Campaign expands access to rights information in Swahili and online

Policy and Civil Society Partnerships Officer Jonathan Odongo. 

A Kenyan rights campaign is translating articles into Swahili, training youth fact checkers and documenting local stories to make credible information more accessible online.

The initiative has improved more than 600 Wikipedia articles, translated 200 into Swahili and created new biographies of notable Kenyans, including the late lawyer Willie Kimani.

Over the past three years, more than 250 young people have been trained in fact-checking and digital content creation, building a new generation of credible online contributors.

Centred on platforms such as Wikipedia, the project aims to ensure information is accurate, locally relevant and accessible.

It also encourages journalists and storytellers to publish fact-based features that can be cited online, strengthening accuracy and boosting the visibility of Kenyan journalism.

Jonathan Odongo, Policy and Civil Society Partnerships Officer, said access to information underpins public participation and justice.

“We cannot have effective public participation without information. The right to information will have a cascading impact on other rights because when you are informed, you will actively participate,” he noted.

Odongo warned that without accurate and accessible information, communities remain vulnerable to misinformation, citing the carbon market as an example where a lack of understanding prevents people from benefiting.

“The possibility and likelihood of misinformation in this context is really high,” he added.

The campaign is also linking Kenyan voices to global rights debates, including the United Nations declaration on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.