On behalf of the team and board of HURIDOCS, it is our great pleasure to congratulate Bert Verstappen on his 30th work anniversary with HURIDOCS. A trained historian, Bert has been working with HURIDOCS since 1987. He has coordinated the work of different task forces and co-authored essential HURIDOCS publications. Today he is involved in […]
Data! Data! Data! I can’t make bricks without clay! – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Like Sherlock Holmes, human rights defenders rely on data to draw conclusions for their advocacy work. In this spirit, ShareLab and Tactical Tech organised the Data Investigation Camp to share skills, tools and methodologies, and build a community able to critically […]
HURIDOCS (Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems, International) is seeking a Communications Intern to start 16 October 2017 (negotiable). This internship can work from our office in Geneva, or remotely online from anywhere. The Communications Intern will work remotely with the Community Knowledge Manager, as well as other team members to perform the duties listed […]
On 21 July, HURIDOCS Executive Director Friedhelm Weinberg appeared on School of Data’s “Data is a Team Sport” conversation series with FabRiders founder Dirk Slater, discussing lessons learned over HURIDOCS’ 35-year history of developing data collection tools and methodologies for human rights defenders. Friedhelm spoke with Dirk on topics ranging from the growing technological skills of today’s […]
The UN Human Rights Council (hereafter referred to as the Council) is a key part of the international human rights system. Access to and effective use of the Council’s resolutions and related information is critical for not only for transparency and accountability of the Council, but also for human rights advocacy. With this in mind, […]
FreeThe5KH, Karla Avelar and Mohamed Zaree have just been named finalists for this year’s Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. The global prize for human rights defenders, the Martin Ennals Award is a unique collaboration among ten of the world’s leading human rights organisations to draw international attention to defenders, who put themselves at […]
Most of the technological aspirations and objectives that we pursue in the human rights and internet freedom communities–transparency, security, openness for modification/adaptation to different contexts, etc.– are necessarily based on Free and Open-source Software (FOSS). However, launching a successful FOSS project can present significant challenges. This March at the Internet Freedom Festival (IFF) in Valencia, […]
Language is a beautiful way of communication that provides us with infinite ways to express ourselves. However, understanding language requires a complex combination of grammatical, contextual as well as cultural knowledge. Once this skill is developed, we naturally comprehend the meaning of spoken and written language. This results in the ability to quickly scan through […]
Summary and recording available! Human rights work is a fulfilling and rewarding vocation. But it can also be frustrating, exhausting, and risky. We know that it is important to think about psycho-social well-being, organizational security, legal and digital security, yet we struggle to put these concepts into practice. Digital or physical security cannot be addressed […]
We get it. Open source development can be hard. It sounds great – developing Free Open Source Software (FOSS) means that your code is licensed to be free to use, modify, and distribute. Think of it like this: you’re not only sharing a loaf of bread that you baked, but also the recipe so that […]
We’re excited to have another demo slot at RightsCon this year! We’ll be sharing our work using machine learning to help human rights advocates sift through large document collections to find the “needles in the haystack”. We believe that the application of machine learning to Uwazi-hosted document collections could help litigators find the right legal […]
We’re excited for another week of knowledge-exchange at the Internet Freedom Festival in Valencia (March 6-10)! We’re especially looking forward to talking to other open source developers about how we can ensure the sustainability of open source products. Most of the tech aspirations and objectives we pursue in the human rights and internet freedom communities […]
HURIDOCS is pleased to announce the appointment of Friedhelm Weinberg as Executive Director. He will begin his new role immediately, having previously served as Interim Director. After the Board’s extensive search, Gisella Reina, Chair of the HURIDOCS Board said of the appointment: HURIDOCS has a young and energetic director that listens and leads. His experience […]
We are saddened to hear about the passing away of Hans Rösling, a visionary and educator who made substantial contributions to the visualisation of data by advocating open data and illustrating trends which challenged many prejudices. He was an impressive keynote speaker at the 30th meeting of the European Coordination Committee on Human Rights Documentation […]
Please note that the opening is now closed and applications are no longer accepted. HURIDOCS is seeking an outgoing, self-starting, experienced Fundraising and Communications Officer to join our diverse global team. In addition to having an excellent fundraising record, candidates should be passionate about human rights and have a working knowledge of current information and […]
Summary and recordings available! If you have physical documents related to your human rights work that you want to preserve, protect, or share with others, then learning good digitisation practices is vital. Why digitise? Digitising your documents greatly improves access to your information, whether you are building an online public library to share documents related […]
On Thursday, January 26, we had the opportunity to showcase Casebox for our friends at the Namati Legal Empowerment Network, a global network of legal practitioners. The recording of that webinar is embedded below. Back in May of 2016, we noticed a discussion thread on the Namati community discussion platform in which members were sharing […]
We recently learned of a human rights organization that had their offices broken into and their computers stolen. Sadly, this is nothing new. Human rights groups are often targeted for the important information they have (evidence of abuse, documentation on corruption, witness testimonies, etc). In this case, however, the organization took all the right steps […]
Often, when people hear “human rights documentation” they think of the practice of collecting, recording and documenting human rights violations. This “event” method of documentation is important for various reasons, including judicial, historical, educational or archiving. It is the method that is used most frequently by most human rights groups. But there is another, complementary […]
Summary now available! From mobilising supporters, to organising interviews, to fundraising, to persuading decision-makers, relationships are at the heart of human rights work. This is why it’s so important to have a system to document and manage these relationships. There are many Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) systems out there to help manage this information, but […]
We’re thrilled to share news about the launch of the online African Child Rights Case Law Database! This online database (available in English and French) was commissioned by African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and was created in collaboration with the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa […]
Those who are managing human rights archives and records now have a new set of principles and duties to further professionalize, support, and protect their work. The “Basic Principles on the Role of Archivists and Records Managers in Support of Human Rights” have been developed by the Human Rights Working Group of the International Council […]
It’s easy to de-prioritize dealing with that room full of paper that has accumulated over the years – the many reports, letters, books, press clippings, images, etc. But there are some important reasons why it’s worth giving some attention to your paper-based archive. This article explains the importance of digitising human rights archives, and will […]
Our friends and colleagues joined us a couple of weeks ago to say good-bye to Daniel D’Esposito, who stepped down as HURIDOCS’ executive director at the end of September. Many companions from his eleven-year tenure at HURIDOCS came to share stories, laughter and heartfelt appreciation. HURIDOCS would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to Daniel […]
In the human rights field, communities of practice and knowledge management provide important benefits to our work: The ongoing collection of new knowledge and lessons-learned. The human rights field and technology is changing so fast – new tools are being built and existing tools are being improved or retired – we need an adaptive and […]
