Social Norms
Social norms action with informed and engaged societies
Social Norms
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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People's Forum for Human Rights, Bhutan (PFHRB)

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PFHRB is an organisation advocating for the human rights of the Bhutanese people, which was established in exile in Jhapa, Nepal. Its members are comprised almost exclusively of refugees who were forced out of Bhutan after 1988. PFHRB works to secure, protect, and safeguard the rights and dignity of every individual in Bhutan irrespective of ethnicity, caste, sex, or religion. Their goals include increasing knowledge about human rights in the Bhutanese community and working for a peaceful resolution of the ethnic crisis that resulted in more than 100,000 refugees being forced to flee their homesteads in Bhutan.
Communication Strategies

Their activities include:

a. documenting violations of human rights, Women and Children Rights of refugees and prisoners, committed by the Bhutanese government

b. archiving documents of refugees that verify Bhutanese residency, citizenship and property

c. monitoring the Nepal-Bhutan Joint Verification process of the Bhutanese Refugees

d. creating awareness of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights by coordinating human rights and Women and Children Rights educational programs, peace negotation of the ethnic conflict for all Bhutanese, within and without Bhutan

e. increasing international awareness of the Bhutanese crisis by publishing pamphlets, booklets and regular updates of the ethnic conflict in Bhutan

f. developing an international campaign for the release of all political prisoners in Bhutan

g. supporting outstanding 11th and 12th grade students for their education, which otherwise would not be funded and sending students abroad to complete their degree

h. sending active refugees to international conferences on human rights and fellowship

Development Issues

Rights, Political Development.

Key Points

Background on the Refugee Crisis:

The Bhutanese people fall into three broad ethnic groups: Ngalongs of Tibetan origin in the west; Sharchhokps of Tibeto-Burman extraction in the east; and Lotshampas of Nepali descent in the south. The Ngalongs and Sharchhokps are mostly Buddhist, while the Lotshampas are generally Hindu.

In 1988, the Bhutanese Government passed and implemented a series of laws denying the nation's ethnic groups the right to freely practice their culture and religion. The traditions of the ruling Ngalong group were imposed throughout the country according to the driglam namzha (code of conduct) policy, which was meant to create a single national culture based on that of the ruling Ngalongs.

As a result of the Bhutanese government's driglam namzha, citizenship, and anti-democracy policies, almost 100,000 refugees currently reside in southeastern Nepal. Approximately 15,000 additional refugees live in some states of India, including West Bengal, Assam, Sikkim and Arunachal Pardesh.

Sources

Letter from D.P.Kafley, General Secretary, PFHRB, to The Rockefeller Foundation, August 27 2001.