BECOMING A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER IN GHANA

Ever noticed that most of the cases raised against and by bloggers, journalists, editors, social media influencers revolve around human rights and the law? Unfortunately, we sometimes tend to take lightly the fact that we are accountable for what we say and write.

The Africa Center for International Law & Accountability (ACILA) is an officially recognized non - governmental organization in the United States of America and Ghana. It has International law, International justice, International Human Rights, Monitoring African States' compliance with regional and international instruments, Good governance, Anti-corruption and Rule of Law as its areas of focus.

Due to its Human Rights Defenders project, ACILA organized a human rights themed workshop for editors, journalists, bloggers and social media influencers. According to Mr. William Nyarko (ACILA Executive Director), the goal was to "enhance the capacity of Ghanaian Bloggers and Social Media Influencers on how to use technology to advocate the protection, promotion, and respect for the rights of all persons in Ghana in accordance with Ghana’s obligations under domestic and international human rights law”. (Senyo, Efo. "ACILA to train 60 Bloggers and Social Media Influencers on Human Rights." Awake News Online, 11 November 2018, awakenewsonline.com/acila-to-train-60-bloggers-and-social-media-influencers-on-human-rights. Accessed 4 December 2018.)

The workshop was in two sections - the northern sector and southern sector. The northern sector workshop was held on 22 - 23 November, 2018 at Royal LaMerta Hotel in Ahodow, Kumasi for 30 bloggers and social media influencers from the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Region.  The southern sector workshop was held on 26 - 27 November, 2018 in the ACILA Office at the Airport Residential Area, Accra for 30 bloggers and social media influencers from the Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Western and Volta Regions. The major activities were as follows;

Day 1
1. A presentation on Ghana's Obligations under Domestic Human Rights Law by Mr. Zakaria Tanko Musah (Private Legal Practitioner and Lecturer at Ghana Institute of Journalism)
2. A presentation on the Tools and Techniques for Investigating and Reporting on Human Rights Cases by Mr. William Nyarko (ACILA Executive Director)
3. Presentation of ACILA's Findings and Discussion by Mr. Kojo Impraim (Lead Researcher)

Day 2
1. A presentation on Using Social Media To Influence Policies and Opinions by Mr. Francis Kennedy Ocloo (The Awareness - General)
2. Registration and Induction of Participants into Human Rights Defenders, Ghana which is a subsidiary of ACILA backed by a UN General Assembly resolution for the promotion, protection and respect of human rights in Ghana.

My Review: It was an absolute privilege to be part of this workshop as I have been blogging for under a year. It was fully funded which meant no one incurred any cost which was a plus. It was a great opportunity to socialize with bloggers of different niches and social media influencers on different scales. It was educational, insightful and fun. I highly commend ACILA on this initiative as it has been overlooked and its entire work so far.

Highlight: When dealing with the human rights of individuals, it is best to do it setting aside anything that'll conflict it such as religion, personal morals or preferences.
This is very much important especially with LGBTI or uncommon disorders.
The rights of the minority in the society must be prioritized and respected so that they can peacefully focus on improving their potential amidst their 'special' needs/issues.
The way one acts in relation to human rights should be at par with the knowledge one has acquired. This is to say that mob action and stigmatization must STOP!!!

Note: There will be a residential review workshop this weekend. 30 people out of the 300 editors, 180 reporters and 60 bloggers/social media influencers interacted with will be chosen for this program. It involves a presentation of a report on the work done by ACILA followed by a review by participants and provision of suggestions for improvement.

Check www.acila.org for more information on this and other related issues involving ACILA.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS DAY!!!