Karapatan sa Malikhaing Paraan (KaSaMa) 2011

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The Philippines government is a signatory to several international human rights treaties, which obligates it to respect, protect and promote the dignity of individuals. However, human rights violations are an on-going concern for the country as displayed by cases of extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations. Since human rights violations are not only an affront to citizens of countries but to humanity as a whole, the international community has responded to domestic human rights issues by providing support through funding  local human rights civil society groups.

However, previous funding support has been limited to the conventional modes of interventions such as trainings, education sessions, and similar activities. With increasing difficulties faced by human rights victims and advocates alike, new, innovative and more responsive human rights initiatives should be implemented. Hence, in 2009, international development agencies, embassies and funding institutions met to support a mechanism to generate funds and encourage innovation, risk-taking, and determination in addressing perennial human rights issues. Thus, Karapatan sa Malikhaing Paraan or KaSaMa was organized and formally launched in October 13, 2009 at the University of the Philippines and was attended and supported by former Philippine Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Leila M. de Lima.

KaSaMa is a funding initiative by international partners to support innovative human rights projects. It invites human rights advocates nationwide to craft and submit innovative proposals, which would respond to a wide range of human rights issues and themes such as civil, politicial, economic, social, and cultural rights.

KaSaMa was initiated in 2009 by several international partners, who came together and supported the first round. These were the Australian Embassy, British Embassy, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, The Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines, New Zealand Embassy, Spanish Embassy, The Asia Foundation, and the United Nations Development Programme.

During its first run, a total of 212 proposals were received and screened. From the total, there were 12 innovative proposals, which were selected based on the following set of criteria namely: innovation/creativity, potential impact/added value, organizational capacity, and cost effectiveness. The final proposals were given funding and publicly acknowledge in an awarding ceremony last December 9, 2009.

The first round of KaSaMa not only provided innovative human rights projects the opportunity to address various human rights issues but also paved the way for an effective way to link various sources of support for human rights initiatives. KaSaMa, per se, is already a success story. It represents a multilateral converge of efforts from different stakeholders to address human rights issues of the country.

KaSaMa 2011: The Search for Innovative Philippine Human Rights Initiative is once again inviting human rights advocates to join and submit innovative human rights projects proposals.

Please contact the following KaSaMa contact information for enquiries:

Telephone/Fax Number: (02) 920-2920 or 426-6001 local 4644
Email: info@kasama.ph
Website: http://www.kasama.ph
Mail/Post to: Ateneo School of Government, Pacifico Ortiz Hall, Social Development Complex, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City
 
Contact Person: Phillip Don Recentes, Coordinator, KaSaMa Secretariat

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The Australian Embassy, British Embassy, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, New Zealand Embassy and  Spanish Embassy, through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation have joined efforts to organize this round of KaSaMa and have pledged resources to support KaSaMa 2011 and its activities.

To implement this (second) round, a consortium of three civil society organizations experienced in project management, civil society coordination and engagement on human rights issues agreed to take on the secretariat responsibilities and functions. The consortium is composed of: the Caucus of Developmental NGO Networks (CODE-NGO), Ateneo School of Government-Government Watch (ASoG G-Watch) and the Ateneo Human Rights Center (AHRC).