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How do we effectively
protect and defend human rights? We have been involved in
countless human rights trainings, conferences, education
sessions, and mass actions yet human rights violations
continue to exist. With the increasing complexities and
challenges of our times, ingenious ways to uphold people’s
rights must come to fore. We must infuse fresh ideas and
cutting-edge strategies to solve pressing human rights
problems.
This was the realization of international development
agencies, embassies, and funding institutions working on human
rights issues in the Philippines. During one of their regular
coordination meetings early this year, development partners
saw the need to promote and support new approaches to human
rights issues. The suggestion was to pool funds for this
purpose. And that was how KaSaMa - Karapatan sa Malikhaing
Paraan - was born.
KaSaMa is an attempt to foster bold ideas and encourage
innovation, risk-taking, and determination in addressing
perennial human rights concerns. It is a facility for
development partners on one hand to share resources, and for
non-governmental organizations, people’s organizations,
student groups, cooperatives and other private non-profit
organizations, on the other hand, to develop and obtain
funding for their ground-breaking work. KaSaMa is an open
invitation for human rights advocates from various parts of
the country to craft and submit exceptional proposals on a
wide range of human rights issues, civil, political, economic,
social, and cultural rights. The Australian Embassy, Bristish
Embassy, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, European
Commission, New Zealand Embassy, Spanish Embassy, The Asia
Foundation, and the United Nations Development Programme have
joined efforts to organize this pilot round of KaSaMa and have
pledged resources to fund selected innovative proposals. |
