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About Mzalendo Trust
Mzalendo Trust was founded in 2013, with an endeavour to promote public participation, openness and inclusivity in the decision-making process. Mzalendo seeks to bridge the gap between policymaking and citizen participation. Mzalendo seeks to contribute to the implementation of the digital rights and access to information legal regimes. The organization seeks to creatively and constructively inform the evolving digital rights and access to information discourse. It aims to boost civic awareness on digital rights and access to information and to increase civic engagement in improving corresponding regulation.
About Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 21 organizations working in over 60 countries worldwide seeking to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice around the world. Oxfam is determined to change that world by mobilizing the power of people against poverty. Around the world, Oxfam works to find practical, innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive. We save lives and help rebuild livelihoods when crisis strikes. And we campaign so that the voices of the poor influence the local and global decisions that affect them. In all we do, Oxfam works with partners, public and private sector institutions alongside vulnerable women and men to end the injustices that cause poverty.
About the project
ReCIPE (Recentering the Civic Internet through Partner Engagement) is an Oxfam-led multi-country and multi-annual project supported by the European Union (EU). The project will be implemented for 3 years in 10 countries across the world namely Senegal, Tunisia, Kenya, Somalia, Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Uganda, Cambodia, Vietnam, El Salvador, and Bolivia.
The project aims to cultivate a rights-respecting digital ecosystem that is value-based, human-centric and safe for civil society actors and human rights defenders.” ReCIPE’s three specific objectives feeding into the overall goal are: 1) increase collaboration between the ‘Global South’ and ‘Global North’ to create vibrant and safe online civic spaces, 2) improve digital rights mechanisms and policies that make governments and corporate actors accountable, and 3) foster equitable access to safe and secure online social and political activities.
The ReCIPE Project's capacity-building interventions also aim to address significant knowledge gaps in digital rights through a participatory and inclusive approach. As part of this initiative, a survey has been conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the current digital landscape. Firstly, the survey seeks to assess the capacities of the target groups, identifying knowledge gaps related to digital security and their ability to respond to challenges encountered online. By understanding where the target groups currently stand, the project can better address their needs in terms of skill-building and resilience against online threats. Further, the survey captures insights into the target groups' lived experiences with how both government and other stakeholders address digital safety concerns. This will help reveal whether existing efforts are perceived as effective, and where gaps in protection might exist.
Contextual background
Kenya, has in the recent past, gradually experienced a shrinking space for civil society, resulting from laws restricting freedom of expression and information, in the media and emerging digital spaces. Policy implementation at the National Level as well as its connection with public participation and the enjoyment of democratic freedoms in line with regional and global commitments remain a challenge.
In Kenya, there are policies that unduly limit the freedom of expression online and restrict the work of journalists, independent state institutions and youth activists, among others, that have been enacted. Journalists reporting on ‘sensitive’ topics – misappropriation of public funds, politics, security and counter-terrorism issues – have been arrested, questioned, and detained, including for sharing information via social media platforms. Laws on hate speech and cybercrimes such as the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act which are used to prosecute critical voices and dissidents online. The impact of this closing space has been a notable decline in people's participation in decision-making and governance processes and the censorship of individuals and CSOs. Human rights defenders who have taken to social media without full realisation of the need for digital protection and security and with little regard for physical and digital safety, are increasingly coming under attack online and offline and the internet has become the new frontier for restricting freedom of expression.
Categories: tors Consultancy
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