An international human rights charity has developed a personal alarm bracelet using global positioning technology, and is now aiming to raise £400,000 to distribute it to aid workers.

Civil Rights Defenders wants to raise the money so that it can distribute 55 of the alarms to aid workers over the next 18 months.

The Natalia Project bracelet was started by Civil Rights Defenders in memory of Natalia Estemirova, a human rights activist for Memorial, who was abducted and murdered in Chechnya in 2009.

The bracelet uses a mobile signal to notify Civil Rights Defenders of a kidnap and GPS pinpoints the location of the aid worker and informs the relevant authorities.

It also alerts contacts of the kidnapped person who are nearby so that they are able to start social media campaigns to put pressure to the kidnappers.

Robert Hardh, executive director of Civil Rights Defenders, said: “The Natalia Project makes it easy for anyone to contribute to the safety of civil rights defenders to allow them to carry on their crucial work, either showing strength in numbers, by ‘liking’ on social media, or by donating directly to support the ongoing work.”

Civil Rights Defenders is a Swedish non-profit organisation that works with partner organisations around the world to support human rights activists.