Bukavu, 17 February 2012 – The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office (UNJHRO) organized on Friday, 17 February 2012, in Bukavu, Sud Kivu province, a meeting with local Human Rights activists to commemorate the Human Rights Day focused on "Social Medias and Human Rights". The objective of the meeting was to respond to the 10 December 2011 appeal launched by Navy Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, for people "to join the social networks campaign designed to help more people to get familiar with, uphold and defend the human rights."

The commemoration provided an opportunity to make the role of the social Medias known to the public, as they are defined as "the tools that help Human rights activists get promotion and protection-related messages across." Not everyone can access Internet as a medium of communication in the Sud-Kivu province, unlike other communication tools such as the radio, the television and the print media. However, participants suggested other means of communication such as text messages that are less expensive, faster and more accessible to facilitate exchange of information.

Sud Kivu judiciary officials attending the commemoration explained their activity as part of the judiciary investigations as well as their engagement with human rights activists.

It is worth recalling that in December 2011, in a press conference, UNJHRO urged media professionals in the Sud-Kivu province to spread the social media concepts and ensure that the population effectively uses this tool to make human rights promotion a reality.