PHA-Exchange> Food for a necessary, but not sufficient thought
claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn
claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn
Wed May 26 12:47:28 PDT 2004
Human Rights Reader 71
REMEMBER?: RIGHTS MEAN NOT ONLY HAVING A RIGHT TO SOMETHING, BUT ALSO CLAIMING
THAT RIGHT FROM APPROPRIATE DUTY-BEARERS.
1. For decades the Development School and the Human Rights (HR) School had
progressed in a parallel manner with very limited exchange and interaction. It
is only recently that both schools have started merging.
2. Human development is now understood as a necessary, but not sufficient
condition for the achievement of HR.
3. Why? Because the HR-based approach requires that communities be empowered in
a way that service-delivery-focused-basic-needs-strategies cannot (and have
not) normally achieve(d).
4. Also, as opposed to needs, rights are inalienable, i.e., they cannot be
taken away.
5. Still at present, a very limited proportion of resources of UN and other aid
agencies and NGOs actually contribute to really developing-critical-capacities-
within-communities in a manner that empowers-the-most-vulnerable-segments-of-
the-population-to-claim-their-rights.
6. Perhaps refreshing our minds, here, is useful:
Civil an Political Rights are: the rights to life; to freedom from slavery,
servitude and forced labor; the rights to liberty and security, to freedom of
movement, to equality before the law, to freedom of thought, conscience and
religion, to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly; also the right to
vote and be elected; and the rights of every child to be registered, have a
name and a nationality.
Social Economic and Cultural Rights are: the rights to work and to unionize;
the rights to social security, to food, to education and to health; and also
the rights of children to be protected from exploitation and work that is
harmful to their development.
7. Furthermore, all individuals have both rights and duties, except for very
young children who have no duties.
8. Civil and political rights are defined as specific demands that must be
fulfilled (ruled by Obligations of Result) while the requirements to fulfill
social, economic and cultural rights are left more ambiguous by the respective
UN Covenants --dependent on the availability of resources (ruled by Obligations
of Conduct). But scarcity of resources, as we have said before, does not
relieve States of minimum obligations as regards the implementation of social,
economic and cultural rights!
9. As I think has been made plenty clear in this Reader, assisting people to
assert their rights, most often means getting involved in political processes.
10. Why? Because rights are precisely violated due to the fact that claim-
holders lack the capacity to claim their rights, and/or duty-bearers lack the
capacity (or dodge their responsibility) to meet their duties.
11. Introducing the concepts of obligation, duty, and roles and
responsibilities to duty-bearers is, therefore, crucial to empower them.
12. On the other hand, marginalized people (those who do not enjoy many rights
and develop coping strategies that allow them merely to survive, but not to
attain the majority of their rights) can only make effective claims if they
have the ability to alter the social context where they live and are empowered
to negotiate changes with those who hold power. This has to start by giving
claim-holders better access to information, to duty-bearers and to the networks
around decision-makers.
13. It has, therefore, been variously said that the HR approach is about:
- Giving voice to claim-holders and building the listening skills of duty-
bearers.
- Only when claim-holders communicate with duty-bearers on an equal footing
will the power structure be altered in a way conducive to overcome all HR
violations.
- Both solidarity and empowerment are vehicles to help people claiming their
rights.
- The HR approach often demands an in-depth political analysis and an ensuing
commensurate engagement; a better understanding of the political economy of the
countries where we work is, therefore, a must. and
- When duty-bearers are unwilling, political development and action may be
required before HR programming can be possible.
14. In this context, always keep in mind that the motivation for HR is based on
a-desire-for-justice, not simply on benevolence. This is easy to say, but not
so easy to achieve
; such a value needs to be actively internalized. So, it is
us who need to engage in increasing the pool of justice-conscious and rights-
conscious people.
15. In many communities, HR values need to be promoted from above, because they
have not yet been internalized by the people. (HR advocacy, used as a
technique, will have to be used to build commitment for more rights-oriented
processes at various levels). But we have to avoid situations in which HR are
seen as imported-values-that-impose-on-local-cultural-beliefs. For this, we
have to engage in an open debate with government and civil society partners.
16. The worst tactic is to impose the transition to a HR-based approach (HRAP)
by fast-tracking. More sensitization and in-depth training on the HRAP is
needed. Good time has to be spent on training a core group. Then one can move
on to district trainers and facilitators and finally to community mobilizers;
all this with the aim of developing HR-based community action plans.
Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City
claudio at hcmc.netnam.vn
-------------------------
Mostly taken from Urban Jonssons book Human Rights Approach to Development
Programming, UNICEF, ESARO, April 2003.
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