I am very excited, with this post, to officially launch the new EarthRights International blog [2], which we quietly soft-launched last week with the publication of a handful of posts written over the last few months. Beginning today you can expect regular weekly posts from our diverse staff, representing each of our programs: our EarthRights Schools, which train activists in Burma and throughout the Mekong region and support the work of hundreds of members in our growing alumni network; our legal team, which litigates in US courts on behalf of people around the world whose earth rights have been violated by governments and transnational corporations; and our campaigners, who document human rights and environmental abuses, pressure corporations to change their behavior, and advocate for better earth rights protections at every level, from the local to the international. You'll also periodically hear from Ka Hsaw Wa and me, as well as our program support staff, on organizational developments and general earth rights issues.

Challenges and Opportunities

One significant challenge we will face, in this new undertaking, is representing ERI's diversity by raising the authentic local voices of our staff, students, alumni and plaintiffs. For purely pragmatic reasons, chiefly security concerns and English, most of our posts are likely to be written by the "Western" members of our staff, particularly in the beginning. However, my personal hope is that, in time, the ERI blog will fulfill one of our most important goals—to provide a forum for individuals and communities whose voices are usually marginalized, ignored or silenced to speak out about the issues that matter most to them. ERI has always worked hard to bring these excluded voices to the forefront.  Whether we’re helping our clients tell their own stories in court and demand justice and accountability for the harms they suffer, training our EarthRights School students in public speaking and media strategy, or bringing our alumni to regional and global policy forums like the Mekong River Commission or the Asian Development Bank, ERI is demanding that law and policy debates traditionally dominated by political and corporate elites include the voices and opinions of those who will either suffer, or benefit, most from those decisions. We truly believe that this blog will offer another crucial forum for the people we serve to raise their voices, tell their stories, and offer new perspectives on earth rights issues — from those at the forefront, whose perspectives matter the most. 

A student at EarthRights School Mekong

A student at EarthRights School Mekong (ERSM).

In addition to raising traditionally excluded local voices, our new blog is also an opportunity for us to talk about topics closely related but peripheral to our work, topics that would be out of place on our organizational homepage. Whether we're drawing attention to a case we aren't involved in or a campaign by another organization, or commenting on a broad range of topics like censorship in China, US government policy towards Burma, or general environmental and human rights issues, the blog will allow our staff, the communities we serve, and our tireless supporters to link complex issues and become more active and engaged in the global conversation around these important movements.

Starting a blog in 2010 instead of 2005 admittedly puts us a bit behind the curve, but launching this new undertaking today is consistent with our recently renewed commitment to communications and technology. In November, we launched our new, redesigned website and simultaneously ramped up our use of social media (you can now follow us on Twitter, "Like" our Facebook page, and join us on Causes), and we have more exciting initiatives coming soon that will aid our staff, our supporters and the communities we serve in raising local voices and organizing meaningful actions. Our legal system tells us that justice is blind, and we have seen law be an equalizing force in our litigation against powerful corporations on behalf of traditionally “powerless” communities, but outside of the courtroom it is often the entire world that is blind, blind to the injustices that happen around us every day. New technologies and media provide amazing opportunities to confront this blindness by shining a spotlight on stories from remote areas of the world, areas that traditional media cannot or does not reach. We at ERI want to use technology to build a bigger and brighter spotlight, and while we've been playing catchup in this arena for the past year, our communications capacity is steadily increasing and we hope to soon be providing tools and best practices for digital advocacy, and demonstrating technology leadership and innovation for other human rights organizations to follow.

Katie Redford co-founded EarthRights International in 1995.

Tech Tip: Don't come to our blog... let our blog come to you!

Many Internet users don't know that you can subscribe to most blogs and other online content using RSS feeds. Watch this fun and simple video [3] to learn more about RSS, and then subscribe to our feed [4].