1. Growth of a veritable human rights network is needed to succeed in coordinating actions that particularly pursue achieving a greater degree of social cohesion, of solidarity, of expanded contacts and of partnerships with other institutions and networks. The latter is important to draw on their experience and thus enable its leaders, activists and volunteers from across the country to jointly encourage greater social commitment in holding authorities accountable to the issues of human rights (HR). Only this will contribute to overcome the reigning indifference about HR.
2. Local organization is to further empower society as a whole, in particular the most excluded and vulnerable groups. This can be achieved in many ways:
• widely spreading short radio messages in simple language, as well as in native languages to ensure people’s understanding;
• engaging natural leaders and the press;
• producing printed materials for community education;
• organizing lectures in marginalized urban and rural areas for diverse groups;
• providing up-to-date, independent information based on evidence to, among other, the health workers and teachers;
• sharing relevant research reports;
• proposing alternative and concrete solutions to authorities (duty bearers);
• demanding greater social participation in the running of social services;
• effectively mobilizing committed students;
• visiting communities to coordinate rural work;
• coordinating activities with trade unions, and
• training new, local and regional activists aiming at growing the network.
3. With these actions, credibility, prestige, respect, social recognition and a gain in credibility is won and the local organization becomes progressively more influential as an active social protagonist and validator of outside knowledge, not just domestically, but also internationally, always committed to the protection of HR.
4. Mobilizing groups of claim holders, is not free of obstacles and risks, including protests and demonstrations of outrage using the media from those who identify groups demanding changes as a risk since community and social empowerment threatens the ruling minority when HR issues are strongly linked to politics, to power relations and to the unfair distribution of resources. What will be sought first is the discrediting of the movement’s leaders subjecting them to rigorous scrutiny in their actions including personal issues. All imaginable ways of intimidation and anonymous threats will be used seeking to undermine the commitment of the participants, in an attempt to damage the relationships and alliances with other institutions. The same minority will also obstruct and undermine these active groups’ access to support and/or possible financing. Additionally, they will try to poison and corrupt some of the members of the movement at the interior of their own ranks.
5. Risks and threats may not only come from the outside, but also from the inside. These will seek to undermine the morale of the leaders, of participating volunteers and of academics committed to support the placing of concrete HR demands; the aim is to attempt dismantling the movement.
6. These growing risks can only be countered with a solid commitment to the HR principles and values that progressively continue to inspire and generate public growing self-confidence. Constantly needed are information-that-can-be-trusted and a continued motivation to raise more and more awareness. In this, the support of public universities, professional schools, professional associations, academics, volunteers, trade unions, progressive political parties and social organizations committed to the progress in HR work can and should be elicited. Only thus can the pressures of powerful interests be countered successfully. Not to be forgotten, the conflicts of interest of some self-proclaimed experts, local, regional and international undermining this type of HR initiatives and actions must also be unmasked.
7. Human rights activism is inseparable from ongoing HR learning, from daily reflecting and more deeply analyzing the determinants of social injustice, of poverty, of uneven and unfair power relations, of inequalities, of the deliberate and perverse weakening of public social services by forces seeking to keep the dependence on the (unfair) rules of the market. These forces also want to avoid people analyzing the growing conflict of interest around decisions that affect people’s rights.
8. All the above inevitably leads to demands for changes in the structures of power, in social policies, in unfair existing regulations… Easier said than done since, one has to be aware, this implies yet greater challenges and more risks. Nevertheless, the experience progressively acquired can and does lead to networks joining together to put forward concrete proposals for regulatory, legislative and eventually constitutional changes by emphasizing the crucial role of including articles that explicitly protect HR.* (We note that past experience shows that constitutional changes laboriously won have, to date, failed to be translated into concrete actions at the operational level favoring people).
*: For those who do not live this experience, it is difficult to understand the passion that awakens when defending HR. They do not adequately value the efforts and courage of others to build this type of movement.
9. Usually, once they grow, HR movements attract common citizens who share a vision, a mission, a common utopia, one that requires high social commitment and sensitivity. Ultimately, a HR movement arises only thanks to the perseverance of highly committed people who believe in the values and principles of greater social justice. As these movements develop, however, there is a risk that new and different actors who join do so with a ‘more pragmatic’ approach, not moved by a genuine social commitment, but seeking easy social recognition, some benefit or figuration and enhancement of their self-esteem.
10. Initially, organizational efforts must have very strong roots in rural and urban peripheral communities, not forgetting the risk of a bureaucratization of activities when engagement in lobbying and advocacy actions neglect the links and contact with the original base communities. Staying faithful to the commitment to empower communities, requires not to neglect the continuous contact with the less favoured and vulnerable groups, interacting with them for an ever renewed clearer understanding of the social, political and economic factors that continue to affect their lives. At the same time, their awareness of their own potential to control their lives has to be ever strengthened. Therefore, it is vital to not only adhere to the movement because of a shared general vision among its members, but also based on people adhering to the values and principles they hold dear.
11. There is then the additional risk of becoming dependent on those who lend these movements financial support and, not in few cases, press to impose their priorities, strategies, and roadmaps for action thus undermining the initial purposes of the movement and its demands. This clearly undercuts the movement pushing certain specific actions that go against a comprehensive holistic HR-based approach and contributing to the fragmentation of the approaches.
12. Moreover, many apparently well-intentioned donors or funders provide support, but based on increasingly technocratic and bureaucratic demands whose purpose, in some cases, really is to to absorb much of the time and efforts of the local actors who, before, dedicated more time to community empowerment and social actions. These funders then press to invest that time in thorough technocratic reports to them.**
**: In other circumstances, these movements work or seek to work ‘with’ corporations or their philanthropic branches. But thisonly makes sure that such movements do not work ‘against’ corporations, nor criticize their philanthropic arms. This thus infiltrates alleged ‘well-intentioned collaborators’in the activitiesof these movements rather than genuinely supporting them.
13. Partnerships established with other networks may be beneficial in joining forces and achieving greater effectiveness. But this also may, in some circumstances, have perverse effects in which the partner pursues greater visibility towards international donors or attempts to justify inflated budgets that benefit circles of close friends. While local partners are welcome, one has to question their motives discarding them if these are spurious. HR movements have to protect their own survival while they preach solidarity based on principles.
13. It is not uncommon for governments, in some countries where there are these movements or activities, to increase their control and require endless reporting, not really to ensure transparency, openness and true social responsibility, but in order to curb these groups’ activities.
14. A final point: Leadership must be renewed for the movement to be healthy and to ensure needed continuity so as to provide new leaders, young people, the opportunity to drive the HR initiatives built with so much effort, passion, dedication, and commitment. Entrenched leadership risks loosing a genuine social commitment, loosing the necessary sensitivity based on principles and values and loosing the operating experience of working with grassroots communities that were those that inspired these movements to begin with. The effort that was built over decades risks falling apart quickly. It is always easier to destroy than to build. The situation is more painful, traumatic and unfair for those who, as pioneers, spent the best years of their lives, striving to achieve their dreams.
Claudio Schuftan, Ho Chi Minh City
cschuftan@phmovement.org