PRISM Tool and Facilitator Handbook

Human rights faces widely documented challenges from authoritarianism, populism and states proclaiming human rights but failing to uphold them. Civil society organisations that work on human rights also face challenges from within the system: competition for funding, and pressures to demonstrate measurable results across short timescales. A common response to such challenges is for organisations to narrow their scope and focus on short- or medium-term goals. As a result, we are at risk of neglecting what is needed to achieve the longer-term human rights goals. 

The Platform for Rights Impact Strategy Mapping (PRISM) was conceived in response to these challenges. It enables human rights organisations to strategically reflect on their work in relation to the larger movement for human rights and the goal of all rights for all people, by helping organisations align their strategies to that longer-term goal. It does so by encouraging reflection and strategic thinking with respect to how individual organisations can contribute to the movement and the ambition for fully rights respecting states. 

The tool helps organisations: 

• By providing a language and framework for internal exploration, and to help make the case for longer-term human rights work with funders and supporters. 
• To reflect on their strategies in relation to the needs of the broader human rights community. 
• To plan purposeful collaboration with others to contribute towards achieving the long-term goals of human rights. 

The tool is intended to be used as part of a facilitated workshop, and particularly helpful at times when organisations are undertaking strategic planning or review. The process begins with a survey to help map an organisation’s position across seven key components. It then seeks to explore each of these in detail, reflecting on current capabilities and strategies, and consider how organisations can contribute to the broader human rights movement.