AWARENESS AND ADVOCACY Human rights awareness is vital in informing people of their rights. Unless people are aware of their human rights, they cannot protect themselves or seek redressal when their rights are violated. NCHR’s Awareness and Advocacy function includes spreading human rights literacy, promoting awareness of human rights safeguards and working to create an atmosphere of empathy and tolerance. And norm development. Social Media Campaigns NCHR has run several awareness campaigns on social media since it was reconstituted in December 2021. These campaigns are run across NCHR’s social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. These campaigns are centred around international days observed around human rights as well as NCHR’s projects, events, and knowledge production outputs. Systemic Discrimination of Sanitation Workers NCHR’s first social media campaign was on the systemic discrimination of sanitation workers. NCHR found that while Christians comprise of only 1.5% of Pakistan’s population, they account for more than 80% of the country’s sanitation workforce. The campaign included a film by Sharmeen Obaid which was screened, and excerpts posted online, highlighting the plight of the families of two sanitation workers who died from lack of protective equipment in the sewers. NCHR also showcased examples of discriminatory advertisements (pictured below) taken from newspapers across the country, and found influential persons (pictured below) to speak on the issue through NCHR’s platform. International Women’s Day On 8th March, NCHR celebrated Pakistani women in sports, highlighting their achievements and stories of resilience in the face of gender discrimination and bias. Girls and women who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem and lower levels of depression. Girls and women who play sports have a more positive body image and experience higher states of psychological 28