Introducing ZimRightsLIVE on the International Day for Universal Access to Information
On 28 September 2020, the International Day for Universal Access to Information, ZimRights will launch its new media bouquet – ZimRightsLIVE. ZimRights LIVE brings together ZimRights’ media platforms incorporating its Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Podcast. In addition, ZimRights will launch its brand new YouTube Channel. These tools are part of ZimRights’ Digital Activism Strategy designed to provide a variety of tools for human rights activists to undertake positive acts to advance the human rights cause.
Speaking ahead of the launch, ZimRights National Director Dzikamai Bere said ZimRights’ Digital Activism Strategy was meant to bring human rights information and advocacy tool into the hands of as many people as possible at the touch of a button.
“In this digital age, many people, especially the young and the diaspora community, are eager to close the borders and build a formidable human rights community. ZimRights is ready to facilitate such a transformation.” Bere said.
This year’s International Day for Universal Access to Information is the first since the 74th UN General Assembly made the resolution in October 2019. The day had been proclaimed by the UNESCO General Conference in 2015, following the adoption of the 38 C/Resolution 57 declaring 28 September of every year as International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI).
Access to information is a human right as expressed in various rights including freedom of expression and freedom of the media as enshrined is section 61 of the Constitution, access to information as enshrined in section 62 of the Constitution, as well as the right to the truth as enshrined in international law. The International Day for Universal Access to Information 2020 focuses on the right to information in times of crisis. It also highlights the advantages of having constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information to save lives, build trust and help the formulation of sustainable policies through and beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
As Zimbabwe tries to deal with COVID-19 pandemic and the massive human rights violations that accompanied him, ZimRights notes that the right to information remains under siege in Zimbabwe. In a crisis, access to information can save lives. For victims of human rights violations, families of the missing, access to information can bring about healing and closure.
As ZimRights LIVE goes live, ZimRights pays tribute to all the experts and artists who have supported the development of the ZimRights LIVE platforms. Because their commitment to human rights over 50 000 people who follow ZimRights LIVE will have access to empowering human rights information. During the week, a number of products will premiere on ZimRights LIVE including the #BeTheChampion4Rights Series, the Devolution Series Season 1, as well as the ZimRights LIVE anthem ‘Africa’ that features on ZimRights monthly podcast ZimRights Audible, an exclusive composition by Cape Town-based Zimbabwean artist Mae Sithole. These will be featured on the ZimRights LIVE Facebook Page as well as the YouTube Channel which goes live for the first time on 28 September 2020. The YouTube Channel and the new content is designed and curated by Nafuna TV, a Harare based Pan-African digital content media company.
Provision of human rights information empowers communities to take a stand for human rights. Through ZimRights LIVE ZimRights seeks to bring human rights information and knowledge to every Zimbabwean in various ways.
