148 FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE, POWER IMBALANCES UNDERLIE HEALTH INEQUALITIES
If you recognize and agree with a) the indivisibility of rights, b) the equal importance of people’s socio-economic entitlements, and c) the principle of equity, you must accept that this…
147 BECAUSE OF THEIR UNIVERSALITY, SOVEREIGNTY MUST SOMETIMES COME SECOND TO HUMAN RIGHTS.
Are we here to make a point or are we here to make a difference? (Kul Gautam) NGOs purporting to promote the human rights-based framework (HRBF) are actually often using…
146 GROUP RIGHTS AND COLLECTIVE RIGHTS ARE NOT THE SUM OF INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS.
We do not need to define ‘group rights’ and ‘collective rights’. They are already well defined. The Right-to-Development is the best known group right; it sees people-who-are-poor as a group…
145 WORKING WITH THE MARGINALIZED AND THE EXCLUDED, AND ATTENDING TO THEIR HUMAN RIGHTS NEEDS, REQUIRES TIME AND PASSION.
We all know that it is easier to fight for one’s principles than to live up to them. Human rights activists are repeatedly faced with the need to figure out…
144 PROGRAMS FOR THE POOR MOST OFTEN ARE POOR PROGRAMS: REDUCING THE INCOME GAP BETWEEN THE POOR AND THE NON-POOR IS THE REAL CHALLENGE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS.
1. Long centuries of poverty and injustice have accumulated too many insatisfactions, too much misery and too much indignity, as well as a heavy load of preventable ill-health, malnutrition and…
143 POWER MAKES EVEN THE UGLIEST LOOK HANDSOME.
It is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power. (Montesquieu) Let’s face it: The majority of laws in a country are passed…
142 HUMAN RIGHTS ARE NO LONGER A-PREOCCUPATION-THAT-IS-BEST-LEFT-ASIDE FOR ‘OTHERS’ TO WORRY ABOUT
Human rights (HR) are based on the assumption that there are things that ought not to be done to any human being or things that ought to be done for…
141 IT IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION TO SAY THAT THE HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED APPROACH IS IN A DIFFERENT LEAGUE THAN OTHER APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT: IT IS THE ‘MAKE OR BREAK’ ISSUE OF OUR TIME.
The human rights-based approach (HRBA) signals a ‘new deal’ in the annals of development work. It shifts the focus from technocratic to political solutions and to the empowerment of claim…
140 MANY STILL THINK HUMAN RIGHTS ARE ABOUT POLITICAL PRISONERS AND STREET DEMONSTRATIONS.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. This notion ignores the all important economic, social and cultural rights. Let us take examples from health and nutrition you can…