An EAVA Artists Programme
Africa's rights narratives, made visible.
Root Signal continuously monitors how media and public actors frame human rights and inclusion across East Africa—in the languages people speak.
Monitor
Live Monitoring Status
Pilot coverage
Root Signal currently has 1 verified signal published — below the 10needed for us to responsibly show trends, rankings, or narrative trajectories. We show this honestly rather than presenting percentages a handful of records can't support. What's currently monitored is listed above; trend analysis will appear here automatically once coverage crosses that threshold.
Monitor
Latest Verified Signals
Reviewed media, public-platform, and civic-conversation signals from across East Africa.
Narrative Monitoring
Framing & Rising Topics
Narrative Framing Overview
A published framing codebook — classifying how media and public actors discuss rights and inclusion (morality, foreign influence, sovereignty, legal/constitutional, and similar frames) — is in active development and not yet publishing data. This section will show real framing breakdowns once that coding work is live and reviewed.
Read our methodology →Rising Topics
Coverage
Countries & Languages Covered
In Development
Narrative & Incident Connections
Root Signal is building a connection layer that links monitored narratives — the signals, frames, and actors around a story — directly to verified incidents, so the public conversation and the documented event can be read side by side. No verified incident is linked to monitoring data yet, so nothing is shown here rather than an example that isn't real.
Research
Latest Briefings & Research
Editorial analysis drawing on incident and media monitoring data.
Governance
Land Rights Disputes in Northern Uganda — Preliminary Findings
Early findings from an ongoing investigation into land rights disputes; not yet ready for publication.
Civil Liberties
Patterns of Arbitrary Detention in Kampala Metropolitan Area
An analysis of arbitrary detention reports collected over the past quarter shows a concentration of incidents around three police divisions.
Civil Liberties
Tracking the Response to Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation in East Africa
A regional review of legal challenges, community support networks, and media coverage following recent legislative developments.
News
Latest News
Reporting and dispatches from communities across the region.
Africa News
Zimbabwe Extends Presidential Terms and Ends Direct Election of President
Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has signed a constitutional amendment extending presidential terms from five to seven years and replacing direct presidential elections with a parliamentary selection process. Human rights groups say the changes, ac
News Release
Nairobi Communities Report Surge in Police Harassment During Protests
Community monitors documented a sharp rise in reports of excessive force and arbitrary detention during the past month of demonstrations.
Africa News
DR Congo Security Forces Accused of Excessive Force During Kinshasa Protest
Human Rights Watch has accused security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo of using excessive force against protesters opposing proposed constitutional changes that could extend President Félix Tshisekedi’s time in office. The June 12 demonstratio
Dispatches
Kampala Families Face Forced Eviction Amid Disputed Land Claims
Dozens of families in a Kampala suburb say they received eviction notices with less than 48 hours' warning.
Trust
Methodology & Verification
Who Uses the Data
Who We Serve
Rights groups, researchers, funders, and media — with incident reporting open to the communities we monitor on behalf of.
Legal Alerts
Latest Legal Alerts
Verified civic and rights updates, published as they're confirmed.
Reports
Reports & Briefs
Published, verified incident reports — the second, connected spine of the platform.
No featured reports yet.
Topics
Core Themes
Browse incidents by theme.
Downloadable Resources
Guides & Checklists
Free downloads on your rights, documenting evidence, and navigating the legal system.
Get Involved