Established in 2007, MARUAH Is a Human Rights Non-Governmental Organisation Based in Singapore

About MARUAH

Established in 2007, MARUAH is a Human Rights Non-Governmental Organisation based in Singapore. “MARUAH” means “Dignity” in Malay, Singapore’s national language. We are a group of diverse individuals who are committed to raising awareness on human rights and issues of social justice. We believe that much of what we can do to realize dignity in our everyday lives, comes from a rights-based approach to self and to others. We premise much of our work on the aspirations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on which Singapore’s Constitution too has been founded.

MARUAH is non-partisan that is we are not aligned to any political party and members are not members of political parties, though some of them do volunteer. The government gazetted MARUAH as a political organization in 2010 under the Public Donations Act which means we can only receive funds from Singaporeans or Singaporean owned institutions.

MARUAH is the Singapore focal point for the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism. MARUAH is a member of the International Council on Social Welfare.

Areas of Work Our work at MARUAH covers three primary areas; Research, Advocacy and Public Education.

Research MARUAH’s research projects cover issues that are pertinent to deepening an understanding on human rights values. We are working on the following as research projects covering  A review of the Election System  Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.  Key ASEAN documents such as the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and Community Blueprints for development  Legal Frameworks on Trafficking  Death Penalty  Access to Justice

Advocacy One of our key roles is to advocate strongly to the government, their agencies and key stakeholders including the general public on human rights violations and the areas in which we fall short of our international obligations as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international documents to which we are signatories. Advocacy projects range from highlighting issues in the local media to organising forums on pertinent hot-topic issues such as our recent public discussions on “Freedom of Expression & Democracy” and “Foreign Workers, Justice and Fairness”. We are also keen to run many e-campaigns as we have done so in the past on Migrant Worker Rights, Disability Rights, Freedom for Madam Daw Aung Suu Kyi and Death Penalty.

Public Education Human Rights education cuts across many issues. But the knowledge on universal norms, personal responsibilities, collective objectives, humanitarianism and customary laws are areas that need much exploration and discussion. MARUAH strongly believes in engaging the public in discussion as the awareness and participation of the citizenry are vital to a successful democracy.

Why MARUAH

Interning or volunteering with MARUAH will be enriching, enticing and exciting. There is much to do, and we will need all the hands-on-deck too as we develop expertise for each other.

MARUAH gives you the opportunity to take ownership of a project. Our interns are involved at every stage from germination of the project to its final completion whether in the form of a position paper, a public forum or an education campaign.

Currently, interns take on specific projects in their areas of interest that also matches ours. Or interns can help us plenty with the numerous administrative and organisational development tasks that we have. They can also increase for us the outreach through social media.

Most importantly, MARUAH interns should be individuals who are motivated to work in the Human Rights field, and show commitment to advancing the causes we support and come in with the right attitude. Interns are guaranteed a steep but vital learning experience, which will come in useful in their future careers.