What can we do to protect human rights defenders at risk?

Human Rights Defenders are often kidnapped or killed. Without information about time/place it's impossible to help and with dated information the public’s sense of urgency is lost. There was a need to find a way to identify attacks, protect those at risk and build awareness around the challenges faced by human rights defenders.

The strategic objective was also to position Civil Rights Defenders as a leading tech friendly human rights organization, building partners and protecting those at risk.

The creative solution is to provide individual human rights defenders with GSM/GPS assault alarm hardware and connect it with local partners and social media through those signing up on nataliaproject.org, Facebook/Twitter.

A precise call for action provides the audience with the ability to contribute, redefining the meaning of a like or a follow turning involvement in to a potential life-line.

Natalia Project engages people and disrupts the silence of oppressive regimes by making information about assaults known globally - creating a link between the victims and the world making sure no cry for help goes unnoticed.

The project was launched April 4 and after two weeks the results so far can be divided into four parts:

- Direct response (likes and follows), within in less than a week created a potential reach in social media surpassing 100,000 and growing

- Google hits went from 4,000 to 23m in under four days.

- Donations are up 1,400% compared with previous period

- Earned media with a reach of 1bn+ persons distributed the project, positioning Civil Rights Defenders. The effect of Natalia Project on the Civil Rights Defenders brand has yet to be calculated.

The idea of the assault alarm solves several problems:

- The attacks are made know and information about time and position is provided.

- Individual human rights defenders are connected to local support that can come to the rescue.

- The link to social media provides a genuine sense of urgency and provides the public with clear call for action. To amplify any signal of distress and put pressure on oppressive regimes, instantly.

Natalia Project as a vehicle, reaching 1 billion in earned media, positions Civil Rights Defenders as a force for driving change, building direct relationships with local partners.