Democracy or free and fair elections alone are not enough to protect the rights of the disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. The need for an independent and objective human rights organization in safeguarding basic human rights of the people of Bangladesh is strongly felt. In 2006, a group of human rights activists initiated discussions and underscored the need to uphold the social, cultural and economic rights of the people of Bangladesh. Eventually, a decision was arrived at to form an organization and established in order to advance such rights. In October 2008 PHRAS has gets its legal entity. Participatory Human Rights Advancement Society came into being with the aim to create a wider monitoring and awareness raising system on the abuse of social, cultural and economic rights. The principal objectives of the organization are to raise the awareness of basic human rights and its various abuses and to take participation with National and International agencies. Women, children, religious and ethnic minorities are among the groups that are most vulnerable to human rights abuses. Furthermore, poor peoples inability to access the justice system is blatantly obvious. Keeping this in mind, the organizations missions in rural Bangladesh also play a role in awareness raising among the vulnerable groups. PHRAS always emphasizes the active participation of the grassroots community. It realizes that empowerment is the precondition to establish human rights, which is based on a recognition and faith in peoples own power and resources. With this in mind, PHRAS is working with the vision of society where full enjoyment of human rights by every human being will be ensured.
