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This dialogue took place from April 22 to 28, 2009. New Tactics was pleased to partner on this dialogue with the PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning, which serves as facilitators of developing human rights cities around the world. The dialogue below shares how local civil society leaders, members of PDHRE network, facilitate the learning about human rights as a way of life for communities to generate innovative and exciting actions towards social and economic transformation. Below is a brief summary of the dialogue that can assist you in navigating the rich exchange that has so far taken place. We welcome you to add your comments and ideas to the dialogue.
Please see the additional biographical information on the following Featured Resource Practitioners for this dialogue:
- Raymond Atuguba, Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Ghana
- Wolfgang Benedek, Chairman of the Human Rights Advisory Council of Graz and Director of the Institute of International Law and International Relations of the University of Graz, Austria
- Satya Brata Das, Senior Policy Advisor, Edmonton, Canada
- Emiliano Casal, Institute of Gender, Law and Development, Rosario, Argentina
- Susana Chiarotti, Director, Institute of Gender, Law and Development, Rosario, Argentina
- Viviana Della Siega, Institute of Gender, Law and Development and Coordinator, Steering Committee of Program Rosario, Human Rights City, Argentina
- Joy Fraser, Associate Professor, Health Administration Centre for State and Legal Studies, Athabasca University, Canada
- Fabien Kanyangusho Karamira, Musha Human Rights City, Rwanda
- Shulamith Koenig, Founder, PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning, and Human Right Cities, New York, USA
- Julia Veronica Matus Madrid, Director of the Extension Program at UNIACC University, Santiago, Chile
- Kathleen Modrowski, Director of Global Studies at the Global College, Long Island University, and Board Member of PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning, USA
- Jean-Louis Peta Ikambana, Area Director of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Washington, DC Human Rights City Program, a PDHRE initiative, USA
- Carlos Alberto S N Soares, Brazilian psychologist, Coordinator, Steering Committee of Porto Alegre Human Rights City, Brazil
- Renee Vaugeois, Executive Director of the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, and Human Rights City, Edmonton, Canada
Brief Summary of the Dialogue
The New Tactics Dialogue “Building Human Rights Cities” began with discussion about the role of the media in building human rights cities. Participants discussed the importance of engaging and informing journalists about their role in human rights learning and providing them with tools to better understand, inform and promote human rights learning. A number of other ways in which media has been utilized for human rights learning and promoting the establishment of Human Rights Cities included:
- Uses of radio including creating discussions, educating marginalized groups and organizing social movements.
- The use of text messaging for organizing, giving voice to marginalized groups and recruiting new volunteers to promote human rights learning.
- Video Journalism to produce reports for those who are most unable to express themselves.
The participants shared the importance and benefits of establishing a Human Rights City and provided insights on the intial steps they have found useful. Contributors considered the first phase, the Needs Assessment, to be extremely important. This phase includes engaging the local communities and reaching out to other Non-governmental organizations in the area and to best achieve a thorough needs assessement along with building community investment.
The dialogue also shared how several human rights cities are using participatory budgeting as a tool to move their objectives forward. The participants laid out obstacles, such as convincing the government to engage, and opportunities, such as empowering women in new ways, along with other experiences highlighting the significant benefits of using this tactic.
Dialogue participants shared their personal stories of being involved in creating space for human rights learning. A participant told the story of coordinating the Human Rights City of Edmonton, Canada and a toolkit they will be making available to those interested in building a human rights city based on their model. There were a number of other excellent resources highlighted during the dialogue including the following: Human Rights Cities: Civic Engagement for Societal Development, the Human Rights City Needs Assesment, Journalists for Human Rights website, as well as the NewTactics' Resource for Practitioners.
Finally, the dialogue concluded with a wide variety of possible practices to encourage other cities to build a Human Rights City. Human Rights cities can have many benefits such as engaging in such actions as election monitoring, theater and human rights prizes. Participants discussed the need to overcome short-term setbacks and keep focused on long term goals when advancing human rights learning and building a Human Rights City. Finally, PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning reached out at the end of the dialogue and asked for partners who would be interested in working together to advance human rights learning through the building of Human Rights Cities throughout the world.
Please add your comments and questions by replying to these main themes (or other's comments):
STORIES OF PRACTICE - Indicators of Learning and Success
Please share your stories including:
Story from Swat Valley, Pakistan
As we know those Human Rights are inherent in our nature and without
which we can not live as human beings. Human Rights are based on
humankind’s increasing demand for a life whereby the inherent dignity
and worth of each human being is respected and protected. These rights
allow us to develop to our fullest potential as world citizens.
But in District Swat people are deprived of human rights and
fundamental freedom and hence this vacuum creates condition that give
rise to social and political unrest in the shape of militancy,
talibanization militancy, terrorism, military operation/armed conflict,
long –run curfews and check posts, extensive violence and loss of
lives, massive displacement of people, wide spread damage to the
society and political instability have deteriorated the economy of the
area on the one hand but also have a negative impact on the
recreational activities like sports, tourism and other relevant
activities.In district swat, NWFP Pakistan no one is allowed to enjoy
the basic human rights. People have no rights to expression, choice and
life style. Even the barbers and saloons shops owners are threatened to
stop sheaving and cutting hair in English/ European style. If they do
not accede to the orders there shops will be blown out via timed bomb.
Girls’ schools and college’s administration also received such letters
warning them to use a special type of veil “Burqa shuttle cock “.Public
schools and colleges students. The Medical representatives and other
officials who wear shirt and jeans as a uniform are not allowed to wear
it and thus shun them from their routine activities. The Taliban hold
considerable sway over the conservative population of the district and
led a campaign denouncing television, music, polio drops and education
for girls and women’s empowerment through speeches on illegal FM
stations.This new 'Jihad' against female education, which is a
reminiscence of the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan in 1990s, has spread
fear through the community, and girls' schools now have a deserted
look. The local militants viewed that girls' education would lead to
anti- Islamic trends in the society. They consider it something Western
and suspect that women once educated will not stay at homes and will
not care for “Purdah” (veil). Even after the military operation the
Taliban launched a campaign against female education on clandestine
radio station and warned in broadcasts that educating girls would
deviate our generation from the right path. They would become Western
in their attitudes and habits. Muslim women should observe strict
Purdah (veil) and they must restrict to their homesThere are at least
558 government girls’ schools in Swat. About 90,000 girls in the
district study in four higher secondary schools, 20 high schools, 45
middle and nearly 489 primary schools excluded school in private
sector. But the bombing and blazing of schools and colleges
especially girls schools and colleges and a deluge of threatening
letters issued to numerous other girls schools by militants in Swat
district have forced girls and their teachers to stay away from school
premisesAccording to the up to date report, 199Government, semi
government and private schools & colleges are ravaged up by the
militants.
To address the above situation and aware the masses about
their basic rights which are inherent in their nature SYF is working on
different projects and hence facilitating and supporting civil society
organizations, journalists, students and people belonging to other
walks of life. In this connection, SYF is working on the translation of
work book NEW TACTICS IN HUMAN RIGHTS, A RESOURCE FOR PRACTITIONERS.
Under the proposed project 500 copies of the translated version will be
distributed disseminated in the targeted areas among Human Rights
activists & defenders, institutions and civil society
organizations. The work book in national language (Urdu) can be a great
source of information to enhance analytical skills of institutions,
Civil Society organizations, human rights activists and defenders. Swat
Youth Front is also working on the open minds Pakistan project funded
by Institute of War and Peace Reporting UK. Under the proposed project
the organization is working in five schools and colleges to impart
training to students about journalism, human rights and other co
related activates.
Moreover, SYF is also working on the peace
journalism training program to promote human rights in the area. Under
the proposed training program, two hundred working journalists from the
seven districts of the Malakand Region will be selected as trainees in
journalism professionalism with thematic focus on standard rising in
the field of war and conflict journalism and peace journalism with the
main objective to use the Media for Peace and journalism
professionalism for making the people sympathetic, altruistic,
fearless, powerful and create consciousness , defend, promote and
protect human rights among the affected reader and people. The
journalists will be sensitized about the fact that they have
extraordinary power and opportunity to shape the public opinion and
exercise a strong and direct impact on public should cover the regional
events and trends more than they are doing now but with that power,
however, comes the responsibility to use it wisely with the obligation
to report accurately and fairly to the best of their ability because
the journalist can support the promotion and protection of basic human
rights as well as can foster peaceful dispute resolution in the
communities because in the tense situation where misunderstandings can
grow into conflict and terror therefore, there is the added need for
responsible reporting that calms tensions and fosters peaceful problem
solving. The trainees will be trained that unnecessary and boastful
visual depiction of violence, mutilated and slaughtered bodies and
wounded individuals in the newspaper detrimental and a factor that
can create and increased enmity , hatred, fear, tear , powerlessness
and traumatisation among the people and hence promulgate the terror
and aims of the Taliban within the heart of the people. Hence,
professionalism among journalists, editors and publishers and acquiring
a credible level of professionalism in writing skills, technology
advances, investigative journalism as well as well in research
methodology are vital to the defense of human rights for all.Fifty
journalists from the district swat while 25 each from the remaining six
districts will be selected for the training. Total of eight training
program, with eight follow up workshops as well, will be carried out
under the proposed project. Two training program will be conducted at
swat district press club while one each at each district press clubs.
Each training program will be of two days while the follow up training
workshop will be covered in a period of one day.the training program
will enhance the capacity of the local journalist and will aware them
about their profession to play a key role in promotion of human rights,
protection of human rights and annihilating the causes of terror and
sowing the seeds of the peace by shunning reports and visual depiction,
which create awe and fear because the issue of peace, security, and
human rights are interdependent and the media has a key role in all of
these.
The organization is working on these projects to build human rights in
the area and enable the inhabitants of the district to create their own
human rights communities, where people at all levels of the society
learn about human rights and dedicate themselves to building and
sustaining a human rights culture for their communities and sow the
seeds of peace and prosperity not only in their own respective areas
but for the whole world and humanity.
Amjad Ali
Human Rights Community Building in Pakistan
New Tactics is very excited to be partnering with the Swat Youth Front through our Partner Grant program that has been supported this year by the NED. We are really looking forward to having the opportunity to share the Urdu translation of the book NEW TACTICS IN HUMAN RIGHTS, A RESOURCE FOR PRACTITIONERS
that the Swat Youth Front is currently undertaking.
It's great that you joined the dialogue to share how the Swat Youth Front is working to build human rights learning your community. I hope this dialogue will spark additional ideas for you! We look forward to hearing your ideas about the relevance of building a Human Rights "City" or "Villages". The main point about the Human Rights Cities concept is for the community of people who are living together to have a "more concrete sense of how they could have a hand in making their community [a "city" or "village"] one in which they have a stake and in which they take pride." (quoted from another dialogue participant)
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
journalism and critical analysis
I enjoyed very much this perspective of publishing a limited edition of a work book as a "source of information to enhance analytical skills". It is an excellent idea and we might replicate it here. Also, in the same line, it is very wise to focus on journalists to get their help - their writtings are daily building the way people look at themselves and their reality.
Otherwise I would suggest that we all think about enhancing every community journalistics skills instead! Writting and printing workshops, as much as blogging workshops, are a powerfull lesson. A community bulletin can be stronger than bullets. It is a strong tool and such tactics has been thought of long ago but we still have to think about what is to be done.
Journalism and community building
I completely agree with both Swat Youth Front and Carluxo about the importance of journalism in enhancing community opinion and the important role that journalists play. As a student who took many classes in the field of journalism, I feel that so often the training of journalists is based too much on the logistical aspects of journalism and not enough on the enormous potential that journalists have to influence the community but also to act as human rights activists or practitioners in their own right. It's important to know how to write an article in a journalistic style, but it's also important to understand the power of the content of that article, and I feel that sometimes the second part is missing in the education of journalists.
For any journalists (or aspiring journalists) out there, or even for those who want to build stronger connections with journalists who are working for the realization of human rights for everyone, there is a really great site called jhr (Journalists for Human Rights). The organization's goal is to make everyone throughout the world aware of their rights. The organization believes that the first step towards realizing human rights for everyone and stopping rights abuses is creating rights awareness. The organization aims to mobilize the media to build human rights awareness. Interestingly, jhr actually has chapters that are operating in 20 universities in Canada and even a couple in Ghana and the Middle East. It also has a high school program that aims to engage youth and in spreading human rights awareness in their communities.
On its site, jhr stresses the importance of rights media. They define rights media as the process of writing, collecting, editing, producing and distributing media that creates societal dialogue on human rights issues. I think this conception of media is similar to what the Swat Youth Front is trying to accomplish in their region (at least in part), and also what Carluxo is talking about in regards to his writing, printing, and blogging workshops. The idea of rights media is to mainstream human rights content in journalism. Something that I think is really important and must always be remembered when employing journalism as a tool for activism is that it has to be ethical and objective.
Part of jhr's initiative involves incorporating media development into international development. The organization argues that journalism represents an important medium for communication between citizens and their government. Without this means of communication, an important link between the government and the citizens is missing. I think this is really true, and illuminates the importance of journalists within the sphere of human rights activism. I think this also ties into the concept of building a human rights city, in which every sector or person in the city is working towards the realization of human rights. I would think that having a newspaper, radio station, etc. that integrates human rights content into their work would be a necessary step in buidling a human rights city.
If anyone has any stories about how they've used journalism as a tool for activism, or other great sites or organizations that use journalism as a tool, I think that would be really great to hear. Thanks for your comments both Swat Youth Front and Carluxo.
media
I always felt very strongly that, radio being the most popular in the world (95% of the world listens to it) should be utilized for people learning about human rights as relevant to their lives. In Mali as an example, for a while they had created a dialogue between listeners and broadcasters. Tape recorders were distributed in the community to ask questions from radio host. They were aired on the program as the host or others invited answered and discussed the issue that was brought up in the taped question. I think it will be very important if all of us involved in promoting the learning about human rights as a way of life, and specifically in the Human Rights Cities, the daily or at least weekly programs should be created be it the way its described above as reporters and go out into the streets and ask people to give their questions or people invited to the studio to discuss how human rights are relevant to their lives. It is only through the media that we can overcome the narrow understanding of human rights as a litany of violation. If anyone has some ideas or experience want to volunteer to take the discussion between these few days, please be in touch. We may put together a think tank to divise approaches and processes to use the radio and other media outlets to reach as many people as possible. It will also be very important if we identify civil society organizations that have radio or TV programs for them to initiate discussions about human rights as relevant to the issue that they are promoting and advocating for. Of course, it is our goal to see that issues are not just compartamentalized, but any entry point, be it what it may, needs always to emphasize the holisitic vision and practical mission of human rights as being indivisble, interconnected and interrelated. And last but not least, not to speak of rights, but always of human rights, such as the human right to education, the human right to water, or poverty as a human right violation. From my experience of 20 years, language creates an aggregate consciousness that human rights is the right to be human, and all that it entails.
Media - Radio to inform and engage the public
Shula,
Your thoughts here are very important. In the last couple of years the New Tactics project has been able to partner with organizations through small partner grants provided by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and a number of the partner organizations prioritized radio components that shared the innovative tactics, collected by New Tactics, from have been applied by organizations around the world that have acheived tremendous success. In 2006-07, two of our partners, LEADS in Nigeria and LINLEA in Liberia created radio programs to reach their target audiences and communities. Here is a link to an interview with Rebecca Sako-John sharing the way they utilized the radio. In 2007-08, Forum Solidaridade Buka Hatene (FORSANE) in Timor Leste conducted weekly radio programs to spark interest and awareness in human rights issues but to also create hope that these challenges can be faced and overcome.
New Tactics has some great examples in our searchable tactics database of how radio can and does play a large role in human rights learning and action. Here are a few examples:
I am sure that the human rights cities have been using media in very creative ways - please share how you are using radio and other forms of media in your efforts.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
new media and getting out the HR message
Beyond radio and not appropriate in all places is the use of mass message texting to a subscriber list. I was impressed during the last US presidential campaign by the use of text messages , some sent dailyt, on critical issues and actions. My university students and young people were really into this kind of energized communication. Now I've read that the messaging is being used for HIV/AIDS information ,e tc. I believe that this is a method that is worth trying in urban communities. It can unite people, inform them and create a community. The downside is that the massages need to be supported by additional structures - meetings, action projects, etc.
new media
With our head office in the capital and two of the cities 800kms away, facilitation and backstopping of city activities, including the provision of legal counselling, is often done by cellphone-voice and text. Even with the city in Accra and in an emergency, (eg when the youth were harrassed by police to refrain from drawing attention to sanitation, health and housing concerns in the city by embarking on a human rights demonstration on a national public ceremonial holiday) its easier to be put on cellphone speaker to make an input to a meeting than battle through traffic to get to the meeting.
This should not replace in person contact though. Real issues of human rights, of being, of belonging, etc cannot be 'mediated'-through radio, phones, etc.
I am now on with the dialogue.
After a major power line in Ghana tripped and left virtually the whole country without power for some time, i was diagnosed with chicken pox. I still have it (two weeks to clear), but will try to engage.
Text Messaging
In Sierra Leone, young girls have been publishing a newspaper on human rights through the use of text messaging! The paper is called Pikin News and it has been extremely successful in getting out to youth using this new technology. We are excited to be bringing some of these youth here to Edmonton this summer to share their experiences with this and how they do it - they'll be at our GLobal Youth Assembly (www.youthassembly.ca).
With the use of text messaging - I wonder - how does one even start this? is it a matter of creating some sort of online database of phone numbers? Does anyone know how this works??
The use of text messaging
I think that text or SMS messaging represents a new way of communicating that has a lot of potential for human rights practitioners. Here at New Tactics, we actually have several resources regarding the use of text messaging or mobile phones that I encourage people to check out. The first is a tactical notebook called "Sending Out an SMS: A rapid-response mobile phone network engages a youth constituency to stop torture fast", and is about how a Amnesty International-Netherlands group was able to use text-messaging to attract new members, draw awareness to their campaign against torture, and engage new people to respond quickly to cases of torture through their Urgent Action appeals. Another really helpful resource people might want to check out is the New Tactics dialogue called "Using Mobile Phones for Action" which examines lots of uses for mobile phones, including using mobile phones to document human rights abuses, mobiles in mass organizing, use of mobiles in election monitoring, mobiles and emergencies, and many other uses as well. These resources represent a a great way to check out new and innovative uses for mobile phones and SMS messaging in the human rights field.
Videojournalism in vulnerable communities
I agree with you on the note that journalistic skills must be enhanced in every community and, on that matter, I would like to share a project my organization, freeDimensional, is beginning to develop in partnership with Cultural Association Casa das Caldeiras in São Paulo, Brazil, and Video Volunteers, India.
We are developing a program called VCU.br, a multi-media laboratory for young adults living in vulnerable communities and/or risk zones in São Paulo that have some experience in producing video reports. The program will identify people interested in acquiring more knowledge in video reporting and documentaries, as a tool for communication, expression and sustenance.
VCU.br recognizes the potential in these young adults as leading actors in constructing individual and collective realities inside the territories in which they are living. This project expects to awaken critical views and thoughts, to stimulate creativity and give new opportunities.
VCU.br will follow, during 8 months, a group of 12 young adults, providing all the technical and professional infrastructure necessary for the performance of all activities proposed by the project. The students will have classes on theoretical activities, exposition and practice in a multi-media laboratory environment, including the introduction to concepts about video reporting, exchanging experience and knowledge with invited professionals, visiting communities, technical lectures about equipments, production, assembling and editing the video reports.
Gabriela Barros De Luca - freeDimensional
Videojournalism and engaging young adults
Gabriela,
Thanks for sharing this exciting new program with us. Will you also be introducing human rights foundations for the young adults as well?
Here's a great tool for grounding human rights in everyday life - it is the Plain Language version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For example - these are a few that might be of interest to young adults from vulnerable communites and risk zones who are interested in videojournalism and how they can use that new skill to highlight human rights and their impact on their own and their communities' daily lives:
Article 3: You have the right to live, and to live in freedom and safety.
Article 19: You have the right to think what you want, to say what you like, and nobody should forbid you from doing so. You should be able to share your ideas also—with people from any other country.
Article 23: You have the right to work, to be free to choose your work, to get a salary which allows you to support your family. If a man and a woman do the same work, they should get the same pay. All people who work have the right to join together to defend their interests.
Article 25: You have the right to have whatever you need so that you and your family: do not fall ill or go hungry; have clothes and a house; and are helped if you are out of work, if you are ill, if you are old, if your wife or husband is dead, or if you do not earn a living for any other reason you cannot help. Mothers and their children are entitled to special care. All children have the same rights to be protected, whether or not their mother was married when they were born.
It's great to learn about freeDimentional's work!
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Videojournalism - Using Radio in Ghana
In Ghana, radio stations grew exponentially with the institution of
the 1992 constitution and the guarantee of freedom of expression. From
a handful we now have close to 130 nationwide serving only 22million
people-great feat in Africa.
So most of our “democracy“ is on radio. Yet virtually all the stations are commercial radio stations.
There are less than 10 community radio stations. We are working on two things:
1.
To establish a community radio station in two of the cities soon and in
another from next year in order to capture for human rights the reach
and power of radio.
2. To reform the national broadcast laws so
that they provide a more equitable playing field for all types of
radio_commercial, community, state, campus.
The national level action, due to weak national institutions wreaking havoc on local communities, comes up here again.
We are doing the same national and local simultaneous action in healthcare and natural resource management.
The
problem is that the communities often get frustrated with the time it
takes to sort out the institutional mess that constrain local action.
Raymond
I am now on with the dialogue.
After a major power line in Ghana tripped and left virtually the whole country without power for some time, i was diagnosed with chicken pox. I still have it (two weeks to clear), but will try to engage.
Brasil-África
It s excellent news, Atuguba. We follow simmilar thinking lines. Communication is in the center of all human processes. Here in Brazil is al lot more difficult to get a radio license and community radios have been suffering police repression (prosecuted by comercial radios - owned by large midia corporations). We do not have a geografical community where we could stablish more easily.
I am glad to know that you have a project supported by Brazilian organizations. I think Brazil has a debt with África and even more should be done. I myself sometimes have thought of project that could reach Portuguese speaking countries in África, but these are third generation projects and we're still struggling to have our first generatin alive...
We ought to think - from this dialogue - some means to share these actions permanently. Maybe we can add to each other movements and things can happen before we imagine.
Using Radio in the North
I love the discussions on the use of radio and I knowthat with my work in uganda, the radio can be such an incredible outreach tool.
Here in Canada however, radio is a tough venue to break into. Most popular radio stations have no interest in engaging aspects of human rights into the stations broadcasting - perhaps it is just a matter of getting the funding to pay for a load of advertisements that provoke discussions on human rights. As non-profit organizations leading this however, this is a difficult venture when often we are just struggling to survive. Then there are more offline radio stations that are more focused on preaching to the converted however.
I am just wondering if any of you have had successes with radio or even TV in North America in partnership and getting thoughts out about human rights?
Using Radio in the North
Renee,
Thanks for raising this issue. There are certainly plenty of challenges facing organizations in the global south regarding the use of radio. I think one great advantage is that radio is still the most afordable kind of communication mechanism. Here in the north we tend to focus on TV as our primary medium.
I would like to provide a great example of community radio that we have here in Minneapolis and St. Paul (the Twin cities) in Minnesota. KFAI is a volunteer-based community radio station that exists to broadcast information, arts and entertainment programming for an audience of diverse racial, social and economic backgrounds. By providing a voice for people ignored or misrepresented by mainstream media, KFAI increases understanding between peoples and communities, while fostering the values of democracy and social justice.
The radio station welcomes organizations to produce their own programs and has quite a diverse following - as the quote above implies. Recently, the New Tactics project produced a program along with over 20 other organizations in honor of International Women's Day on March 8.
Perhaps finding other organizations to launch programs that tie into such human rights events might be of interest to your radio stations as well. The International Women's Day radio events were also promoted in print media to "get the word out" to a broader audience.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Building a human rights city in Rwanda
The city of the human rights is a very important initiative for our countries in post conflict situation, where the respect of fundamental rights is an immense challenge. In Rwanda, more particularly, the project of Human Rights City is an approriate answer to the problems of social cohesion, local governance and the poverty, problems exacerbated by the genocide of tutsi in 1994.
By initiating the project the Musha Human Rights City, with the support of the PDHRE INTERNATIONAL, we wanted to transform dream in reality of life: to create a space where citzens meet, learn about their rights and claim them, reflect together on the solutions which enable them to leave the situation of extrem poverty....
The challenge is immense, but all together we will transform the dream.
Many thanks to PDHRE INTERNATIONAL, espacially to Shula, the founder to have awaked our conscience on the need for acting to transform our society.
Fabien
the future of Human Rights Cities
Thank you, Fabien. It is encouraging to read your comments and mostly for others to understand that human rights is the right to be human. We call the attention of people to our book on human rights found on our homepage (pdhre.org) to read more about your work, which is fabulous. I call on everyone that is reading this to look at the recent resolution at the UN (also found on our homepage) for which we now have to collaborate to start a process, that in 10 to 15 years we will have all people in the world know human rights as a way of life, including the development of 100 Human Rights Cities, that will be both a magnet and radiating point for all to learn the specificities of learning about human rights as a way of life, having people use as a powerful tool for action. Anyone reading this comment, interested to get both the resolution and an initial plan to start this plan, please write pdhre [at] igc [dot] org
Can we build a Human Rights City in the middle of a crisis?
The actual global crises does not scare us in Latin America. This is not due to the fact that the crisis will not have negative effects on our lives but because we live in constant and permanent crisis. Besides, Latin America is the most unfair region of the world and the crisis are always heavier for poor people.
It happened to us that when we ask for the discussion of the human rights agenda, some people says: this is not the time, we are in a global crisis.
Nevertheless, the global crisis is an opportunity for building human rights cities. In fact, it could be the only way to survive to the crisis. Financial impunity and lack of transparency; the exclusion of thousands of persons from the sharing of resources; discrimination and violence could only be addressed with a human rights framework. Other responses that denied human rights (like building closed neighbourghoods, sending children to jail, hardening penal codes, etc,.) will lead to more violence and insecurity.
Susana Chiarotti
Susana Chiarotti
Human Rights Cities - addressing the global crisis
Susana,
Your comment is particularly powerful at this time of global recession/depression. What better time to re-think the way our governments (international, national and local level) have been operating. It hasn't been working for addressing the rights and needs of the majority of the people on our planet. To paraphrase Albert Einstein, insanity if doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result. The idea of building a human rights city where the community itself has the opportunity and power to creatively address the rights and needs of its people.
People may say this "one at a time" process is slow, but the beauty is in the daily rights and needs being addressed while this "slow" progress is building. Your example of how the empowerment process for women in Rosario grew with the Human Rights City you are all building. That is powerful change taking place!
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Promotion of human rights in conditions of extreme poverty
The promotion of human rights is confronted with a serious problem
our society where populations live in conditions of extreme poverty.
Indeed, how to talk about HR with a community unable to ensure its
survival? This is why the training sessions in HR are transformed
into meetings of recriminations against ''authorities'' (the
Government), incompetent to provide the necessary for the fundamental
needs for its citizens.
Here, Human Rights City seems an original approach, because it puts
the citizens liable their responsibilities: to learn and to act for
living in dignity.
Fabien.
HR City in Rwanda
How have you been able to maintain interest in the HR City initiative while the needs of daily life survival are so great? We who are "converts" to the idea of human rights as social and ethical compass for daily life can see the value and the necessity, but how do you convince the inhabitants of Musha that this initiative is worth the sacrifice of their time?
I am now on with the
I am now on with the dialogue.
After a major power line in Ghana tripped and left virtually the whole country without power for some time, i was diagnosed with chicken pox. I still have it (two weeks to clear), but will try to engage.
I am now on with the dialogue.
After a major power line in Ghana tripped and left virtually the whole country without power for some time, i was diagnosed with chicken pox. I still have it (two weeks to clear), but will try to engage.
Challenges from Ghana
Raymond,
We wish you a very speedy recovery from the chickent pox! I deeply sympathize with your power outage problem. I remember from my years living in Manila, Philippines - especially in the period between 1993 and 1997 when the city suffered from chronic power failures.
We look forward to having you share with us your great experiences and efforts of building Human Rights Cities in Ghana. I am especially keen to learn about your experiences of working in such contrasting locations and conditions within Ghana. You have been able to establish Human Rights "Cities" in the slum communities of Accra (Nima, Maamobi and Newtown) but also in the outer areas of the city (Bongo and Walewale).
I would also be very interested to learn more about your collaborations with two important Ghana institutional bodies - the National Commission on Civil Education (NCCE) and particularly, the Commission on Human Rights and the Administration of Justice (CHRAJ). New Tactics has an excellent tactical notebook that has been written by CHRAJ Commissioner Emile Short, Powerful Persuasion, regarding a particular human rights concerning women and the eradication of a traditional practice called Trokosi.
We look forward to hearing more from you when you can! In the meantime, I hope that our readers will explore "Chapter 3" of the wonderful resource from PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning and UN Habitat, Human Rights Cities: Civic Engagement for Societal Development (Please Note: it is a large document and might take some time to download - but it is well worth reading!)
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Our practice in Rosario
1. From the beginning we tried to promote human rights learning in a holistic way, including all human rights, intersecting a gender, class and cultural perspective. This challenge obliged us to be flexible and ready to learn everyday from the others and requires interactive tools that let all the voices be heard. The presence in our coalition of the Paulo Freire Institute (University of Rosario) was meanigful in this sense. Their experience enrich the whole initiative.
We understand learning connected with action for change. Each issue we approach we tried to discuss how certain human rights are enjoyed, or denied; how you can solve this problem; which estrategies can be designed to change tha actual situation; to whom you can address this petition; how the community can be involved in the change.
At the beginning we had an interesting discussion, regarding to whom we shoud direct our efforts in the human rights learning process: victims of human rights violations? posible violators? people? the government?. Some people said that we shoul not spare our efforts teaching human rights to the police, per instance. After some debates, we concluded that everybody should learn human rights. This open the door for 7 years of training to the Police Academy. Now they introduced human rights in their curricula. That doesn't mean that all is nice now, or that everything is right with the police. It mainly means that we opened a door.
2. One indicator was that the police opened itself to the human rights learning and introduced human rights in its academic curricula.
Another indicator for a different set of actions (regarding cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment ot women in sexual and reproductive health facilities) was the creation of a Subject: Health and Human Rights in the Faculty of Medicine, National University of Rosario, which is functioning since 2004 till now.
Hundreds of children and adolescents learned about human rights trough several annual contests. The contests asked students to re-write different human rights covenants, like the Convention on the Rights of the Child with their own words. That implied to understand the text, to appropiate it and to explain in a daily life language. The expression was not limited to written language, but also to art (sculptures, videos, paintings, poetry, theatre). As the contests forms and posters were sent to schools, hundreds of teachers should also read the texts in order to help studends with the contests. The same with parents at home. That was a very low cost and highly effective strategy.
Susana Chiarotti
Susana Chiarotti
Act Local, Dialogue Global, Dialogue Local and Act Global
After I was introduced to PDHRE in the World Social Forum 2005, I have found out that there still something that could be done to change life, when political tools and fragmentary activism appeared so ineffective. And to help to bring the International Program of Human Right Cities to Porto Alegre has had an interesting symbolic result: in spite of being an loose activist representing a non-local organization among strong ngo with many members, we could bring them together to a new perspective when all their work was done in isolation - the only collective foruns were official and competitive foruns, not collaborative ones.
Now, with this possibility of opening a front in another city and making a regional event, we may be starting a new moment. This dialogue is part of this moment and I hope that we can systematize all questions and points talked of here - how?. I myself will print these pages and try to keep it going, try to dive deeper in some issues, to dialogue with each member that has expressed her/himself .
It was wonderful to share these days with you.
Congratulations and a strong hug for all of you.
PROCESS & STEPS - Establishing a Human Rights City
Please share the key steps and processes to develop a human rights city including:
Process and Steps
In order to establish a human rights city or community a group of interested persons is needed to start the process. There are top down (involving city officials, i,e, the mayor) and bottom up approaches (starting with civil society groups), but the objectives are the same: get the city or community to commit itself to base all its decisions and activities on human rights, which obviously cannot be achieved in a short term, but needs a longer-term perspective.
The group to start the process should be as representative as possible, to make sure that everybody feels included and the undertaking is not seen as move of some individuals pursuing personal interests, i.e. the public interest is crucial together with the inclusiveness to gain legitimacy.
As there are many ways which may lead to the same objective the polar star is human dignity. Accordingly, a first needs assessment should show where human dignity is at risk, where human rights are not respected, which may serve as a basis for the development of a strategy how to address problems identified on a priority basis.
At a proper time the group should institutionalize itself and seek public recognition by authorities without compromising their objectives. The human rights city of Graz in Austria is an example for the possibility to undertake the whole process in cooperation with the city authorities, which is not always the case. Still, it is not easy to match the different interests of participants and then also agree with authorities on certain approaches and activities, which might put conventional policies into question.
Therefore, a sometimes long process of sensibilization and persuasion is necessary, which needs to address the issues locally identified in the spirit of the universally applicable human rights.
Wolfgang Benedek
Needs assessment process
Wolfgang, thank you for this helpful initial overview. I'm wondering in the case of Gratz (and for others as well) how you went about conducting your needs assessment.
You wrote: "a first needs assessment should show where human dignity is at risk, where human rights are not respected, which may serve as a basis for the development of a strategy how to address problems identified on a priority basis."
In your case, did you work with another organization, a research group, a unversity, to conduct this needs assessment? Did you use any particular resources that you found especially helpful for your assessment process?
This first step appears to be quite critical and I would think this step could also provide an excellent opportunity to engage the community in identifying its own needs; as well as documenting information to report to city officials, media, etc to build understanding of the critical issues and needs facing the community.
I would like to offer two resources from the New Tactics project providing information on how organizations have conducted "needs assessments" that can provide ideas for organizations considering how they might go about gathering this information:
I'm very interested to learn what resources you and others have used in your needs assessment processes.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Needs assessment process
Hi Nancy
You are right, the needs assessment is the critical start.
Please have a look at what we did:
http://humanrightscity.ca/dnn/Portals/0/publications/Research%20Report.pdf
From that starting point, we were able to progress with the development of HRC Edmonton
Satya Brata Das
Principal
Cambridge Strategies Inc.
Satya Brata Das
Principal
Cambridge Strategies Inc.
Needs assessment - starting and convening a entrance point
Satya,
I followed the link you provided for the Moving Forward: The Human Rights City Edmonton Project document - http://humanrightscity.ca/dnn/Portals/0/publications/Research%20Report.p...
I wanted to bring some awareness to our readers of the dialogue regarding what I gathered to be the methodology you undertook in Edmonton, Canada. I admit here that I'm summarizing this from a VERY quick look at your comprehensive 200+ page document. I thought it would be helpful to outline the steps in your INITIAL phase.
First - Setting forth the vision
...Edmonton and its surrounding neighbors embarking on a human rights journey without ever intending to declare a final destination...a continuous process of life-long human rights education and learning, evaluation and action, with the goal of moving as close as possible to the fullest implementation of the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights] and other instruments [Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and the Alberta Bill of Rights].
Second - Determining the human rights needs of Edmonton
It is in this second step where the outline of your methodology and process is well worth highlighting more in depth for those interested in embarking on such a journey themselves. Edmonton provides a process for community (stakeholders) engagement and "human rights city" investment building while learning about the both the communities felt needs/concerns and current resources (information, research and services) already available in the community. You conducted 35 community consultations (with wide variety of stakeholders within the Edmonton) that included the following steps: 1) an introduction the concept of a Human Rights City; 2) why a Human Rights City is relevant to all members of Edmonton; 3) gather feedback from stakeholders to identify human rights deficits related to their particular organization/issue/segment of the population; 4) gain a ranking of their priority concerns; 5) how they believe human rights can be improved at the individual, organizational and governmental levels; 6) consultations were conducted under a non-partisan umbrella - in a neutral space - with an emphasis on cooperation and understanding.
Third - Compiling results of needs assessment
I understood this to be a parallel process to the face-to-face consulations - where you 1) gathered and catalogued existing research or publications by organizations dealing with and addressing human rights issues; 2) collected a directory of organizations and services to identify the current human rights capacity and initiatives of Edmonton and minimize redundancy.
Fourth - Analysizing the information to provide feedback and recommendations on the highlighted issues of priority concern.
I'm interested in your feedback to know if I captured the steps or if missed important pieces of the process from this FIRST phase.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Assessment in Edmonton
HI Nancy,
You did seem to capture the process we went through in edmonton but I think it is important to highlight that Edmonton went through two phases of 'assessment'. The first phase took place in 2003 and 2004 when I was not with the project, but at this time, a major research report was developed through consultations and various research methodologies in the community. This assessment provided an analysis of the human rights gaps in the community, the opportunities for learning, a highlighting of good practices and recommendations moving forward. This was a more formal 'academic' approach to assessment'.
Within the second phase of assessment - it was a much more grassroots approach where we went out to all marginalized communities to have dialogues... we used this as an opportunity to engage deeper into the issues presented in the first phase of research so we could learn the unique circumstances and challenges facing communities. So this provided a learning opportunity for the project but this was also a reciprical learning process of us providing almost a human rights introduction to the communities... the dialogue created an amazing learning space and were my favorite moments in the project to date. They provided those AHA moments that make the struggles of this project worthwhile... and I believe it is only through more sustained dialogue after initial assessment that you really learn about an issue. I recall one session with our LGBTQ community (Lesbian, Gay, BIsexual, Transgendered, Transexual and Queer) - when an elderly gentleman remained quiet the entire time... until the end when people packed up and he said 'you know, I'm really scared to go to an old folks home' where he knew he was going to face hostile discrimination. We wouldn't have heard this without taking the time for sustained dialogue and without taking the time to build a relationship. To me this is what this project is all about.
So this second phase moved us into the issues deeper and is a critical piece. And you are right that the planning happened in parallel to the assessment activities, it became a natural fit.
Renee
Re: Assessment in Edmonton - Community Sessions
Hi Renee,
It sounds like your assessment sessions in the community have been very rewarding! These sessions are a great way to assess the 'human rights gaps' in the community. By creating these relationships with community members (like the great anecdote you shared above) people feel more empowered and willing to share and learn. What a great way to begin the project!
I am curious to learn more about these sessions - how many session did you carry out? how long did this community assessment take? did you partner with other organizations to reach all the participants? how long is each session? how many people usually attend each session? how do you go about promoting the session and inviting participants?
Thanks!
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Assessment and Community Assessments
HI Kristin,
In going about these community sessions, we did work with partner organizations. We connected with organizations whose primary area of focus was say disabilities and then promoted this human rights consultation/dialogue through their networks. Normally we just did one session per community - and I think we did about 13 in total - I am not sure if I can recall all but we did: LGBTTQ, physical disabilities, mental disabilities, Aboriginal/indigenous, immigrant, refugee, sex trade... and a number of others. Each session ranged from 2-3 hours depending on the number of participants... they ranged from 5-16 participants. SO our partner did the networking to get the word out - through email, through newsletters, website as well as in local media event postings. It is tough sometimes to get people to these things... but we weren't looking for a big crowd either.
One of the things that I think would have been valuable in reflection now would to have been to sustain these dialogues over 2 or 3 sessions to really build the relationships in the long term and develop more cohesive strategies with each community. It was all a bit overwhelming at the time, but yes, very rewarding!
Renee
how we moved forward
Dear Friends
Nancy's excellent summary of our needs assessment is spot on. Essentially, we created a public space where different individuals, groups, agencies, institutions with a human rights aspect could find each other and connect.
Think of it as a village square or marketplace of ideas and practices, where all can meet. We launched it with a facilitated dialogue of more than 8o groups in City Hall.
Since then, we have run "training the trainers" programmes to spread human rights learning.
Here is a link to one of our reports emerging from this process:
http://humanrightscity.ca/dnn/Portals/0/publications/Microsoft%20Word%20...
Satya Brata Das
Principal
Cambridge Strategies Inc.
Satya Brata Das
Principal
Cambridge Strategies Inc.
needs assessment
In several of the Human Rights Cities, I would suggest to speak about it as "mapping" simply because it has to be apart of teh learning process about human rights as a way of life. We suggest that the learning includes both assessing the realizations and violations of the needs in the community, as a result of the learning process. Even though the "mapping" identified issues, to be assessed, as to the realization versus violation, the "mapping" enables to understand the indivisibility, interconnectedness, and interrelatedness of human rights, as relevant to people's daily lives. Thus, learning is indeed the entry point to broaden the understanding of the holistic vision of human rights as a way of life. As we continue, it will be important to both demonstrate experiences in learning that lead to "mapping" (needs assessment). Please note: in the learning process, entering into expectations and hopes in the realization of human rights, provides a very positive and proactive way of thinking.
Mapping and stakeholder analysis
Susan Atwood, Instructor, University of Minnesota’s Leadership : Leadership for Global Citizenship.
Shula advocates the use of the term mapping in the context of Human Rights cities and another facilitator mentioned stakeholder analysis. This fits perfectly with the New Tactics tactical mapping process and the accompanying spectrum of allies tool. It seems to me that there is a whole new audience out there, in addition the traditional one of human rights activists, who could benefit from NT training on the use of these tools - city government officials and citizens in Human Rights cities, current and potential.
Susan Atwood, Instructor, University of Minnesota’s Leadership : Leadership for Global Citizenship.
training
Some of us are very actively trying not to use the word
"training". Jokingly we say: Who am I to train you ? One
trains dogs..
I realize that this is describing a method we all use for
many years – training of trainers etc.
However, I dropped is fully from my language as I do not speak of
education but of learning. There is a lovely Talmudic statement: more
than I have learned from my teachers I have learned from my students.
IN the human rights cities we all learn from one another , we
facilitate such learning sessions, we share , we discuss and
dialogue but we do not train.
It also speaks to the dignity of the learners. Enables people to
internalize , to analyze and to become a contributing member to the
process. And most important it keeps us humble with respect and
trust. Learning new ways of sharing what we know. .
beyond human rights advocates
Spontaneously, when you speak of human rights and civil society, one things of human rights advocates. I hope that the discussion we are having will bring us spontaneously to think of civil society organizations that work on economic and social justice, issues such as women, water, labor, religion, children, health, work, etc. For all of these groups to integrate human rights learning into their work, the idea of the Human Rights Cities came from a deep frustration that most people understand human rights only as a litany of violation, a confrontational issue with government, a legal issue, and not a tool when one is acquainted with and internalizes offers a new way of life and community action. Human rights advocates do an excellent job, but they work mostly on symptoms and we must learn to think of causes. The learning about human rights has the potential for all people, regardless of what the issue is, to develop critical thinking and systemic analysis within a human rights framework.
participatory investigation
Nancy, you offer. I accept. I will save and print your information.
As a compensation for such gift I would like to offer our usual tools which are linked to the local history (struggle) of the Participative Budget. Years of democratic city budget planning have spread around some techniques where grassroots collectives can raise their needs and stablish their priorities.These techniques have been studied - among other techniques even more interesting - by Prof. Thomas Villasante of Universidad Complutense de Madrid. To assess needs (participatively!) is a science and they offer a postgrad course on it - Methodology of Participative Research. I myself have translated one of works, had some classes with him and I have it for sure that he would be glad to work together with us in the future.
We can assess needs, priorities and actions for change - participatively.
Participative research - budgeting and following the money
Carlos - thanks so much for raising this very important issue and aspect in building a human rights city. After all, where cities commit their resources makes all the difference regarding the quality of life for the members of the communities. I would like to know more about how you in Porto Alegre have involved the community in the city budgting process.
If you have resources on this available, let us know how people can get them. The New Tactics project has one wonderful tactical notebook from the IDASA - Children's Budgeting Unit in South Africa, Using Government Budgets as a Monitoring Tool, that provides steps for implementing this very important aspect of community participatory research and budget monitoring.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Budgets
HI!
If someone form Rosario is participating with us actively, Please
share your experience you had developing a budget in the
neighborhoods
Also tis is a praticipatory budget wy do you call it participatory research?
Shula
Re: Budgets
Yes Shula, we are participating, but there are so interesting comments that we never reach the end of the thread.
We
participated in Rosario Participatory Budget as part of a big social
movement when the idea first came up from Porto Alegre, Brazil, more
than 10 years ago. The idea was finally taken by the local
administration, which implemented 6 local assemblies, each one
representing a city district, which decides the use of about 6% of the
overall budget. They are working OK.
But as a critical input (I
don't know how is this working in another cities), we think that since
the control of the process is done entirely by the local
administration, the participation of civil society organizations moved
to a client side role, pushing between them for the already assigned
amount of $30 million (around $8 million dollars) in a city with huge
needs (which are by no means close to what the problems of our African
fellows). Another thing about participatory budget is that doesn't put
the focus in the overall financial process. People decides about
spending, but not about getting x amount of money in order to fulfill
their needs (some human rights) or who must paid and how much.
The
political tool to achieve our human rights has yet to be invented. In
our society representation stands for what direct democracy is
impossible to do.
Voting doesn't mean deciding, and all of this tools help somehow the
popular organizations to have an input in the 'decition making'
process. The tramp is that political parties need votes they try to get
by everything they do. Participating in Rosario Human Rights city was
not something would make the government have votes (more indeed by the
fact we invited local and provincial authorities from different
political parties).
Then, we diceded to focus in Human Rights learning, assuming PDHRE principles. Human Rights learning in the city could be a process in which they
become people´s political common sense/ political awareness. A
political learning-together process through cases of public demands and struggle of
citizens groups, for society to learn and develop human rights. This
are, for me, the meaningful devices of HR learning and HR cities building. I would like to know how to involve universities and participatory research into this.
Kind regards,
Emiliano
Collaborative research between Universities and HR Cities
Emiliano,
You raise challenges that I'm sure others have or certainly will face in their efforts to build a human rights city. With your experience of having some success with the budget process - and as you say, it is working OK given that the city district decides the use of just 6% of the overall budget. That's small but a good start and example that it is possible.
Do I understand correctly you are have shifted your focus OR are you moving toward this shift in your focus to - "Human Rights learning in the city could be a process in which they
become people´s political common sense/ political awareness. A
political learning-together process through cases of public demands and struggle of
citizens groups, for society to learn and develop human rights. This
are, for me, the meaningful devices of HR learning and HR cities building."
You raise an excellent point about University (higher education) and
community collaboration potential. Perhaps Kathleen and Veronica will
have some ideas about this with their connections into academic
institutions.
Are you seeking collaboration with Universities to research cases where struggles of citizen groups has succeeded in raising their demands and these demands have been answered? Are you seeking to learn more about how they have been successful in their efforts?
If so, New Tactics would also be very interested to learn about these efforts. Our purpose is to help to share these kinds of stories to help others learn about these ideas and actions and to inspire others to adapt the ideas and action to their own contexts and issues. We hope people will then come back to share their own successes to keep that cycle of innovation, action, sharing, and inspiration going.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Budgeting - Local and central government issues
Dear all,
Briefly, the local government in Ghana is to control 7.5% of all national revenue. This is to be distributed to all the 136 districts in the country. Given that about 50% of our revenue is used to service debts, foreign and domestic, this percentage is a huge proportion of what remains for government.
Local engagement with the budget in the cities is crucial. But even more crucial are the following in our experience in the cities:
In our experience, action at the local level is great, but with weak national institutions, action at the national level is crucial.
Raymond
I am now on with the dialogue.
After a major power line in Ghana tripped and left virtually the whole country without power for some time, i was diagnosed with chicken pox. I still have it (two weeks to clear), but will try to engage.
Re: Collaborative research between Universities and HR Cities
Dear Nancy,
We have not done this kind of research yet. Three university centres
participate from the Rosario Human Rights City meetings, having a role
in various activities. They are organizations with a lot of work in
human rights related issues long before they join HR City.
As this participation is always voluntary I think lack of founds
is the main problem to start such kind of collaborative research. Local
and provincial government offices which participated never make a
financial support, but contributed facilitating another kind of
resources
as saloons for the activities, printing of materials, etc. I'm sure
other cities and organizations must have found interesting ways of
doing this. And in this dialogue came up many interesting ideas.
"Human Rights learning in the city could be a process in which they
become people´s political common sense/ political awareness. A
political learning-together process through cases of public demands and struggle of
citizens groups, for society to learn and develop human rights. This
are, for me, the meaningful devices of HR learning and HR cities building."
This I think is main PDHRE vision. Many years from now we are making
such change to human rights learning, as an holistic and social
participative process. Is always work in progress. We also use Paulo
Freyre educational methodology and Forum Theatre, two Brazilian
techniques.
Emiliano Casal - INSGENAR / PDHRE Latin America
Participatory Budgets
As Emiliano says, we are involved in the discussion of the city budget. During several years we also organized workshops (in cooperation with the Women's area of the Municipality) with women that belongs to the neighbourhood assemblies and were in a disadvantaged position regarding men. That was evident in the assemblies were men don`t doubt to use the floor and ask for what they thought were the community needs. But women had different views about priorities. So we worked in a several steps learning process that included the way you feel, enjoy and experience your human rights; knowing the fact that when you ask for food, health services, house or water you are not asking for charity but asking for human rights; then moving from the more confortable position of eternal complaining to action; then the ability to fix priorities (what is more importan and urgent for your community: for most women, contraceptives in the health center and milk for the children were as urgent as remedies) and then the training to ask for the floor and saying what you think in a loud voice.This process was very positive and women now participate in a different way in the neighbourhood assemblies.
Of course, participatory budgets are still an imperfect tool that requires more involvement, less gobernmental intervention and more practice. But it is important. Now in Peru, by law, all municipal budgets should be participatory and this opens the door to thousands of popular organizations to discuss, for the first time in their life, at least a portion of the public budget. It is a step for building democracy
Susana Chiarotti
Susana Chiarotti
Rosario - Participatory budgets - 4 stage process
I wanted to point out that Susana provided a wonderful 4 stage process of how the Human Rights City of Rosario has been able to utilize the city budget to engage communities in identifying their own priority needs and taking action to get those needs met through the participatory budget process. A great example of communities using tools to expand their rights.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
participatory processes
Here at Porto Alegre, participatory budget was stablished by a socialist administration in 1989 and for a decade it changed radically the city landscapes - urban services were spread to poor communities (light, pavement, sewage system, water supply, health care and child care, etc) It was a strong processes as it came in the wave ot the social turmoil of the 80's (dictatorships were being fought in Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador, etc. Granada had been invaded by USA not long before...)
Afterwards with the neoliberal hegeminy, things became less political and most people started to believe management and technology could bring solutions for social needs. The process od PB became more institutionalized, best leaderships left the forum as they were incorporated by the state burocracy (socialists were elected to the State government in 1998). The PB fórum started to get 'empty' - if not empty of people, empty of a polically educated and experienced vanguard (yes, I will use this demonized word.) Two things happened - the city forum became poor and the leaderships became burocrats (after you have airconditioning and good wages, "people needs" sounds a word a bit more distant - old fashioned vocabulary they said).
Now, it is a stablished process and it helps to manage the city, but it is not anylonger that innovative. Surelly it gives good quality, but it is an ordinary process. Political advancement are again needed.
During this period, thought, participatory processes and techniques became respected because everybody could see they were effectiv. These techniques became usual knowledge to work in all groups - like in HR activism. There are techniques that are extremely helpful to have people understand - build- links between specific stablished rights and live needs.
Keeping vigilance on participatory processes
Carlos,
You raise an incredibly important point here - the dangers of institutionalization, bureaucratization and complacency. These three traits raise their heads in all areas of our human endeavors.
As others work to implement the much needed participatory budget processes in their own cities - it is helpful to get your feedback on potential ways in which to ward off the encroachment of the three dangers you have identified. Do you have any thoughts about how Porto Alegre might have been able to maintain the early vibrancy of participation? Any ideas of how to revive it now - especially in the midst of the worldwide economic downturn?
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
human situation - new city in Brazil interested in HR Cities
This is a very complex theme. One of the strongest challenges. Willhem Reich has written something about this is his later work: "The Murder of Christ". (He himself died in prison not much long after.) Other author speak of a "will of death". More superficially we all can see and agree about some allways recurring "will of power". Let's focus in this layer of existence and behavior in order to be able to keep it a brief dialogue.
On one hand we need to provoke "will of power" in large populations that are taught since childhood that power is for politicians. On the other, we have to build channels to control the will of power of those who adopt politics as their way of living - and self-assuring.
HR Learning is a great tool to achieve the first objective. But the other point is a real problem as elites always resist as much as they can. Be they capitalist or socialist, people in power nneed to be controled. Collective mechanisms of transparency, plebiscitary pools, open reports on expenses.
This morning I was invited to move to another city to start a process of Local Governance which a similar process to the Participative Budget. so, very soon i wil be glad to extend this dialogue, because your comment has made it more clear for me where to focus.
Also, good news, Folks. This city is interested in the HRC Program! It is a new start for us at Rio Grande do Sul. Maybe Porto Alegre starts moving when they realize another city is willing to get in.
remaking participation
One last point about rescueing quality of the participative budget: many seminars are being held to capacitate grassroots delegates. (As I said, the early generations of local delegates were composed by experienced political activists that were appointed to government positions and the new delegates were "ordinary" block leaders, sometimes even illiterate.)
After some years, these people are better prepared to make good debates and decisions that go beyond sewage or transit problems. Otherwise, direct democracy that PB means - a real new governing tool - might become a flat administrative instrument.
HR learning can help them to be better capacitated. At this point we have not been able to care about this. Two years ago, with PDHRE support, we tried a first approach to make HR workshops, but delegates did not attend to it! Is was absolutely frustating. The entry point should have been bellow them - at local assemblies that elect them. This dialogue has been stimulating - I will re-add this strategy to our HR City plans.
Inventing and Reinvigorating Participation
Carlos,
You raise such an excellent point and experience regarding how target populations can shift and change - from experienced and invested political activists to block leaders with literacy challenge. That is exactly why New Tactics advocates that human rights advocates need to be constantly expanding your "tool box" of tactics. This can help you to have more ideas and methods for changing ways to invent and reinvigorate those you are hoping to get involved and participate in your efforts.
New Tactics is excited to hear that you have found the dialogue stimulating and want to add this kind of idea to your own Human Rights City effort!
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Resource Guide on Rights-Based Budget Analysis
Here is a step -by -step guide developed for A Rights-Based Approach towards Budget Analysis that I think might be of interest.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
participatory budget
Developing a participatory budget is one of the four pillars on which a Human Rights Cities stand. These are:
Laws - having the people of the city know the norms and standards that countries have ackknowledged through ratifying various covenants and conventions and learning if these were put into laws.
Policiies - In the learning process, people analyze whether policies are within the framework of these laws.
Resources - participatory budget. People participate in preparing and prioritizing issues within the social budget of the community. They do not do it as individuals or as advocating one issue or the other according to their specific interest, but working together and in agreement of representatives of the community in the steering committee, prepare a budget.
Relationships - This is clearly understood within the materials we have shared about the Human Rights City.
As to participatory budget, very often the needs identified by the community are larger than the cities social budget. It is therefore important that these be discussed with local economists with a projection of three to four years within available budgets. However, in a very small village in India, when looking at the budgets needed for building a new school, and employing better teachers, they have collected for a full year one penny per inhabitant (a total of 1000 people) to raise 365,000 rupees, which was $8000, which was matched by the local authorities and assisted them to build a school.
Especially in these hard economic times, a minute amount from each citizen makes it really "participatory" and moves charity to dignity.
Using budgets for building equity and social justice
This aspect of communities being aware of and involved in the budgetary process of their communities is not only critical, it is very empowering. Budgets provide the best window of opportunity for tracking progress on equity and social justice (see my post regarding the example from South Africa). This is not the only way budgets can be utilized. Here are two additional examples - a short example from Ghana and an in-depth tactical notebook from India on how communities get involved in the budget process:
provides the ability to demand and access rights. In India, they had to build the right to access information about community development budgets in order to combat the corruption taking place at their community levels.
I'm interested to learn from the estabilshed Human Rights Cities how much access and participation they have been able to gain in the local level budetary process.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
needs assessment practice and process
One of the first steps in carrying out needs assessment is engaging the community. I worked directly with this process in Mali where PDHRE worked with the city of Kati ( 20 K from the capital , Bamako) carrying out community - learning. We used a participatory action research model that was in keeping with the Freirian model of learning. As an initial step representatives from each of the 14 neighborhoods in Kati attended a training based on discussion of dignity , the relationship of human rightas to human dignity and then naming the way in which the articles of the UDHR are relevant to the local conditions. The next step was a mapping that members of each neighborhood carried out in the particular neighborhood in collaboration with inhabitants of that neighborhood. Once all 14 representatives retuned with their human rights community maps it was fairly easy to discern the critical issues related to HR in each neighborhood and , by extension, the town of Kati.
Needs assessment in Mali
Kathleen,
Please share more about this process of "mapping" that you refer to that brings forth the key issues related to human rights in neighborhoods. The New Tactics uses a tactical map tool to assist people and organizations in identifying points of potential leverage within our human relationships and institutions.
I'm interested to learn more about the process of mapping that you are describing here.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
the time is right for human rights cities
Susan Atwood, Instructor, University of Minnesota’s Leadership : Leadership for Global Citizenship.
Before entering this dialogue, I was completely unaware of the concept of Human Rights Cities. In looking at the website of PDHRE, Peoples Movement for Human Rights Learning, I was struck by the following formulation:
"The city, its institutions, and its residents, as a complex social economic and political entity, become a model for citizen's participation in their development. This process leads to the mapping and analysis of causes and symptoms of violations such poverty and the designing of ways to achieve well being in their city. Appropriate conflict resolution is an inevitable consequence of the learning process as women and men work to secure the sustainability of their community as a viable, creative, caring society. "
This seems to fit perfectly with the need for societies in financial crisis (all of us), to take another look at what constitutes the essence of our societies. It also fits well with the call by President Barack Obama for community service. Human rights as a concept often seem nebulous, something on the one hand to do with the United Nations and maybe on the other hand at the individual level, such as Amnesty International's prisoner by prisoner approach. But as increasingly we live and work in cities, it makes sense to define ourselves as members of that community and to approach human rights in that unit as a whole. If we framed some of the problems we face in urban infrastructure, education, health as human rights in which citizens should have an active say, we could move a long way toward understanding the holistic nature of these issues and how they are all interconnected. The framework provided by the concept of a human rights city cuts across and connects all sectors and gives citizens a much more concrete sense of how they could have a hand in making their city community one in which they have a stake and in which they take pride.
As increased financial hardship strikes many citizens, rather than retreating into isolation, there seems to be a move toward seeking out more connections with neighbors and community and looking for meaningful ways to contribute to the common good. Human Rights cities offer a framework for channeling this energy. It is certainly time to identify more cities to move in this direction. Are there any in the US other than Washington DC? Come on mid West! we are usually ahead of the curve in this type of initiative.
Susan Atwood, Instructor, University of Minnesota’s Leadership : Leadership for Global Citizenship.
Building Human Rights Cities
I agree fully with Susan that now is the right time to build Human Rights Cities throughout the US. For one thing, the process brings people together, builds solidarity and once united - people break their silence and become partners in planning their one economic and social future. Currently Washington, D>C is the only fully committed HR City in the US. Other cities are considering taking on the initiative . These are : Cambridge , MA, Portland, OR , San Francisco, CA and Worcester, MA. Now that you know the process why don't you speak to people and organizations in your Minnesota town?
Human Rights Cities in the U.S.
Hi! I am a sophomore at Hamline University, in St. Paul, MN. I am currently volunteering at New Tactics as part of a Gender Politics class. The idea of Human Rights Cities is very new to me. I am excited to learn about this topic!
I was wondering why Washington D.C is the only fully committed Human Rights City. Also, how would other cities take the initiative to become a Human Rights City? Who makes this decision and leads the city through the process?
the time *is* right.
I couldn't have hoped for a better understanding of what Human Rights Cities are about. We are trying to bring forth the idea that DC as a Human Rights City-proclaimed as such on the 10th of December 2008 by the city council after two years of preparatory work-can become a model for all the Obama plans in the US. Let's remember well that the Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights speaks of food, education, housing, health, and work at livable wages as interrelated needs and wants recognized as human rights. You correctly speak about organizations that limit the understanding of human rights. It's our task for which we're hoping for your collaboration to create more and more programs to have people understand human rights as a way of life. Indeed, all of Obama's plans for the US are anchored in the covenants and conventions of human rights. It will be great if we can convince him to start speaking the human rights language, not only in Latin America.
re: the time is right
Hi Susan,
Thanks so much for your excellent comment. While the idealist in me says that it's always the right time to foster greater awareness of human rights and do all in our power to prevent violations, I certainly agree with you that if there were ever a time to create more human rights cities and rethink the concept of the role of community in our lives, that time would be now.
I think that the idea of involvement within the community to enhance the common good is certainly not a new one. And yet, I think when part of integral movement such as building a human rights city, it can have a really important impact on human rights throughout a city, and also provide a really great example for other communities.
I volunteered as a teacher's aide for a kindergarten class and it was one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in my life. If you can imagine a classroom with twenty-eight extremely energetic 5 year-olds and one teacher, you can definitely imagine the importance of even one extra helping hand. With one extra hand, the teacher could better prepare for lessons, better manage the classroom, and kids that needed extra help were able to get it. Just imagine the possibilities that extra hands in lots of needy classrooms could provide. I saw that this was the case even for some of the volunteers who came in for only 2-3 hours a week. I think this just goes to show that even small steps can have an important and lasting impact. Because human rights cities really seem to encompass a "rethinking" of the idea of community and an individuals involvement in that community, I think it is so essential to get involved and realize the potential that we have in community building.
My experience volunteering in a school also helped me recognize the systemic nature of rights abuses and inequality within the U.S. (and elsewhere too), especially within the system of education. I think this has a lot to do with Shula's comment in a previous post about the importance of recognizing the causes of violations, and not just the symptoms. Right here in Minneapolis, the graduation rate in some public schools just over 50 percent, and this overwhelmingly affects minorities. The right to an education is an essential one in human rights doctrine, and yet, so many people aren't given access to an education. This is the case even here in the U.S. According to an article in the Star Tribune, which examined a study done last March, Minneapolis ranks 45th out of 50 major cities in the United States in terms of high school graduation rates (the study listed Minneapolis' high school graduation rate at 43.7% for the 2003-4 school year).
My work in education helps me to recognize the possibilities that human rights cities present. So many people are unaware of the fact that right in their own city, there are terrible injustices occurring. Through the process of building a human rights city I think that not only would awareness be drawn to the issue that human rights violations can occur within your own town, but also recognizes the fact that this can and must be changed and creates a forum for positive change. In becoming an active member in your community, I think injustices such as these become much more apparent and much harder to ignore. I think human rights cities are a great way of getting people to rethink of their role as a member of a community, and also a great way to interrupt this system of inequality and violations of human rights.
I agree with Susan that rather than isolating ourselves, this should be the moment to reconceptualize community and look for meaningful ways to get involved, connect with others, and create a more positive environment for the entire community. I think the idea of living in a human rights city is empowering, and give community members a better idea of how to make a lasting impact within their own community and also a better forum to do so. I wholeheartedly support Shula and PDHRE's goal of developing 100 human rights cities in the next 10 years (see her post), and think that the world will be a much better place for it.
Process &Steps
I found out that the key to sharing and presenting the idea and purpose of a human rights city is your own convinction in the importance of human rights learning as a way of life.
Also, you should spend considerable time to identify key stakeholders who have a record in human rights work at all levels, including community partners, government officials, organizations, and individuals.
human rights organizations
Allow me to add a comment to Jean-Louis' response. In my humble experience, human rights organizations in the US tend spontatenously to speak of political and civil rights, i.e. civil liberties and the rights of individuals rather than of communities. I strongly believe that human rights is all about how communities live together, and the "traffic regulation" that enables them to move freely--free from fear and free from want. Much of this work, without calling it human rights, is done by economic and social justice organizations, who have to be convinced and who must learn that basically they are engaged in implementing the human rights vision and its practical mission. Therefore, in my opinion I would suggest to use human rights organizations for the learning process in the community if they are ready to speak of the indivisibility of human rights. But the actions in the Human Rights City and the steering community, have to include as many organizations that deal with pertinent issues such as labor, women, children, food, housing, health, wages, education, etc. even though they do not at this point speak of it as a human right.
health as a human right
Susan Atwood, Instructor, University of Minnesota’s Leadership : Leadership for Global Citizenship.
In response to Shula's words:
"I strongly believe that human rights is all about how communities live together, and the "traffic regulation" that enables them to move freely--free from fear and free from want. "
It strikes me reading the increasingly hysterical tone of the news concerning a potential swine flu pandemic that ,either now or with a future pandemic, communities will find themselves fundamentally challenged by the tension between what is good for the community and what for the individual and family. There is a compelling book: Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks, based on a true story from 17th century England. It describe the behaviour of inhabitants in a rural community as it is hit by the bubonic plague. Some inhabitants are all about saving themselves by fleeing the community and therefore of course putting others at risk while others demonstrate extraordinary altruism and courage.
It seems to me that we would all be better equipped to handle a global health pandemic (or indeed global threats of any kind) within the framework of Human Rights cities that have a steering committee dealing with economic and social justice issues as Shula mentions. In a crisis, it is all too easy to revert to our perceived rights as individuals and isolate ourselves from our communities. Organizations that specialize in writing scenarios tend to have three: Market world (basically continuation of status quo); fortress world (countries and communities retreat into isolationism in face of threats) and transformed world - the kind of world where there would be not just 100 human rights cities but NOT living in one would be considered abnormal...........Voices like Shula's and the other participants in this dialogue are the ones we need to pay attention to.
This posting is not written from the perspective of doomsaying, just a sense of urgency about how the time is now for Human Rights cities and what they represent in terms of how we look at our human rights - what it means to be human - and to become part of our collective way forward.
Susan Atwood, Instructor, University of Minnesota’s Leadership : Leadership for Global Citizenship.
Symbols
During my reading about this process of establishing human right's cities, I noticed only cursory menitons of using art to promote the idea. I know some cities have plenty of symbols of human rights and strong community, such as murals or statues in prominate places. It seems that projects such as this would be an excellent to engage local politicians. Does anyone have such experience with projects such as these?
to present the idea of HHRR learning to victims of HHRR violatio
People that received a state fellowship for university studies, and an economic assignement after being in prison and /or tortured by the Chilean Reparation Law, had the idea of HHRR referred to HHRR violations rather than HHRR as a tool for building comunity or social transformation. The University Program was specially designed considering their experience. It has three areas: personal development, new tecnologies and some contents on mathematics and language, and ends in a project they have to develope. All of them reported that learning procesess has helped to heal them, because they can stand again not as victims but us persons that can connect with others. The dimensions of learning processes in Reparations are a clue to movilize bonds, desires and abilities.
In workshops they (mostly 60 year old men) were asked to open their family photographic albums and bring photograhs of themselves. All of them brought pictures, when they were young, so the conversation was about their experience and the conversation was about their practices at the time of the picture. They realized that they had dreams, projects and practices for social justice, that had taken them to be pursued by the dictatorship, rescuing past senses of life.
After this sessions we asked for the legacy they had for the future generations, and what they had learned during their prison/torture. It was simple and profound humanity: solidarity, almost all of them had memories of an "other" giving a hand, a smile, a cigarette that restablish their humanity, and meant they could trust in other. Critical reflections about power abuse, respect of differences and the need of a HHRR notion to build new relations.
The second step was the colective organization of comunity dialogues about HHRR for a better daily living (convivencia) with people in 50 comunities in Chile in order to open a conversation in diversity. They organize dialogues with different actors: women, inmigrants, young and adults, indigenous, including local authorities. The result was that they all felt legitimate to talk about concrete experiences and suggest actions to live better and work colectively in the comunity. They also mentioned the importance of memory for the future, not in the language of pain, but in creative formats: theater, stories, and of intergenarational bonds that give sense to their experience. Also the idea of building a HHRR comunity is actually being developed and will end in a web page that is actually being built.
Abou About Budgets:
The relationship between human rights cities and healing memory
Veronica,
Your comment about HHRR as a tool for building community or social transformation is very interesting and important. I can see now how building a human rights city in a post-conflict situation helps to 'rescue past senses of life.' I hadn't made the connection between building community - restoring dignity - learning - and human rights cities, until I read your comment. As I am following this dialogue, the power of learning is becoming more and more apparent.
New Tactics recently hosted a featured dialogue titled Healing of Memories: Overcoming the wounds of history. For this dialogue, we partnered with the Institute for the Healing of Memories (IHOM) based in South Africa. IHOM uses many of the same types of creative communication that you listed - theatre, stories, art, music, etc. Many of these examples can be found in the archived dialogue (link above). You mention the use of photos to help the participants tell their stories. Similarly, IHOM asks participants of their healing memories workshops to draw their memory. This allows the participants to reflect on their story and communicate it in a different way - without words. Then, when they are asked to talk about their memory, the drawing gives them "something to hold on to." Allowing participants to communicate their memory through drawing and recalling stories by looking at photos is such a powerful way to build trust and relationships with others - therefore restoring dignity and "rescuing past senses of life."
Building a human rights city can serve as an important step in the process of healing individuals, and a community. Furthermore, healing memories of inviduals and communities is an important step in building human rights cities!
Lastly, I also wanted to point out another featured online dialogue New Tactics has hosted on Truth and Reconciliation Processes: Aiding community healing through addressing impunity. Your point regarding people having the idea that "HHRR referred to HHRR violations rather than HHRR as a tool for building community or social transformation" is very interesting. (By the way, what exactly does HHRR stand for?) Justice, reperations, and punishment is only part of the process -- we must also focus on rebuilding communities and restoring human dignity by healing memories.
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
CHALLENGES - Lessons Learned
Please share the challenges that you have had to face and overcome in the development of your human rights city including:
Barriers to education
I have a question to add to these that I am interested in hearing your answer to:
It seems that one of the most important purposes of human rights cities is to educate the population on the rights that they have as human beings. Education can give people empowerment to them claim those rights. I imagine, though, that there are many challenges to educating and training a population. (the loss on money when children are brought away from farms into schools, stigma attached to girls and women being educated, location and basic needs of a population in poverty that in some cases may need to be addressed before education, etc) I have learned about many of these barriers to human rights education and education in general at my university, but I would love to hear from people actually working to make it happen. What are some of a barriers you face? How do you get past these barriers to ensure that people are educated and trained about their rights as human beings? How does cultural sensitivity factor in?
Thank you!
Alexa Horwart,
Recent college graduate in International Relations (with a human rights specialty)
Education: or more preferred creating space for learning
Alexa,
In Edmonton, one of the best and most successful things we did was to create a 10 week human rights 'facilitator' program which has been amazing in spreading the idea of human rights in the community. After initial assessments in the community we realized that a lot of the marginalized communities are dealing with very similar issues and struggles and they weren't connecting across sectors or issues. We felt there was a real opportunity here to bridge groups as well as provide space for learning. Using the 24 Exercises for Popular Education on the HREA (Human Rights Education Associates) website, this program has now been delivered for three consecutive years and those that have taken the training have become the truest and committed of human rights advocates in our community. The beauty of these exercises is that they explore a diverse range of issues but because they are experiential and participatory, they require the invidiuals in the training to be the experts.
We pulled together individuals who work in community service agencies throughout the communities - as they are the front line workers (a side note is what we heard in our assessments was that marginalized individiduals tend to get 'lost' in vicious referal circles in the community - if they have a human rights issue they want to deal with, when they ask for support from a community service agent, they get refered somewhere that refers them again adn they are never refered to the right place... and it was clear that community service workers were not aware of the services available for marginalized individuals or communities or where to send them)... so it was our priority to create awareness of human rights within the front line workers and for them to understand how their work relates to promoting human rights as well as to know what to do when their clients have an abuse or human rights issue to address. Not only this, but by bringing together front line workers across issue areas - disabilities, sex trade, indigenous, immigrant and refugee, mental health, and so on -- the participants develop RELATIONSHIPS throughout the ten weeks, learn about each other's work and issue area, develop the capacity to know what to do for their clients as well as how they can work more collaboratively in the community. The intention is that these individuals become human rights 'brokers' in their communities... so that individuals know them as a resource. In order to do this, after training, each facilitator facilitates at least 4 sessions in their community from the participatory exercises. This has been a transformative experience for most. I get stories from the facilitaotrs when they come back from sessions at our prostitution awareness agency etc and it has opened up their eyes even more to the human rights in our local community.
The training also integrates more 'traditional' forms of education as well - we bring in speakers and guests, as well as past facilitators, to give them more experience and ideas. One of the critical pieces is bringing in someone from our human rights commission and some legal experts to really explain the complaint process and the various human rights documents internatinally, nationally and provincially. This component is really critical and we are excited to transition this whole training program in winnipeg next month, the only other Canadian Human Rights City that I am aware of anyway.
Another education component we felt was critical as we went along was to create a space for youth to engage in human rights learning. There has tended to be a lot of opportunity for youth to engage with more global oriented issues in Edmonton but very little opportunity for them to lean about their own community. We have developed an 8 month training program which is in its second delivery. Every two weeks, the youth meet and they do a study tour of Edmonton. They visit local organizations undertaking work in diverse areas related to human rights - seniors, disabilities, racism etc... - so they learn about the issues, but also what is happening in relation to these issues in the community. I think this is a fundamental link - often the 'action' piece is left out of learning about issues... so people may feel frustrated with and issue in the community and wonder 'why isn't anything being done?' but usually there are programs and services which people are not aware of. We realize that we need to build awareness and profile of organizations doing good work in our community to promote human rights. This is a critical piece. Following the 8 months of training, the youth then have to undertake a volunteer placement with one of the organizations from the training. It again has been and INCREDIBLE success. The dialogue and discussion in these sessions is amazing and again it is very experiential and participatory to ensure a learning approach versus only infomration sharing.
Both of these program are in high demand in the community and we are finding really surprising people are taking it! People from the human rights commissions are even joining - which is really exciting. The great thing aboiut the Facilitator program one is that we have this committed loyal group of people who are strong advocates for the project. They are the foundation to the city being a human rights city. And, they have a ripple effect. Recently in the past session, I did a brainstorming session with the group so we could develop new roles in the community and to build strategies for 'building community' and I'm excited to see where this takes us!
We have created a toolkit for the Human RIghts Facilitator one just recently so any community can take this and implement it - and is available for all! We are now working on creating a toolkit for the youth program as well. It's been a fabulous experience and all involved, even me everytime, have learned so much from each other.
Re: Education: or more preferred creating space for learning
Hi Renee,
Thank you for such a detailed description of the different ways that your project carries out learning opportunities for the communities of Edmonton. It is inspiring and encouraging to hear that you have received so much positive feedback from the participants! Well done!
I especially like how the project has intervened on different levels at the community level - the youth, the 'front-line workers' from community service organizations, marganalized communities, etc. The 'facilitators' program sounds like a great way to create those dedicated partners that I would expect anyone working on building a human rights city would need!
I am curious to learn more about the 'Human Rights Facilitator Toolkit' that you mentioned. Where can one find this Toolkit?
Thanks!
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
HR Facilitator Toolkit
Hey Kristin,
We just finished the draft of this last week and are going to put into a 'package' that will be put on the website. For now, best way to access it is I guess to contact me and we'll make sure to get it out! We'll have it ready and complete by May 6th when we are in Winnipeg to train them onthe program.
Cheers, Renee
Human Rights Learning Ideas
Renee,
Thanks for pointing out the resources at HREA (Human Rights Eucation Associates) - here is the link to their Resource Centre.
Those following our dialogue can use this link to the HREA that I believe Renee was referring to: Popular Education for Human Rights: 24 Participatory Exercises for Facilitators and Teachers by Richard Pierre Claude, Professor Emeritus, University of Maryland, profclaude [at] aol [dot] com with illustrations by Emma Ridgway, London, England.
I also found another great resource from Australia for human rights learning with youth that offers 107 ideas. It looked like a great way to spark ideas for participatory learning.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
handbooks
Professor Claude's work was one of our textbooks in Taiwan during PDHRE International Seminar and is a very good source. I apreciate very much PDHRE's effort to make such "user-friendly" tools available because I think this is the right way to go. One important step is to exchange like we are doing now, then, besides writting down the history of HRC movement, we will be able to compile some best practices in the field of HR learning.
Something that I have been planning is to have such a HRC handbook published in portuguese and I hope I can as soon as other previous stones are better founded. I am old enough to have heard McLuhan and I agree, at least partially, that midia is the message. To stand and say human rights is important because you stand. Handbooks are made for action.
Toolkit from Edmonton
It seems as though you have had a wonderfully successful experience with the facilitator training. I'd like to know how you created the Toolkit. Was this a participatory process undertaken with the community?
Toolkit from Edmonton
This toolkit was developed after three years of implementing the human rights facilitator training program - so is almost like a step by step tool for implementing this trianing program in your community and has been altered over the three years based on experiecnes and lessons learned. It has sample PSAs, application forms etc .
Implementation
Dear Akafeera,
Kathleen and I are working on developing a training manual for young people. Is there a way you can email me a copy of your training toolkit at jikambana [at] afsc [dot] org?
Regards,
Securing Government Support at the Municipal Level
One of things I need to hear from the other Human Rights City partners - particularly those that have secured an official recognition and proclamation from the City - is how did you go about securing municipal government support for this?
We have struggled with this in Edmonton and it has remained a very grassroots community level project because of our challenges of creating buy in at the government level where they don't see immediate tangible outcomes or where they are afraid to make a commitment in fear of a price tag being attached later.
Can some of you tell me about hte process you took? What lessons did you learn here? This is the area we have been unsuccessful, or have not developed a clear strategy and some advice is very welcome!
Renee
CENSORED
Dear! The first words that I could say about this issue are CENSORED and CENSORED.
(Well, better to be self-censored than having othes to make it for you...)
This issue can drive you to extreme situations. Here, right after joining the International HRC Program a new government was elected. A very wide composition that has taken a logn time to decide who would care for what in the city. And that ngo that was anchoring the process has had elections too. That's democracy. Then, in both sides of the contract, changes have made commitment weaker. Fortunatly some other ngo's have backed the process and it helped to start a steering committee which we have called ComCoord (abreviation of Comite Coordenador that reminds of the word concordance).
We were able to make a few public activities supported by PDHRE and by Local Governance Secretary - our main victory was to grow as a group and be able to hold together. Recently a new election changed for better the composition of this same governing front and we are moving again. We are moving forward, but we are also moving out! After being kept in dusty drawers, we had decided to search for neighboring cities to transfer the program (Porto Alegre is in the center of a huge metropolitan area, and there about 4 other cities that could adopt the Program). Now, it is good that the first city decided to honestly adopt actions, but horizon and negotiations is already open - the former exclusivity is over.
And that is an interesting point. In capitalism, everymind is in somemeasure contaminated by the elan of competition. We are for cooperation and we do not enjoy competition as a main value - but as Shula reminded us earlier "One trains dogs", you do not talk about Voltaire with them. When you are dealing with officials, the role they are living is their authority (and their vanity many times), you should try to learn with that person and try to teach something about human rights, but as a negotiator you have to also pay a tribute to the role they are living and that means to provoke their "natural" politician's competition. Point (to end this endless note): it is interesting to play with more cities than just one. To be open and friendly to neighbors - no special seats, no reservations. The city has to go for it, otherwise the next gets the title. (And to make this title glows is a task for all of us.)
Ideas for securing government support at the municipal level
I am intrigued by the question Renee poses in a previous comment titled Securing Government Support at the Municipal Level. The questions is - how have other secured municipal government support for an official recognition or proclamation from the City? I think this is a challenge for many human rights organizations. I enjoyed reading Carlos's comment above, and his comment on competition vs. cooperation made me think more about strategies for engaging government. As I think Carlos would agree, the 'cooperation' strategy is probably your best bet, but maybe also a touch of healthy competition.
Though I have no experience building a human rights city, I would like to share some ideas from a New Tactics notebook (in-depth case study on a tactic) titled Making Allies: Engaging Government Official to Advance Human Rights. I think you may find a few tactics in this notebook helpful for you to think about your strategy for working with your municipal government officials.
This case study comes from Russia, and describes the development of a positive and collaborate relationship between Citizen's Watch and government insiders - not an easy task! "These relationships encourage the development of a democratic and
participatory connection between the state and its citizens, one in
which human rights are respected and the government functions to serve
the people, rather than to rule over it."
Some of the key techniques Citizens’ Watch used to implement this arduous task included:
An individualized and diplomatic approach – carefully selecting
promising and influential players in the administration and approaching
them in a respectful and supportive manner.
The effective use of the "carrots" of invitations to domestic and
international seminars, trips and meetings. Potential collaborators
inside the administration were invited to interesting and useful
gatherings outside of Russia, where they would meet international
colleagues in their profession who would encourage their personal
political transition. Meanwhile, educational events and conferences
inside Russia would bring them together with academics and other
experts in their field to help them see alternatives to the way the
government currently functions.
The provision of helpful resources and information to the
bureaucrats, such as translations of documents and training materials
from other countries, etc.
Finally, in some cases, the creation of a collaborative
relationship allowing for the development of joint strategies to
address shared problems.
The first step listed above - carefully selecting and approaching individuals - reminds me very much of New Tactics' tactical map tool. This tool guides practitioners through a process that maps out all the relationships that are present regarding the issue that you are trying to change. Then practitioners can deliberately choose their targets where they want to intervene given their expertise and their resources. In your situation, Renee, it might be helpful to map out those individuals in the municipal government so that you can focus your energy on those targeted individuals strategically.
Have other used something similar to the first step above, imlemented by Citizen's Watch?
I am eager to hear from other practitioners that have successfully
partnered with their government officials to officially recognize their
community as a 'human rights city.'
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
we are getting there
Tomorrow I will have a meeting with a State HR director to talk about an International Seminar of HR Good Practices where we can insert an HRC Meeting. I want the cities can expose their work. We are discussing about another city to be partner of Porto Alegre on this project. It is taking a long time to have decisions (meeting call more meetings and I need some yoga breath techniques to take it easy sometimes...).
I do think that we can get goverment support because we can do better projects - that means projects that bring measurable results and that DO bring votes. We have to learn too. A second project we are dealing with is a literacy contest for college students ("How to Apply the UDHR at Porto Alegre?". College students vote. And the city govmt. could have no cheaper consultancy services than tens of thounsand college students thinking about new laws and public campaigns. To win, the propposal should also include low costs - or course with some billions any city can apply the UDHR...) And students learn that everything has a cost - this is something that can be adapted to other target-populations like the participative budget assemblies. After one contest is done, this could be another excellent focus. Thanks, Group.
Creative Thinking Contests
Carlos,
This is an excellent idea to bring to bear the very creative, "out of the box" ideas that young people can generate. It can provide an excellent opportunity to really infuse human rights ideas and values into not only the creating thinking processes but also in terms of concrete plans of action. What a great way to invest resources and confidence in engaging young people to address the challenges of their own future!
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
College Students
I think using college students to promote this (and other) ideas is a great tool. Students are much more likely to be active and take a stance on these issues. A few ways to get them involved: a contest or project, like the one mentioned above, a one time lecture or discussion, a campus group or organization, or even a class where the goal would be to design a campaign to promote the issue.
On my campus, all of these ideas would be recieved well and would have participants. On college campuses there are a variety of ways to get to college students. These college students are a great way to get through to the rest of the world. Once they become passionate about something, it stays with them.
Securing local government support
Dear Kantin,
Your comments are very helpful. I agree with you on the importance of individualized and diplomatic approach. That proved to be critical in our process in Washington DC, where as you know, local and federal governments cross paths and often compete for the political space. What proved to be a winning sound bite was the historic prospective for the City to become the first ever human rights city in the United States!
Notoriety of being FIRST
Jean-Louis,
The notoriety of being "first" can certainly be a great advantage and has tremendous appeal. Now that Washington, DC has claimed this "first" the rest of our North American cities will have to find another way to make our appeal! When an idea really catches fire, "joining the bandwagon" sometimes works too. We'll definitely hope that the Human Rights Cities idea catches fire!
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Keeping Morale up
In my limited experience observing the creation of human rights cities (or communities) I have noticed that one of the greatest challenges is keeping those that will stand to benefit most interested and engaged. During a visit to Ecuador we spent time with a community that was having their land stripped by a large mining company. While many agreed there was a need for action, they were discouraged at the percieved power for the mining company. Has anyone else had such difficulties? Are there creative ways of dealing with this problem?
RESOURCES & TOOLS - Building and Sustaining a Human Rights City
Please share what resources have been most helpful to you in the various stages of building your human rights city including:
resources - campaign
In every city people develop their own resources. Of course the
UDHR and the various covenants and conventions are basic tools to
share with people . It is often the pedagogy or the methods chosen
that play a major role such as the various campaigns held in Rosario
which I hope our friends from Rosario can tell us about. .
The UDHR itself is a very important resource if it is "used"
to have people look at the realizations and violations in their
lives . Local poetry, legends, art and literature etc can be an
excellent resource to demonstrate how the hopes of people
coincide with the holistic vision of human rights, to overcome the
'gossip” about human rights that it comes fro the North. On our
website you can find several manuals and books that can lead you
to integrate your own methods. Same can be found on other websites of
our members who could share it further. .
Allow me to evoke another thought: It is imperative to introduce
discussion on gender equality and patriarchy. One can not understand
the full dimension and meaning of human rights as relevant to our
lives unless we develop with the learners systemic analysis and
critical thinking about gender equality and the lack of that
undermines all human rights. .
resources
These three points should be actually y answered by our
colleagues in the field, but I will try to give some answers to
evoke further thinking. . .
The idea is to develop 100 human rights cities in the coming ten
years. Am I crazy? YES! I am!!
Short answers t above three points:
-Human resourceful . Committed community workers are the engine
that moves this process forward. These are people – from various
local organization - who will join a steering committee to service
the community mostly on a volunteer plan the specific community
program that will introduce the idea of a human rights city to raise
the initial necessary conscientiousness.
implementing stage: The implementation needs to move obviously
from the steering committee to the community to have the
learning process enable people participate in the decision of what
actions need to be taken. .. also as part of the mapping as various
parts of the community attend specifically to develop on going
actions.
Needless to say that funds, which were easier to get in the past,
are very important. Even when funds were more available a lot of work
has been done on a volunteer basis by local organization those who
are committed to integrate both the learning and actions that
follow ( implementation) as part of their daily activities. This is
the best scenario.
In short committed people each giving time for this effort make up the neccesary celebrated resources.
Yes.
I am not worried you are crazy. I am worried you are convincing.
Let's do it!
Yes, again.
Let's all be convincingly crazy!
Success Story about Human Rights as a way of life
Carlos,
You are right - Shula Koenig is very convincing, and especially inspiring in her passion for promoting her vision of "human rights as a way of life".
On the PDHRE website you can find a wonderful publication by Shulamith Koenig, "In our hands:
human right as a way of life: Human Rights Cities – a personal view", that was originally published in Our Freedoms: A Decade’s Reflection On The Advancement Of Human Rights, Published by The International Bar Association in March 2007.
Shula states:
What is a human rights city? Imagine living in a society where all citizens learn about human rights and make a pledge to build a community based on economic and social justice, on equality and non-discrimination; where all women and men actively participate in the decisions that affect their daily lives guided by the human rights framework; where people have consciously internalised and socialised the holistic vision of human rights to overcome fear and impoverishment; a society that provides human security, access to food, housing, education, health care and work at liveable wages, sharing these resources with all citizens, not as a gift, but as the realisation of human rights. A human rights city is a practical, viable model that demonstrates that developing and living in such a society is possible.
As a message of hope, here are some voices from the human rights cities:
Shula illustrates beautifully not only the purpose of a human rights city but the concrete way in which people understand how human rights really are an integral part of their daily life, not some writing on a document storied in a building far away. But alive and active in everything we do.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Sowing Cities Across the Southern Cone
Dear Shula and folks.
Yesterday at a meeting with HR government director, I was informed that they enjoyed a lot our project of an International Seminar for HRCities. It may be held in the first days of December. The focus is to introduce HRC as Best Practices to southern latin-american activists and mayors (etc). We have set ten days to have it decided.(If Porto Alegre does not embark in the project, it may be held by Santa Maria, my new city)
Resource - Human Rights Training Manual from Gratz
The European Training Center for Human Rights in Gratz has put together an excellent resource manual "Understanding Human Rights" that provides material for classroom use and in many languages (in alphabetical order):
The manual provides resources and presentation materials on the following topics and this structure:
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
ETC Resource
Thank you Nancy for pointing out this great resource - some activities that we will definitely use!!!
Cheers, Renee
Resources for the process of building a human rights city
In every city there is a person, an organisation or a network who is the promotor of the initiative. It is possible that this role continue for a little while. Nevertheless, the skill for creating and sustaining alliances is indispensable.
These alliances should involve the governmental and non governmental field. Nevertheless, the streng of the non-governmental actors is crucial. If we rely only in a good relationship with several governmental actors, the initiative will be very fragile. This due to several factors, mainly, the fact that each 4 years governmental functionaries change with municipal elections.
The possibility of connecting with municipal functionaries without being swallowd by political parties manipulation is another challenge. But is needed. This requires some skills that we also need to learn (and include in our learning process).
That is why, in spite of the importance of the participation of the governmental representatives in the alliance, promoters of the human rights city should always have in mind the need of balance.
Susana Chiarotti
Susana Chiarotti
Maintaining Rosario's partners - civil society & government
Susana,
Thank you for bringing up this very important point in terms of building effective human rights cities. As you point out, ""the fact that each 4 years governmental functionaries change with municipal elections." This raises the critical need of on-going collaborative partnership building that is necessary to sustain and build a human rights city initiative. The critical vibrancy of change needed in democratic processes creates a challenge for on-going development and growth for human rights cities.
Please share with us more about how Rosario has been able to build and maintain the alliances, collaborations and partnerships necessary to keep your human rights city vibrant.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
irfan
I am Irfan Ali and I work in a human rights organization
called “Human Rights Commission for Social Justice and Peace”. I teach human rights education to students and youths in Quetta Pakistan, who really need human rights awareness, and training programs .The concept of the human rights city is quite new, rather I would say that when I teach the students and youths that they have also got human rights as any one in America or Canada guaranteed in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Constitution of Pakistan. The students and youths can not believe their ears; the reason is they live in society which is backward and ruled by tribal chiefs and religious minded
leaders who just inculcate the seeds of hatred, extremism and fundamentalism, where girls and women are like cow and sheep. In such society where human rights word does not exist, learning about ideas like human rights city is
really interesting experience to share with the students and youths , they will get inspiration by knowing that people in other parts of the world struggle for better human rights reforms and achievements.
irfan ali
Inspiring new ideas
Dear Irfan,
Thank you so much for sharing how this idea of building a "human rights city" can provide inspiration to you and the young people you are working with in Pakistan.
I was particularly inspired by the vision outlined by the Human Rights City of Edmonton, Canada in its report stating that for Edmonton and its surrounding communities is:
embarking on a human rights journey without ever intending to declare a final destination...a continuous process of life-long human rights education and learning, evaluation and action, with the goal of moving as close as possible to the fullest implementation of the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights] and other instruments.
This recognition that our work for human rights is indeed a beautiful, life-long and rewarding journey because we are always seeking to address our ever-changing needs and improve the lives of individuals as well as our collective endeavors in which we engage with each other as human beings.
Thank you again for sharing that this idea of building a human rights city is one of interest to you there in Pakistan!
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
A Long term endeavour
HI Nancy,
IN response to the idea that the human rights city being a life long journey - which it is and which I believe is SO fundamental to this project - this has also been one of our biggest challenges in Edmonton. People tend not to really understand that this project has longer term objectives and that human rights learning is a journey and immediate indicators are not always 'present'. Throughout the project, unfortunately we lost people committed to the project because there weren't enough 'tangible outcomes' right away. This was really disheartening ... I think it's important as cities move forward with this that they really stress this long term vision. It's critical - otherwise people miss the point!
Renee
Long term endeavor - immediate successes
Hi Renee,
I think you raise here a critical point in human rights work. People need to see some concrete results or victories. These don't even have to be big victories, in fact most of the time, they appear as small drops in an ocean of challenges. But having an opportunity to champion and see the ripples from the small drops is critical.
You had mentioned in another of your comments, the facilitation process and the development of relationships that have made it possible for people to know who they can refer a person they know is in need of assistance in their community. When that someone receives concrete assistance and connection to a service they need NOW - that is an immediate, heart-felt success, a tangible result.
One key point of our work is to improve the lives of people, of our communities - knowing that we have played a part in improving SOMEONE's life keeps us going.
Thank you for bringing this important aspect to our attention. Tangible outcomes help immensely in keeping us motivated for the long term endeavor.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Tangible outcomes and long term endeavour
Thanks Nancy - and I think you hit it perfectly - the whole effort to try and have outcomes in Edmonton is a big reason why we pushed forward on the youth and human rights faciltiator training program that I spoke about in another thread. It has become a tangible 'project' that we are able to take to the community AND hte city and say here... we have trained so many people in human rights and this has been the effect. It's working for now... slowly!
Tangible outcomes
In Rosario the Toba women came to the steering committee when
they needed 'help” to overcome the mistreatment in the hospitals.
A “theater the oppressed” put forth by these women was put
together to invitees – doctors and nurses form the hospital. They
came to see and listen because they were invited by the human rights
city's Steering committee. The “play” they saw on the stage,
presented the raw facts of how these women were treated. This
experience brought a meaningful change in policies and attitudes in
the hospital and also the development of ongoing learning bout human
rights as part of the Medical school's curriculum.
When young people in Ties, Senegal, learned that education is
a human right they asked why some of their friends do not go to
school. They found out that those children were not registered by
their parents when they were born. This was only the beginning of
teams of young 12- to 15 year olds who for more than three year
canvased the community of 250,00 and registered more than 4300
children. Along the registration process they got together lobbying
with the Mayor for more school rooms and more teachers . –
“small”stories – significant transformation in people's lives.
,
does this tell the story of the assertion of Nancy that: :
knowing that we have played a part in improving SOMEONE's life
keeps us going. .
These “someones” life experience is the best agent of change
and action.
Using theater for human rights learning
Shula,
Thank you for sharing these two great examples of effective use of tactics. I want to let people know that New Tactics hosted an on-line dialogue last October "Using Theatre for Human Rights Education and Action" . You will find many incredible examples of how effective theater is in engaging communities to identify important human rights issues, explore them and understand them, and work together to create their own solutions to take action. This is an excellent and powerful tool in building community human rights learning.
I was also struck by the story of the young people in Senegal taking action to register children who had not been registered at birth. A group of young people here in Minnesota are trying to explore this issue of birth registration and how it could help the children of Sudan. If people have other stories of how groups have worked on this issue - please visit this comment and share your own: Birth Registration in Southern Sudan
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Inspiring new ideas-- what is human rights as a way of life
Closing off after a long day allow me to put forth questions for
discussion over the weekend. :
--How do we create a collective consciousness about human rights
as a way of life?
--How do we have people internalize human rights as presenting a
moral authority that guides our lives,
for which we have no other option?.
--How can we create the environment where the two word “human
rights” evoke not only violations and conformation but an adherence
to a system of carefully developed norms and standards that guide us
to live in dignity with others.. --a powerful world view.. --a way of
life that transcends dogma and evokes transcendence and proactive
actions?
--what do we have to do and through which media and other forms of
communication can we have people understand human rights as relevant
to their daily lives and which stand to make their lives better. A
consciousness that puts in their hands a powerful tool for action. ?
Indeed we hope that the human rights cities provide answer to
these questions.
Let each one just re read the UDHR and learn how much e can
achieve by learning and re learning,. imagining and re imagining to
articulate without hesitation that human rights is a way of life..
As I read along the many very important and inspiring entries in
this dialogue I am not sure if we do not not unknowingly oscillate
between humanitarian affairs and human rights …
In a human rights city it is a call for economic and social
justice to be achieved within a human rights framework.
Are these mere words.. can someone help in walking the talk/??
students, human rights, and pakistan
There is no doubt that Pakistan is going through enormous difficulties, which often results in despotism, and lack of hope. However, it is absolutely imperative that you do not speak with your students as something that comes from the West, but something which is inherent both in their religious teachings and within the hopes and expectations of Pakistanis and other nations in your area for many generations. I believe that when students can find values, which indeed they can, in their own culture in their own narratives, and their own historic memory that relate to claiming ones dignity and moving away from humiliation that one can understand human rights as a tool for action in his or her community. This is why we speak of human rights as a way of life and Human Rights Learning as strengthening the banks of the river in which life and move freely.
These are not just poetic statements, but real experiences that we have gathered in Africa, and in Latin America and some in Asia. The yearning is to move away from humiliation but in this process we often humiliate others and exchange our equality for survival. And this is why we don't "educate" people. We learn together and in the learning process, we identify the strengths and hopes of our own culture, of our own religion, to design our future. This is why we came up with the idea of developing Human Rights Cities, which attempts to do all of the above and to create an aggregate consciousness, which gives power to human rights.
stories of practice
One major breakthrough for the human rights city process of Graz in Austria has been the election monitoring organized by the Human Rights Advisory Board set up in 2007. The 2008 municipal elections saw a strong xenophobic and islamophobic move by right wing parties. The slogan promoted by the Human Rights Board was "no campaign at the expense of human rights" and a working group with funding from the city documented all violations, while the Board held regular press conferences communicating its findings by way of a traffick light system, i.e. red, amber and green. The press showed much interest and soon citizens started to follow the monitoring process, which is believed to have prevented more violations of human rights of citizens, often migrants.
other stories of practice?
Thanks so much for sharing this example of the way in which a human rights city operates in action. It seems that so far initiatives have been successful in creating awareness as well as preventing violation of human rights in your human rights city (Graz).
I'd be really interested in hearing other examples of specific instances in which members of human rights cities, when faced with violations, took action in order to prevent those violations. I'd also be interested in hearing of ways in which members of human rights cities have drawn awareness to human rights within their own community.
Tools & Resources
Hello from DC!
One example of human rights in action here in DC was given to us by a group of young people who participated in our first human rights learning retreat. After learning about human rights, these young people agreed to take actions on three issues that were relevant to their lives as youths: education, immigration and non-violence.
The education group decided to raise awareness about the quality of schools in DC and went on to testify before the City Council. The immigration group organized a survey in their schools to study the perception of foreign born students by US born students and faculty. Their work is helping to foster dialogue among different ethnic groups in the school. The peace group went on top organize a "peace club" at their school, which is teaching the values of non-violence techniques in conflict resolution.
thanks!
Thank you so much for your examples of actions that people are taking in human rights cities. Your examples will be really helpful to many I'm sure, and the idea of a human rights learning retreat sounds really interesting and helpful. I think it's really important to appeal to the youth population as a part of building a human rights community, and I think a retreat would be a really great way to foster a dialogue among youths about what matters most to them. Thank you for your insights, they were beneficial to me, and I'm sure will be to others as well!
Connecting Learning to Action
Jean-Louis,
Thank you for sharing this great example of how your human rights learning activity connected to direct action results that these young people were not only interested in but took steps to make a difference. I think this is the real crux of building human rights cities - where citizens (young and old alike) are invested in making the place where they live the best it can be for everyone.
This is inspiring!
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Process &Steps
The support we received from the D.C. Council and the local government's office of human rights was critical for our early success in securing the official resolution to proclaim Washington ,D.C. a human rights city.
Shula and I first met with the Director of the D.C. office of Human Rights and were able, apparently, to have him buy-in into the idea of human rights learning and a human rights city. At the same time, we have already started conducting human rights learning workshops to D.C. students. This idea of exposing human rights learning to D.C. students resonated very well with the Director, who immediately accepted our invitation to join the steering committee. In other words, the City's office of human rights became a co-owner, with other community organizations of the human rights city project.
The support from the City Council pretty much followed the same scheme. As I said in my comments yesterday, we were able to identify a key councilmember who has distinguished herself in the field of human rights in Washington. She also liked the concept of a human rights city and the the work we were already doing to introduce human rights learning to D.C. students. She became a strong advocate of the steering committee and she proved it when she drafted the resolution and received overwhelming support from the entire City Council ( they all signed the declaration!).
In summary, I think the key to securing support from the officials is in being able to convey a positive message to them about the uniqueness of the concept of human rights learning as a way of life, and human rights city as a way to empower communities to achieve self-realization and human dignity.
Regards,
Jean-Louis
Challenges
A regular report on the state of human rights is one of the main tasks of the Human Rights Board of the city of Graz.The first such report was elaborated in 2008 by a working group of the Board with the partcipation of the city administration, NGOs and individuals from all sectors. Three issues were given paricular attention, i.e.racism, islamophobia and poverty. The 80 page report which is available from the website of the ETC Graz at www.etc-graz.at provides a comprehensive account of the strengths and weaknesses, achievements and gaps and ends with a number of recommendations adopted by the Board, which met with considerable public interest. The second report due in 2009 will focus on the implementation of these recommendations. The challenge is to trigger a process in which the authorities will take ownership of the recommendations and the public, in particular the media will hold them accountable for implementing them. The Board may enter into a constructive dialogue offering assistance.
let us think together and join in planning and action...
Hello to all new and "old" participants.
On Friday at the end of busy day, at the UN , trying to create discussions on the importance of learning about human rights as a way both at the forth coming meeting of the Commission on Sustainable Development and also meetings in May of the Indigenous Peoples , I dared to bring forth a question to all : How do we have people around the world join in learning and internalizing the notion of human rights as a way of life and as relevant to their daily lives?... this beyond the “conventional” way they “know” and identify what human rights are today.
I recalled thinking that human rights rebukes dogma an exclusivity and evokes transcendence and inclusivity.. .. this question was in search of how to appeal to people to embrace the human rights framework as their own and be guided by its holistic vision and mission.
I ask that you look on our home page www.pdhre.org : The Resolutions on the International Year of human Rights learning – especially the second one --having prompted Benin to put this forth- how the outlined suggestioncan be implemented so as to start of a worldwide process. We hope that it will lead to have 100 human rights cities flourishing in the coming 10 years as focal points and models from which we all learn how to use the human rights framework to change the world.
Each one of you who reads this conversation, being put forth by our network, and is inspired, will reach out and hold hands. Let us think together of how we can influence every community group, NGOs and organization those that attend to the major 30 social and economic justice issues – see our Call for Justice in our website- proposing to them to integrate the learning about human rights in their projects and programs and with their constituencies around the world -- all these issue are human rights issues.
It will indeed say loud and clear human rights is the right to be human.
Documents:
of learning about human rights as a way of life at community level
Resources & Tools
I agree with you, Shula!
Participatory Budgets - 4 stage process
Susana Chiarotti
Participatory Budgets can be an extraordinary tool to implement human rights in the daily life practice. But we need to push in order to make them really democratic and participatory. As Rosario "Human Rights City" we collaborated with the process training women that were participating in the neighbourhood assemblies. The fact was that women were in a disadvantege position regarding men, which had more experience in political participation and always took the floor and spoke on behalf of the whole community. In the workshops we discussed through different stages:
After the first year we work in this process, women decided that contraceptives in the health centers of the neighbourhoods and milk for the children in the schools were as vital as remedies for them, and so they asked for the neighbourghood budget to allocate money for that.
I agreed with Emiliano that this is still an imperfect tool, but is something. We need to improve it, trying to avoid governmental manipulation, asking for more popular participation and for the increasing of the percentage that could be decided by participation.
Susana Chiarotti
stories of practice
University cooperation does play a positive role in HRC Graz: for example, the university of Graz every year together with the Afro-Asian Institute of Graz is organizing a big multicultural ball with more than 3000 guests drawing attention to the multicultural population of Graz, this year also connected with a so-called multicultural academy focusing on freedom of expression worldwide. The universty also regularly awards a human rights prize, the last one of which went to the British organization Council for Assistance to Refugee Academics (CARA). The universitty closely coperates with the ETC, part of which will be formally established for research and training as a competence centre of the university. The university also participated in a project of the regional TV and radio stationof Styria called Facing Nations, by which a local painter painted large portraits of people from all nationalities living in Graz giving them a face , which were then displayed in an exhibition, by documenting their stories.
Human Rights Prize
The Human Rights City of Graz on a bi-annual basis awards a human rights prize to people who show a particular human rights record in their activities in cities in Austria and Europe at large. Applications are to be sent to the "Friedensburo Graz" till beginning of September 2009, www.friedensbüro-graz.at. In this way every two years several activists are being distinguished in a nice ceremony allowing to reflect on the purpose and objectives of human rights cities. There is also some money connected to the prize which may be split in case of several people being awarded.
Human Rights Prize for Austria and Europe at Large
This is a wonderful way to encourage communities to share their successes.
For those interested - here's a brief overview taken from the 2009 Gratz Human Rights Award Webpage:
Keep us posted regarding the stories of success that get submitted and those that win the € 7,000 prize!
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Self care
What a very nice form of self-care - to recognize the great work of others! Though the outcomes of this work might not be immediate or tangible, I believe that it is important for practitioners to stop once in a while, and recognize their accomplishments. This is a wonderful example of that. Well done, Graz!
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Kristin Antin, New Tactics Online Community Builder
Film on Human Rights Cities
A comparison of human rights cities is the subject of a TV film, turned by a crew of the Styrian/Austrian TV ORF, which has been shown for a first time during the UN Habitat conference in Nanking in late 2008. The human rights cities of Graz, Rosario, Edmonton and Korogocho/Kenia are juxtaposed in sometimes surprising cuts. The fim is available in English as a video from Michael Schaller, who had the idea and was part of the team travelling to the cities at www.menschenrechtsstadt.at
participatory budgets
Abou About Budgets: About Budgets:I agree with Emiliano on what happens with the participatory budgets. In almost all cases they can decide on more less than 10% of the real budget. That is because the composition of the budget in an important part of a central national ore regional agencies and there are few important projects they can finance. So the real budget is very small. (specially in poor districts ). They have been useful in terms of moving people to think on what they want for there community. In my view the problem is no only budgets, but investments projects in the city, and in the case of Chile the decision of local investment frequently come from the national or regional level. For example the construction of roads comes from a centralized national regional decision. That means that at the local level people cannot decide, even though there are assemblies where people can express their opinion about the social, environmental impact. But there is a real power imbalance between local administrations and communities, enterprises and state agencies of other levels. So the main conflict- in Chile- is decentralization and decisions over projects that impact in people’s lives. There is one experience, that moves in the direction of HHRR Cities, that is in a district where the local administration opened not only the discussion to the people, but let them take decisions, so the people and the administration move the projects they are really interested, arguing at/with all levels. That kind of articulation, needs a great political will, that means that authorities believe in participation in public decisions, and let people’s power circulate. The problem is that it is subjected to the period that authorities are in power.
So in the developing of HHRR cities, methodologies for empowerment have to be addressed to authorities in order to distinguish what is instrumental participation and real decisions on relevant issues for the comunity. That means to share power/cooperate with organized comunity.
Abou About Budgets:
Challenges
Graz as a human rights city is still facing major challenges. When we started in 2001 thanks to the encouragement of Shula Koenig, we successfully based ourselves on the methodology suggested by PDHRE to be found on their website, which is as relevant today than in the beginning. Step by step we were able to built a constituency and since 2007 we have the Human Rights Council as an official advisory board of the city. We have not yet achieved human rights budgeting, in times of economic crises we have to struggle to maintain our achievements. Still, since the beginning we are concentrating on human rights learning for all and recently we reached a new level, when the major agreed to invite all actors in the human rights learning community for a reception, where he will annpunce a three-year programme of the city under the name "culture of human rights in Graz", which will be coordinated by the Human Rights Council with the help of the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC). The concrete steps were elaborated by a special workshop and a working group will try to stimulate an as broad process as possible. Media and diferent professional associations will be involved together with university and civil society at large. We have only a minimal budget, so we will depend on inputs from all participants. Any suggestions or recommendations from viewers are welcome!
Human Rights Cities in the US
In response to our friend who asked why Washington D.C. is the only human rights city in the US, I would say that it depends on what the citizens of each city want to do to promote the idea. A human rights city is, in my view a bottom-up process. It depends on the actions taken by the citizens themselves to make their city a human rights city. Citizens will influence political leaders to declare their city a human rights city, not the opposite. In Washington DC, we seized the momentum around 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to start a city-wide process of engaging citizens in human rights learning. We conducted a survey of 89 D.C. public and private schools students. The results revealed that only 2 students knew about that historic document. The overwhelming majority never heard of the document. We then made a strategic decision to partner with the School District to expand human rights learning in their schools. With financial support from PDHRE, we organized a 3 day retreat for 30 students who then went on to create the first DC Youth Human Rights Steering Committee (please check our website at www.afsc.org/midatlantic , then look for DC Peace and Economic Justice Program) . Those students who received that first training went back to their schools and created human right clubs to engage other young people in human rights learning around three issues relevant to them including, education, immigration and peace. Students became our first advocates for a human rights city. This had a positive impact on the local officials in their decision to declare D.C. a human rights city in progress. We are doing the same at the community level where a Steering Committee made of members of more than 30 community organizations is also promoting human rights learning at the community level and engaging in actions for societal transformation( see http://sites.google.com/site/dchumanrightspeoplesmovement )
Related documents:
Stories of Practice
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
First please accept my
apologies for not particapting in this exciting forum . Work and
family committments have taken my time over the past few months.
In any event, I will sshare some of my thoughts on the Human
Rights Cities process and progress. Back in 2005 I
was honored to be asked to chair the Human Rights City Edmonton
Project. and to become part of this group. When I met our other
colleagues in Taiwan in Dec 2005 I was so excited to see
what people are doing around the world to further human rights
and human dignity for all. At that time I was the only
person form a "dveloped" country and I think some people
were surprsied to hear that Canada has human rights concerns .
Believe me, we have many human rights issues here and many
opportunities to improve the situation, but that what I
want to discuss here. I want to share a few things about our
process and my experience.
When I first agreed to chair our
committee--there were approx 60 indivuals who had been invited be
part of the " Steering committee". After discussions with
Satya Das, whom you all know, we agreed that we needed a
smaller commitee to actually make decisions and move
things along. So we formed a smaller group of approx 16 people at
first adn we soon founbd this was even too large--some people
would show up for meetings every week, other rarely, and when they did
they would expect a complete replay of previous meetings,
including revisiting and sometimes revising decisions that had
been made in their absence. Needless to say there seemed to be
some fairly large egos in the room at times. Some individuals
thought the HRC movement was a United Nations initiative and when they
found out it was independent of the UN they decided to withdraw from
the committee, others felt we weren't doing things fast enough, so in
time we were left with a few very dedicated people who continued
on. Thanks to Renee and her staff at the John Humphrey Centre, we
managed to develop some excellent initiatives, starting with a "needs
assessment" through an online survey asking people to describe
human rights issues in Edmonton. We changed the "Steering
Committee" to a "Citizen's Assemly" and the first Human Rights
Day event was held at the First Nations Centre where we held
focus groups with approx 45 citizens to identify our priorities. The
citizens also declared Edmonton a Human Rights City that day. One
priority identified was education and from that we developed the Human
Rights Facilitator Training program. We have held 3 very successful
traiing programs so far and the feedback has been very positive.
We also started a Human Rights Award Ceremony where, on Dec 10th,
individuals, organizations and business are awarded a human rights city
award for their work in the community.. Renee and her team have also
been doing considerable wotk with Youth.
Our biggest challenge
has been funding. Although the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human
Rights has been the facilitating NGO and provided support
throughout the progress of the HRC, they also have other obligations
and cannot always access funding for the Human Rights City project.
Therefore, we are in the process of seeking an alternative approach
with a project manager to oversee the HRC initiative.
And
as with most NGOs, it is a challenge to get individuals to
volunteer their time to meet each month and participate in
planning and carrying out activities. Everyone on our committee is
working fulltime and sometimes it is difficult to attend meetings.
For
me, involvement in the HRC movement has been very educational. I can't
look at any aspect of my life or my work without seeing it through a
human rights lens. In fact, I am developing a proposal to create a
Centre for Huamn Rights and Social Justice at Athabasca
University. Our university is an Open and Distancde
Education university, so the Centre and any course or program we offer
would be open to anyone around the world.
I welcome any thoughts on this inititiatve.
If
time permits, I will try to log back into this forum later today after
we have our Human Rights City Executive meeting this afternoon.
Regards,
Joy
Connecting distance education & practical action resources
Joy,
Thank you for sharing your experiences with building the Human Rights City of Edmonton since 2005.
I wanted to invite you to consider how we can connect your Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice at Athabasca University (as well as other academic institutions) to the New Tactics tactical success resources that provide students with real case studies of how activists have moved their issues forward and the many incredible human rights activists who are doing the work in their communities who make up our on-line community.
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Nancy Pearson, New Tactics in Human Rights Program Manager
Distance Education
I am glad we have reached to this point before 'regular time; is over.
In Taiwan, during a study case workshop, Joy has leaded one group through a very interesting adventure: to prepare a HR Distant Education course.After that I myself became Specialist in DE.
DE can help us to reach different populations - i have tought of a lusophonic community. On the same effort - and costs - that we reach Brazil, we can reach Portugal, Angola, Moçambique, East Timor, and other countries. Also, if we can spread it in the web, we can make it through Chinese, Arabic and Russian languages - if not in English, as in some democratic countries quite a lot of rights are not recognized as human.
Thank you to all participants
Dear friends, colleagues, and those who took the time to ask, answer, and reflect,
Now that this exceptional week, enabled to us by New Tactics, comes to a close, allow me to first thank you for coming in our midst, for asking and answering, for giving some good advice, and most important, for willing to come farther along this journey with us. New Tactics is indeed a fantastic collaborator and I'm sure that many of you we only met on the screen, could join in collaborating, both in the International Year of Human Rights Learning and in initiating groups in your communities that will facilitate the development of Human Rights Cities.
Human Rights, indeed, is the right to be human. And it is to overcome the three 'P's: Power, Patriarchy and Politics. In the Human Rights Cities, people make the following pledge while holding hands:
We are the human rights generation!
We will take nothing less than human rights.
We will know them and claim them,
For all women, men, youth and children,
From all who speak human rights, but deny them to their own people.
(Raising our hands) We will move power to human rights!
There is an important opportunity created by the recent resolution for the International Year of Human Right Learning. In the operative part of the resolution A/RES/63/173, it says:
2. Urges Member States to develop throughout the International Year of
Human Rights Learning and beyond, in coordination with civil societ y, the private
sector, academia and parliamentarians and regional organizations, including the
appropriate specialized agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations
system, international strategies and/or regional, national and local programmes of
action aimed at broad-based and sustained human rights learning at all levels,
bearing in mind the complementary efforts undertaken within the framework of the
World Programme for Human Rights Education;2
3. Calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
and the Human Rights Council to support, cooperate and collaborate with civil
society, the private sector, academia, regional organizations and other relevant
stakeholders, as well as with organizations, programmes and funds of the United
Nations system, in efforts to develop, in particular, the design of international
strategies and/or regional, national and local programmes of action aimed at
broad-based and sustained human rights learning for all, including seminars and
workshops for community leaders, keeping in mind a long-term multi-year process
involving several countries in all regions;
The Human Rights Cities, current and future, will serve as models for the learning about human rights as a way of life. Needless to say, learning must lead to action--some of which was shared with you by our network. If you want to learn more, you can find it on our website http://www.pdhre.org/ and also in our recent book Human Rights Cities: Civic Engagement for Societal Development, which can also be found on our homepage.
Please feel free to write to us, always with a copy to Nancy Pearson, with whom we are going to work very closely.
Thank you again.
With all best wishes and gratitude,
Shula Koenig
Distance Education
This summer I plan to have my proposal completed and hopefully
approved by my Centre Chair. Once that first draft is complete I will
be in a position to share how we plan to move forward. If
this space continues to be abvailable, I will post our progree here.
If not, what is the appropriate forum to discuss this?
Joy