Rights Live project

Project overview:

Utilizing highly innovative and sensitive mechanisms, the project addresses the necessity to raise the awareness of Palestinian citizens in four thematic areas (family law, tribal law, women & gender rights, and labor law), which are of top concern in the Southern West Bank, and especially regarding women. Rights LIVE visited marginalized residents of the Southern West Bank to enhance their knowledge about their legal rights and protections. The project then utilized the experiences of these residents to raise the awareness of the Palestinian community at large about common rights abuses in the targeted thematic areas. This was accomplished by transforming victims’ true accounts into dramatic plays that were performed for the public, and by transforming plays into a 4-part animated short film public service series that is being placed on numerous stakeholder websites, broadcast on Ma’an Satellite TV Station, and promoted through a Guerrilla Marketing Campaign. The raised awareness provided by the project’s activities has increased public opinion towards victims’ rights and justice sector services, and mobilized the public to recognize and prevent future instances of injustice.

Project period:  6 months from 15/11/2016 – 15/5/2017

Project partners:

1. Legal Clinic at Palestine Ahliya University
2. Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR)
3. Wattan TV
4. Youth Development Resources Center YDRC – Hebron
5. Southern Rural Bethlehem Joint Council (SRJC)
6. Beit Fajjar Municipality

The project’s results:

1. The awareness of 156 residents of Southern Rural Bethlehem (Beit Fajar and Marah Mu’allah) was raised in the targeted thematic areas through Awareness Workshops led by PAU law students and representatives of the Independent Commission for Human Rights.
2. True stories of common rights abuses were collected from residents of Southern Rural Bethlehem and transformed into 4 scripted plays.
3. The capacities of 20 youth drama performers were built to raise the public’s awareness about common rights abuses in the thematic areas through high quality live drama performances.
4. Three dramatic performances depicting true stories were held at 3 locations in the Southern West Bank (PAU, PPU, Beit Fajar Secondary School for Girls), and raised the awareness of 641 citizens about common rights abuses in the targeted thematic areas.
5. A vibrant, four-part animated public service series was produced to raise the awareness of Palestinians about common and persistent rights abuses in the thematic areas, how to prevent them, and how to support the victims of rights abuses by utilizing justice sector services.
6. The practical skillsets of 7 media and graphic design students were enhanced by supporting the development and editing of four 1-minute animated short films.
7. The media tool (four-part animated short film public service series) was provided to stakeholders for publication on their social media and stakeholder websites, and broadcast on national television, in order to raise the awareness of the Palestinian public and mobilize them to recognize and prevent injustice.

Links:

8. The Guerrilla Media Campaign maximized the project’s outreach; +100.000 viewers, marketed the performances and the animated public service series, and advocated for positive public opinion towards victims’ rights and justice sector services.