooted forms of discrimination that have affected the most vulnerable people in societies, including women and girls, indigenous peoples, people of African descent, LGBTI people, migrants and people with disabilities, among others”.
The work being done by our partner organisations aligns with the UN’s 2030 Agenda and the approach set out in the document Shared Framework on Leaving No One Behind: Equality and Non-Discrimination at the Heart of Sustainable Development.
“Equality, inclusion and non-discrimination, in other words - a human rights-based approach to development - is the best way to reduce inequalities and resume our path towards realising the 2030 Agenda,” says the UN, and we celebrate our partner organisations doing vital work in this area.
