Communication,Advocacy & Development Activism – Winner 2014

Project Title : Shorob, Bangladesh
Contact Person: Nuruddin Ahmed
Email: nuruddin.ahmed1@gmail.com
Country :Afghanistan
Website : www.shorob.com
Faceook Page : www.facebook.com/shorob.bd/photos_stream

Founded in 2011, www.shorob.com (‘shorob’ means ‘vocal’ in Bengali) is a Bengali blog platform that promotes positivity, plurality and democracy. It also has a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/shorob.bd/timeline). The blog has over 250 writers and 12,000 monthly visitors. Within the last 3 years, Shorobhas reached out to over 225,000 Bengali speaking youth all over the world. Shorob published the first ever ebook on mathematics in Bengali and translated the ‘Charter of Compassion’ in Bengali for the first time. With its innovative header (which we call ‘banner’) for its blog Shorob promotes positivism and other ideas. Many of its writers are also active volunteers, so it promotes voluntary activism too.

Shorob posted video blog about a philanthropist rickshaw-puller even before CNN later on featured him in the ‘CNN Heroes’.Shorob’s android application on the constitution of Bangladesh has been downloaded over 10,000 times. Unlike the other Bengali blog platforms, philosophically shorob.com remains completely neutral, untouched by factional infighting characterizing most of the other platforms. This gives it an amazing acceptability amongst the young and educated readers.It has also trained over 80 young online activists. Its android application on the constitution of Bangladesh has been downloaded almost 10,000times.

Project Title : YouthNet
Contact Person: LezoPutsure
Email: aliciaCshepard@gmail.com
Country : India
Website : www.youthnet.org.in
Faceook Page : www.facebook.com/groups/211556155527637/ 949047578445154/?notif_t=group_activity

YouthNet is a non-profit organisation launched by a group of young professionals in Kohima, Nagaland in February, 2006. In February 2011, it launched Nagaland’s only employment-oriented news weekly YouthNet Opportunity Express (YNOX). On March 6, 2011 the weekly also launched its Facebook page of the same name. The objective of the publicationand also the Facebook page is to provide information to the youth of Nagaland about the different employment, education and skill development opportunities offered by the Government of Nagaland and other institutions as well as opportunities outside the state. Published every Friday, the weekly includes information on job openings, scholarships, recruitments, vacancies, admissions, etc.

The publication also feature successful individuals in various fields and educational articles for students apart from some fun trivia and a page for readers’ discussions and debates on various issues.Its Facebook page is being accessed by more than 42,000 people including even those belonging to rural villages since people can access Facebook even from their phones. By profiling them, the page has promoted the brands and products of several local entrepreneurs. Over 350 people have got jobs through the Facebok page and by networking with different professionals, the organisationhas successfully conducted two major job and career fairs.

Project Title : Accountability Lab’s nalibeli project
Contact Person : Anne Sophie Lambert
Email : annelambert@accountabilitylab.org
Country : Washington
Website : www.accountabilitylab.org
Faceook Page : www.facebook.com/impassionafghanistan

Accountability Lab is a global not for profit organisation which empowers citizens to build creative tools for integrity and anti-corruption in their communities. The Lab’s Nepali team launched the Nalibeli project comprising an online crowdsourcing platform and various offline activities to help citizens in Nepal navigate complicated public services and make more informed decisions about issues that affect their lives. The online platform is an open-source wiki containing hundreds of organized pages of information on government processes all the way down to the municipal level in all areas of Nepal. It provides step-by-step instructions on how to access basic services, including: how to obtain a birth certificate, citizenship or disability card, marriage license or passport; renew a driver’s license; apply for university; receive a pension;sell land etc.

The platform is designed to be user-friendly and easily navigable, and can be read in English or Nepali. Nalibeli serves as a platform for gathering, synthesizing and disseminating knowledgeessential to people’s quality of life. It includes several offline components, from support networks to discussion series, designed to increase its reach and impact in the community. So far, in just over a year the wiki site has received over 200,000 hits.