36. PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN RIGHTS: FURTHERING THE DEBATE.
On power and Human Rights To be a fully empowered claim holder is to have the ability to compel the performance of some obligation; before being empowered, people are unable…
35. ‘CHARITY IS OBSCENE FROM A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE’
1.In many communities, Human Rights (HR) values still need to be promoted from above, because they have not yet been internalized by unknowing, potential claim holders. This promotion from above…
34. RIGHTS ARE GUARANTEED ENTITLEMENTS: RIGHT?
. 1.The strength of a rights-based approach is that it allows one to talk about entitlements and to challenge unwilling governments. (“One person should not have to decide whether s/he…
33. HUMAN RIGHTS ARE VERY MUCH ON THE AGENDA OF DEVELOPMENT WORK:
”The sovereignty of States must no longer be used as a shield for gross violations of Human Rights”. (Kofi Anan, Nobel lecture, Dec 2001) Betting on the invisible hand of…
32. A CALL FOR SUBSTANCE AND NETWORKING
The substance I do not know about you. But I have the feeling that not much is happening in advancing the Human Rights cause in development work.** We hear (and…
31. Human Rights and South-South cooperation
An intellectually sound analysis around the new Human Rights-centered development approach is needed to arrive at a collective platform or policy for the South. This is needed as part of…
30. POTPURRI
More on accountability analysis Capacity/accountability analyses (that tell us why duty bearers at many levels do not seem to be able to perform their duties as expected) are a cornerstone…
29. ON VULNERABILITY, ACCESS AND DISCRIMINATION
Typical Human Rights questions one should ask about services are: Is there sufficient attention being paid to the most vulnerable groups? Is there equal access to services? Do service providers…
28. ON THE ROLE OF THE STATE, THE UN AND CIVIL SOCIETY.
Human Rights are plainly not guaranteed by the existing institutional arrangements. (AmartyaSen) We have to understand this as a point of departure. A country becomes State Party to a convention…
27. DEVELOPMENT AND RIGHTS: THE UNDENIABLE NEXUS.
For this issue of the Reader, I find it fitting to excerpt and adapt from Mary Robinson’s (High Commissioner of Human Rights’s) statement to the Copenhagen Plus Five meeting in…