TANZANIA | Lodging and Reporting Human Rights Violations through SMS

In the year 2013 the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) Tanzania has introduced the SMS for Human Rights System, which aims at improving service delivery targeting disadvantageous citizens women, children and elders who cannot access CHRAGG’s services through visits, e-mails or phone calls.

The SMS for Human Rights aim at enabling citizen who cannot access Commission’s services through physical visit, telephone call, e-mail or through postal to submit their complaints and get instant reply through short messaging system using their mobile phones. The idea emanated from the fact that, Commission’s services for receiving citizen’s complaints is very low due to the big geographical coverage of the country and few offices based in four regions Dar es salaam, Zanzibar, Mwanza and Lindi only out of 30 regions. The SMS for Human Rights is connected to the Complaints Case Management System which is up and running.

Prior to the full use of the system, CHRAGG conducted awareness programmes in sixteen regions of the United Republic of Tanzania that targeted the general public, students from primary and secondary schools, teachers and colleges for system sustainability. Learning institutions were key targets due to its multiplication effect. The use of SMS has made the information accessibly easier and within a short time. The uses of mobile phones in Tanzania are affordable and are cost effective. Also a lot of citizens in rural areas can easily own and operate mobile phones unlike other media such as emails, fax and letters.

Currently, complainants are no longer required to travel long distances to get access to the CHRAGG’s services.  By using mobile phone people are now sending SMS report to the Commission and SMS web-based reporting tool will capture data though the SMS stock count messages available through a secure reporting website. About 900 complaints through SMS have been registered so far since the launch of the system in June, 2013.

Therefore, the work of CHRAGG as the National Human Rights Institution and the National machinery that promotes and protects human rights and principles of good governance has being improved by taking its services closer to the citizen. The expectation on the use of the system is to lodge complaints easily and timely resolution specifically from rural areas population which is estimated to be above 38milion.

Source: Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG), Tanzania