In April 2022, Global Rights Compliance’s Starvation team released the second edition of our unique Starvation Training Manual (available in Arabic and English and currently being translated into Ukrainian), the first practitioners guide and investigative tool on starvation and other conflict and hunger crimes, abuses and violations.
In the months after, GRC’s cutting-edge Starvation team together with Interstitial Technology created the first-of-its-kind Starvation Accountability App. Marrying technology and international law, this portable and easy-to-navigate toolkit on the legal, investigative, and remedy options available to address starvation crimes seeks to service a broad spectrum of practitioners, including: human rights defenders, professional investigators, humanitarian workers, victim advocacy groups, frontline journalists, policy advisors or academic researchers. The app is designed for all practitioners seeking to identify the deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war, strengthen protection strategies, insulate reporting and responses, and pursue accountability.
The beta version released in September 2022 has received consistent and overwhelming praise, regarding its utility and usability, from our test users. The App is free to download from Google Play and the Apple App Store.
The App is free to download on both Android and Apple devices
The App was developed with the needs and preferences of its target users firmly in mind. Its contents, format, and functionality were proposed and reviewed by a range of experts and field-based practitioners. Its design was informed by a multi-year training programme with CSOs, humanitarian agencies, journalists, investigators, war crimes units, judges, prosecutors and other experts.
The safety of App users is front and center in its design. The App does not collect any user data. Once the contents are loaded through a secure network, the App runs completely offline, leaving no trace of the user’s identifying information or whereabouts.
The Starvation App was developed in line with GRC’s Basic Investigative Standard Manual and the BIS App. The BIS-KIT for Ukraine App will launch in 2023. GRC continue to be the market leaders in legal innovation.
The Starvation App and Manual were developed with the generous support of the Kingdom of the Netherlands who have consistently supported the conflict and hunger agenda since 2017.
App Preview & Quick User Guide
The App contains four tabs (at the bottom from left to right): Home, Library, Saved Items, Templates & Checklists.
In the App, you can browse the Starvation Library to read succinct versions of selected contents, consult the glossary for terminology, or view diagrams to have a better visual grasp of the issue. Whilst the Starvation Manual is more comprehensive in scope and depth, the App Library can provide a quick refresher on the go. With the key reference materials listed in each page, the Library can also serve as a convenient start pointing for some legal research.
Left: Expand the tree structure to see the subheadings in the Library.
Right: Consult the key sources for further readings
When you come across items of interest, the bookmark icon on the page allows you to save it to read later. The collection of these items can be found in the Saved Items tab. Through this function, you can create your own curated reading list.
Left: Save a page by tapping on the bookmark icon in the top right corner of the page.
Right: The bookmarked page will appear in ‘Saved Items’
You can search keywords using the search icon. You can search either across the entire App or within the page you are reading. A supplementary search (in addition to manually going through the Library) can be a particularly useful tool, to make sure that you have consulted all relevant resources in the Library.
Search across the App using keyword(s).
In the last tab of the App, you can find relevant Templates & Checklists for your research, investigation, or advocacy work. You have the option of browsing through all of the recommended forms, or through our thematic set menus. The forms are available to view on the App itself. When you have a safe internet connection, you can send the form(s) to yourself or to your colleagues.
Left: Browse through the Templates & Checklists
Right: Tap to view. (Multi-)select to export.
