- 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.
- Human development is now understood as a necessary, but not sufficient condition for the achievement of HR.
- 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).
- Also, as opposed to needs, rights are inalienable, i.e., they cannot be taken away.
- 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.
- Perhaps refreshing our minds, here, is useful:
Civil and 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.
- Furthermore, all individuals have both rights and duties, except for very young children who have no duties.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.
- Introducing the concepts of ‘obligation’, ‘duty’, and ‘roles and responsibilities’ to duty-bearers is, therefore, crucial to empower them.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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