[afro-nets] Food for no-nonsense straight thoughts (2)

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Food for no-nonsense straight thoughts (2)
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Human Rights Reader 153

JONSSON'S CREDO* (part 2 of 2)

[A compilation of bare-bones Human Rights truisms]

Human Rights Planning and Programming:

22. Although HR are equal and cannot be prioritized based on
intrinsic merit, actions to realize the rights can be.

23. It is not enough that planning, implementation and
monitoring of a program are 'guided' by HR principles; these
principles must be built-in in every step of the process.

24. The HR-based approach to planning and programming (HRBAP) is
both about claiming and claiming-against. It can be used to
challenge power structures. [It is thus no longer about 'a-
world-where-leaders-commit'; it is about those 'leaders'-
obligation-to-act'; it is about building-in HR in everything we
do].

25. The identification and bridging of capacity gaps of claim
holders and duty bearers at all levels becomes the focus of
development programming.

26. In the HRBAP, 'causality analyses' result in the
identification of a set of rights that are being violated;
'pattern analyses' identify key claim holder/duty bearer
relationships for each specific right; it is fundamentally the
additional 'capacity analyses' that define the capacity gaps of
claim-holders-to-claim-their-rights and of duty-bearers-to-meet-
their-duties. A programmatic response aimed at the realization
of rights must contribute to narrowing or closing these capacity
gaps. Therefore, HRBAP programming will mean making distinct
strategic choices.

27. In HR work, interventions must often be deliberately unequal
in order to address imbalances in HR-based relationships.

28. Health policies and programs can promote or violate HR
depending on how they are designed and implemented.

Communications in the Human Right-based Approach:

29. Channels of communication in a community are a reflection of
its power structure.

30. From a HR perspective, communication interventions should
give a voice to claim-holders-who-cannot-speak-equally-and-
effectively, especially those who are currently voiceless. For
example, women and children, cannot express their aspirations to
duty bearers. HR aim at interactive communications useful to all
claim holders to negotiate with duty bearers.

31. Communications from a HR perspective thus establish a
process in which claim holders have an increased say in setting
the development agenda.

Miscellaneous truisms:

32. In the HR discourse, we use the concepts of 'obligations-of-
result' and 'obligations-of-conduct'. Both require equal
attention.

33. Lack of training and capacity building in HR is one of the
most important constraints to the adoption of the HRBAP.

34. We now need to move people from a deeply rooted conviction
about the-need-of-a-development-ethics to a-full-HR-based-
approach. We have to start from where most staff of development
and HR organizations are today and show them the benefits of
using the HRBA.

35. Marginalized persons can only make claims if they have the
ability to alter the social context within their communities.
They must be able to negotiate or impose change on those who
hold power --altering existing patterns of power and rights in
their favor.

36. Achieving the MDGs cannot be construed as indicators of
progress on economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR).

37. The HRBA is no longer about preparing children for a harsh
world --it is really about creating A-World-Fit-For-Children.

38. A gender focus in our work calls for changes in many
prevailing social rules, i.e., it calls for socially
reconstructing social relationships along HR principles.

39. In Short, HR provide a compelling normative framework for
the formulation of national and international policies very much
including poverty reduction strategies.

Claudio Schuftan
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
mailto:claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn

--
*: Adapted from Urban Jonsson, "A human rights-based approach to
programming (HRBAP)", final draft, UNICEF, N.Y., 25 June 2004.