Human Rights Matter

Last week when I watched Secretary Clinton’s Frontlines and Frontiers: Making Human Rights a Human Reality remarks from Dublin, on more than one occasion I wanted to jump out of my chair. Clinton’s words just hit so close to home.  This is what we’ve been saying for over thirty years.

Human rights matter.

“...because a society can and should be judged, in part, by how it protects the rights of its minorities. Societies are strongest when they deliver justice not just for the powerful, but also for the vulnerable.”

At Global Rights, we advance human rights for some of the most poor, marginalized and vulnerable people around the world.  We believe that empowering people to access justice is an effective mechanism to overcome power imbalances in society.   We open up a range of tools for individuals within formal and informal systems that best fit their context to challenge structures and practices that are barriers to human rights fulfillment. 

“Civil society is important everywhere, including in our countries. But nowhere is it more vital than in those states whose futures are unsure… We know that durable change is most likely to come from within, and that it takes everyone – journalists and activists, business people and teachers, religious leaders and labor leaders – pointing out the need for change, providing the ideas for change...”

What makes Global Rights unique among other human rights actors is that we just don’t “go in and fix the problem.” We believe systemic change to overcome barriers and to achieve full human rights begins with the individual and the community. We believe in the courage, passion and potential civil society has to be change makers in their societies.  That is why we work alongside local partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America and provide them with the tools, skills and education they need in order to make positive, sustainable change in their communities.  This approach works.

“It’s very true that many governments attempt to squeeze civil society in a steel vise, and we are seeing a particular movement against the LGBT community around the world, punishing people, harassing them, beating them, imprisoning them for who they are…”

LGBT rights are human rights. Global Rights’ LGBT Rights program in Sierra Leone is breaking the silence. Our partners, members and nonmembers of the LGBT community, know human rights are universal. They are ensuring that everybody –regardless of gender or sexual orientation— are entitled to the same rights.

“In many places we’re also working with USAID and other donors to help civil society actors build the skills they need to do their work effectively, documenting abuses, storing data, learning how to deal with the media.”

Burundi may look small on the map, but it is a country with big potential.  With our USAID-funded project, Global Rights helped establish the Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) Network on Transitional Justice to increase civil society’s understanding of, support for, and participation in the transitional justice process in Burundi.  To deliver justice, we’re helping civil society monitor and document human rights abuses and store them in a database—the first of its kind in the country.

“I personally have no doubt that if women everywhere were treated as equal to men in rights and dignity, we would see economic and political progress come to places that are now teetering on the edge.”

We believe in women. In all of our programs, Global Rights makes a deliberate effort to promote and protect women’s rights. We believe empowering women so that they can assert and protect their rights is critical in order for societies to thrive.  We work with amazing women day in and day out who are working as agents of positive change throughout the Maghreb region and beyond.

So, on this International Human Rights Day, I leave you with one last quote that I truly believe in and hope you do to:

“And if you are truly representing your citizens, you cannot do so effectively in the 21st century without recognizing that human rights must remain a central goal of those of us who believe in the dignity of every person.”

Susan

Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth

Making Women’s Rights Real, Not Virtual

Our partners in Morocco are truly revolutionary.  Led by and comprised of women, our ten local Moroccan NGO partners are standing up for all women across the country. They are spearheading efforts for a specific violence against women (VAW) law in Morocco. 


Global Rights' Moroccan Partners at the Chamber
of Councillors (Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/YELAax) 

Last Sunday, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, our partners kicked off four days of advocacy to gain support for legislation to stop violence against women.  Almost 12,000 text messages and 13,510 emails were sent across Morocco with the slogan, “Making our Constitutional Rights Real, not Virtual: Pass a Violence Against Women Law!”

Although the Moroccan constitution says women have equal rights, and the Moroccan government has taken steps to raise awareness about violence against women, women are still subject to discrimination and violence.

During their four days of advocacy, our partner NGOs met with members of the Moroccan Parliament to discuss the necessity of a VAW law.  Unfortunately, domestic violence is prevalent in Morocco and negatively effects family and society. The partners addressed the importance of fostering a human rights culture in Morocco and how specific legislation that criminalizes violence against women will further women’s rights in the country.

The partners also had the opportunity to observe the public Parliamentary session in the Second Chamber of Parliament (the Chamber of Councillors), which is equivalent to the United States Senate. To our surprise, the Vice President of the Chamber opened the session by asking everyone to thank and applaud the work of our local NGOs present advocating for a VAW law! 

This week, the Chamber of Parliament President even wrote about meeting with our partners during the Parliamentary session. Click here to read more. (Arabic)

For the past twelve years, Global Rights’ Maghreb team has been working alongside local women’s groups in Morocco to promote and protect women’s rights and push for gender equality.  They’ve provided partners with the tools and skills they need to make lasting change in their country. Thank you to the Embassy of the Netherlands in Rabat for making our work possible.

If the VAW law is passed, it would be the first of its kind in the Arab world. I look forward to keeping you updated on their progress!

Susan

PS: To read more about Global Rights’ work on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, click here.  (French)


Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth

Breaking the Silence: Ethnic Equality in Uganda

Unraveling the complex issues of ethnicity … a daunting task because of the emotions they stir.  Often silence is easier, but the consequences can be great.  As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this week at the 5th United Nations Forum on Minority Rights, societies “are judged by how they treat their most vulnerable members.”


Don Rukare (left) presents Global Rights' Desk Study on
Ethnicity and Human Rights in Uganda

This year, Global Rights began a groundbreaking dialogue in Uganda about racial and ethnic equality with members of civil society and the government.  We tailored lessons learned from our 10 years of experience working with Afro-descendent organizations in Latin America to fit the Ugandan context.

Global Rights’ Uganda Country Director, Donald (Don) Rukare, who has been leading this project, was invited to the UN Forum on Minority Rights this week.  He presented our Desk Study on Ethnicity and Human Rights in Uganda to the Forum participants; the UN CERD Committe;  Ms. Rita Izak, the UN Independent expert on Minorities; and Ms. Soyata Maiga, Chairperson of the Committee on Minority Rights in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights.

The study provides a picture of the nature, patterns and extent of ethnic discrimination in Uganda and who is most affected.  Here are some of the points Don highlighted from the report:

• There is no definition and conceptual understanding of who constitutes a minority in Uganda.
• Ethnic minorities are not represented within decision making bodies at national and local government levels in Uganda. In addition, ethnic minorities have limited access to essential services such as health and education, and lack control of productive assets such as land.
• There is need for a concerted effort by all stakeholders to highlight the plight of ethnic minorities in Uganda.
• The majority of citizens of Uganda, especially ethnic minorities, have very limited awareness of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities and other related international and regional human rights instruments.
• Uganda lacks a coherent legal and policy framework to implement international human rights provisions for the protection of minorities.

In the report, Global Rights recommends that:

• Together with civil society, national human rights and regional bodies such as the Uganda Human Rights Commission, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights should conduct training and awareness programs on the UN Declaration to ensure knowledge and visibility of the declaration and related international, regional human rights instruments. Specific focus should be paid to ethnic minority groups.
• The Ugandan government should adopt a national policy on ethnic minorities that incorporates the provisions of the UN Declaration.
• Using the UN Declaration as a guide the government of Uganda should mainstream issues of ethnic minorities in state development programs and policies.

Global Rights would like to thank the Ford Foundation for making this year’s pilot project on ethnicity in Uganda possible and the Institute of International Education (IIE) for supporting Don's trip to the UN Minority Forum.  We are hopeful that the work with civil society and the government, as well as the study can serve as a launching point for further dialogue and action in Uganda to navigate the complex issues of ethnicity in a measured and meaningful way.   

Susan

Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth

History in the Making: Brazil

Hi there! It’s Adam. I’m currently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, conducting research for a Global Rights report on the rights of Afro-Brazilian transgender women. Last week, I got to witness history in the making…



The First National Black LGBT Conference

For the first time ever, the Brazilian government officially sponsored a gathering of Afro-LGBT activists in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.  The event was deemed the First National Black LGBT Conference. Activists from diverse parts of the country with deeply unique experiences, including Global Rights’ partner organization, the Rede Afro LGBT (Black LGBT Network), joined together to enter discussions and advocate with the federal government needed to take action to protect and promote their rights.

Afro-trans women were embraced and honored for their outstanding work as community advocates and leaders in the Afro-Brazilian LGBT community. Afro-trans women are constantly threatened by hate crimes, police abuse, economic exclusion and limited access to public health and educational services. Broadly excluded from society, these fearless Afro-trans women enter battles every single day, simply to be treated as equals that so many of us take for granted.

The facts don’t lie:

• A report by the Federal Human Rights Secretariat which documented nearly 300 anti-LGBT hate crimes in Brazil in 2011, found that 52% of these were targeted against transgender women.
• While we currently lack any specific numbers on the Afro-trans population itself, these figures provide us a grim reminder of the reality they are plagued with. In a most recent example, the first-ever openly transgender Afro-Brazilian elected to public office has continued to receive death threats for the day she is expected to assume her position, January 1st 2013. 

Despite these challenges, those attending the conference, like so many of the dedicated activists I have met here in Brazil, never despair.

Conference Participants

Faced with the intersecting challenges of homophobia and racism in a culture that often seeks to deny racism’s existence and ignores homophobia, these men and women are relentless in their struggle to combat discrimination and work toward creating a more inclusive and accepting society. They are an inspiration to me and so many others, and should be celebrated for their selfless dedication to improving the lives of others.

Axé!*

Adam Frankel

*A popular Afro-Brazilian spiritual term meaning force or energy.

Getting Down to Business and Human Rights

“Because of what we have learned this week with Global Rights, we will be able to fight more strongly for our rights.”

These feisty words were spoken by Dr. Jennifer Spiff from the Women Initiative for Transparency and Social Justice Organization in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.  She was one of 12 civil society members from nine African nations who participated in our recent workshop on business and human rights in London. 

 

Participants discuss civil society's critical role in working with governments
and corporations to protect human rights

I knew from the agenda that this was going to be unlike any workshop I’ve ever attended. For one of the first times, our workshop brought together three key constituencies – civil society, government and corporations – to discuss the many elements that make up the intersection of business and human rights.

We primarily focused on two important international mechanisms that when followed, protect communities from dangerous human rights violations: The UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (GPs) and The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs).

For three day we had civil society, governments and businesses – all with different perspectives – exchanging ideas, suggestions and remedies to protect human rights. It was evident that despite diverse backgrounds, everyone at our workshop had a common goal: to ensure human rights are protected when natural resource extraction takes place.

What also became clear was that civil society has an important role in ensuring that state and business entities fulfill their responsibility to protect human rights.

For example, as we worked on the content of the GPs, participants agreed that civil society can play a critical role in holding governments and businesses accountable for their responsibilities to protect human rights.  By including human rights discussions early in negotiations and assessments with extractive industries and governments, civil society can ensure that the GPs are followed, and communities’ rights are not violated.

The same goes for the Voluntary Principles.  In our discussions with representatives from civil society, government and businesses, we agreed that civil society can keep pressure on governments and companies to improve their security practices and seek solutions to better protect human rights.  Through persistent advocacy and relationship building, civil society must be leaders in protecting their communities.

Flavia Milano, Global Rights' Natural Resources and Human
Rights Initiave Director with Michel Yobue from Cote D'Ivoire

I congratulate my colleague Flavia Milano for organizing such an invigorating three day discussion and for creating the space that facilitated these important conversations.  I would like to also thank the Ford Foundation making this conference possible.


Our colleagues from Africa learned not just from the presenters, but also from each other as they shared their own experiences, challenges and successes. The presenters, representing NGOs, government and corporations shared their knowledge and experience, but, I believe, gained a deeper understanding of how civil society works on these issues and how they can be more supportive of their efforts.

As I noted at the beginning, these three days were filled with energy, passion and commitment to continue the work and to make progress in securing a better world where government, business and civil society can work together to uphold human rights for all.


Susan

Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth

Moving Forward: Protecting Women's Rights

This week our Maghreb Regional Director Stephanie Willman Bordat was quoted in a USA Today article entitled “Arab Spring reforms still leaving women out in the cold.” Stephanie put it more starkly – that women are not just out in the cold, but their rights are slipping backwards in the region.  That deeply concerns me because violence against women persists when the rights of women are denied or not recognized. 

Legal Assistance Training Workshop with our partners Association des
jeunes avocats de Khemisset and La Voix de la femme Amazigh.

Globally, one out of three women will be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, with rates of abuse reaching 70% in some countries.

At Global Rights, working to end violence against women (VAW) is one of our top priorities.   Through legal empowerment and human rights education, we provide women with the tools to protect themselves and their families from violence.  

When I read the article I thought back to Zahira’s story.  Zahira was a shy, young woman Stephanie and her team met in Morocco a decade ago.  At that time, Zahira had to convince her very reluctant father to allow her to travel to one or our grassroots legal education trainings.  Now Zahira runs her own women’s rights organizations in Morocco.   

There are so many Zahiras of the world who, when given the opportunity and tools, thrive.  They inspire Global Rights to continue providing innovative tools such as the strategic use of marriage contacts to promote equitable rights to new brides in Morocco and Tunisia.  They inspire us to work with our partners throughout Morocco to build a national movement to adopt a violence against women act, which would be the first-ever VAW law in the Middle East if passed.

Women like Zahira inspire us to provide practical legal education to the next generation of women lawyers in Afghanistan and to train paralegals in Bundibugyo, Uganda who assist women facing domestic violence and land disputes. In Northern Nigeria, they inspire us to train a cadre of paralegals to handled cases from child sexual assault to alimony/child support.

Together we can build powerful partnerships with men and women around the world to continue moving forward to promote and protect women’s rights.

- Susan

P.S.  You may be interested in reading the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently released strategy to prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) globally.  We applaud that it clearly states that the advancement of women and girls is at the forefront of U.S. foreign policy. 

Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth

Coming Up! Diving into the UN’s Business and Human Rights Framework

I have a feeling it’s going to be an extraordinary week. 


Flavia Milano, Global Rights' NRHRI  Director,
with our partners in Tchimbouissi, Congo.

On October 8, 2012, Global Rights’ Natural Resources and Human Rights Initiative is bringing together past and current partner organizations from resource-rich countries in Africa such as Republic of Congo, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire and Uganda. 

I say extraordinary because there is a fascinating conversation that is taking shape between civil society organizations (CSOs), governments and corporations based on a new framework that the United Nations (UN) adopted in 2011 called the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (GPs).

This human rights and business framework highlights that while states have obligations to protect, respect, and remedy human rights violations, businesses also have responsibilities to respect and remedy human rights.  If businesses embrace these principles, they commit to:

• Develop a high level public statement clearly explaining the company’s policy and declaring it will serve as a roadmap for its behavior;
• Conduct human rights impact assessments to understand their human rights footprint;
• Integrate their human rights policies throughout the company, making sure all employees are aware of their human rights responsibilities; and,
• Track performance through “monitoring and auditing processes.”

The conversation that is taking place and that we want to deepen this October is about the integral role CSOs play in building demand in the developing world for business implementation of the principles and how to go about doing that. 

Human Rights CSOs are key to this process because they know their communities; know local and international law; and know how best to explain to stakeholders the importance of protecting human rights.  But they can only serve as catalysts for change if they have a full understanding of this business and human rights framework. 

At the conference, we seek to provide a solid knowledge base of the principles to our CSO partners.  Our partners will have the opportunity to interact and exchange information with a broad range of peer CSO, government and business experts.  Some of the topics are: 

• Due Diligence and Corporate Social Responsibility – What do Civil Society Organizations need to know on human rights and due diligence?  Presented by the International Corporate Responsibility Roundtable.
• How can Civil Society Organizations obtain and share information on Business and Human Rights?  Presented by Business and Human Rights Resource Center.
• Regulatory gaps and opportunities within national legal systems.  Accountability and challenges.  Presented by Amnesty International.

To add to the conversation, our partners will also hear about lessons learned from other CSOs on the implementation of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs).  The VPs provide guidance to companies in maintaining the safety and security of their operations that ensures respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. 

As you can see, it’s going to be a full few days.  I will be with Flavia Milano, Director of our NRHRI.  Be sure to follow us on Twitter for my updates from London. 

We gratefully acknowledge the Ford Foundation for making this conference possible.


Susan

Posted by Susan M. Farnsworth