91. THE HUMAN RIGHTS DISCOURSE IN HEALTH. (Part 1 of 2)
The meaning of the human rights (HR) discourse in health 1.The revived interest in a HR-based approach to development and to work in health and nutrition is well justified and…
90. HUMAN RIGHTS PRINCIPLES: WHAT THEY MEAN IN PRACTICE.
Universality and indivisibility Every woman, man, and child is entitled to enjoy her or his human rights simply by virtue of being human. It is this universality of human rights…
89. UNFORTUNATELY, HUMAN (PEOPLE’S) RIGHTS VIOLATIONS DO NOT CALL FOR CONCRETE INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS.
In international law, a violation of human rights (HR) is deemed to be an offence, not only against the state, but also against all members of the international community. But…
88. ‘BEHIND HUMAN RIGHTS ARE FREEDOMS AND NEEDS SO FUNDAMENTAL THAT THEIR DENIAL PUTS HUMAN DIGNITY ITSELF AT RISK’. (Goldewijk & Fortman)
Human needs provide a critical grounding for human (people’s) rights (HR). Not all needs correspond to rights though, and not all rights correspond to needs. But a central set of…
87. EXCUSE THE REDUNDANCY, BUT THE POOR ARE A MAJORITY: HOW DOES THIS MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR STRATEGIES AND OUR EVERYDAY WORK?
Processes are occurring every day that make people poor. So, it is legitimate to ask: Where is the end of ‘survival’ and where the beginning of ‘living’? Being poor, changes…
86. DOES IMPROVING THE PROVISION OF SERVICES EMPOWER POOR PEOPLE, OR IS IT THE EMPOWERING OF POOR PEOPLE THAT IMPROVES THE PROVISION OF SERVICES?
It has never been proven that improving the provision of services through privatization is the best approach to the problems of public sector inefficiency. Give the public sector the hidden…
85. ACTIVISM, PROFESSION, COMPASSION AND POLITICAL SOLIDARITY.
In their work –and not that this is easy– human rights (HR) activists ought to make practical experiences influence theory, as well as use theoretical considerations in their practice. The…
84. DEVELOPMENT = SUBSTANTIAL AND STEADY ADVANCEMENT IN THE REALIZATION OF ALL RIGHTS
Human rights (HR) violations are varied and dynamic; they and/or their character and intensity change over time. Commonly found patronage (clientelism) and exploitation structures find ways to perpetuate these violations…
83. All this emphasizes what this Reader has said many times before, namely that, if the context and the framework of our development discourse are wrong, discussions and actions based on the wrong analyses will be like pouring water into a broken vessel; no amount of effort to fill it will be sufficient.
Respecting and fulfilling human rights (HR) has a cost indeed –maybe even in terms of economic growth foregone. But solidarity, fairness and justice are also values that count –perhaps more…
82. Because of this, there are those who now dissociate themselves from the NGO concept and opt for a more radical and militant perspective: one of social-mobilization-cum-political-consciousness-raising (a-la-Paulo-Freire).
In a free-market world economy, Third World countries are not being given the benefits they and their economies need, but rather what-ideologically-motivated-Northern-trade-partners believe they should give them. Conversely, in the…