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Knowing, Claiming and Securing Our Right to be Human
The Vision | PDHRE, Moving Power to Human Rights | Knowing Claiming and Securing Our Rights to Be Human | The Concept of the Human Rights Cities, Step by Step | Human Rights Cities in Development: Rosario, Argentina | Thies, Senegal | Nagpur, India | Kati, Mali | Dinajpur, Bangladesh | Graz, Austria | The People of Abra, Philippines | Kaohsiung, Taiwan
HUMAN RIGHTS CITIES
In December of 2002, the founder
of PDHRE, Shulamith Koenig was invited by citizens and NGOs of Kaohsiung
and Tainan area to visit Taiwan. She made rounds of speeches to explain
the philosopahy and pratice of human rights city educational program.
Her talks were well received by the public, particularly the students
of Kaohsiung Hsin-sing Community University were moved and decided to
form an organization to implement the program with the help of Dan Tsai
who is the lecturer of this class. At that time then Mayor Frank Hsieh
of Kaohsiung also showed interest in this program, he sent three bureau
chiefs to meet Shulamith, including TSENG Sen-cheng of Education Bureau,
SU, Li-chung of Social Service Bureau and Dr. CHEN, Yun-sing of Health
Bureau. The city promised to support this human rights city program when
it is ready with the participation of all sectors of the city. Later Shulamith
had a meeting at Tapei with the Vice President, Annette Lu and won her
support of PDHRE's program. Ms. Lu went further to ask that, why not to
expand the program to the whole country.
On December 9th of 2003, Kaohsiung Human Rights City Association (KHRCA)
is formally established and registered with the city government of Kaohsiung.
This marked the official launching of the human rights city project at
Kaohsiung city. In December, Ms. Kate Kuo, a retired teacher is the chair
of KHRAC.
IV. KATI , MALI
-Being Facilitated byPDHRE-MALI and PDHRE, population 45,000
BEING HUMAN IS PRECIOUS By Mrs. Makalu Awa Danbele
Our sister where are you headed The Hymn of the HR City The Beginning On April 200, several thousand citizens of Kati, Mali assembled listened to
the Hymn of the Human Rights City of Kati, they were marking a major point in a
process that had started three years earlier. Around the idea of "Mali a Human Rights nation", pledging to human
rights 'literacy’ and action for women and men to claim their human rights.
This process of discussion, reflection, training, and coordination involve PDHRE-International
and PDHRE MALI and built on strong foundations of Mali’s civil society. The background
By all indicators, Mali ranks as one of the poorest countries in the
world and faces enormous challenges. What
the statistics do not provide is a systemic analysis of the causes for human
rights stresses. They do not show either the clearly
expressed will on the part of government and people at all
levels of society for a participatory democracy that aspires to satisfy t he
five basic human needs: food, shelter, education, health
and work at livable wages -all identified as human rights!
In 1998, the Republic of Mali was at a critical and very promising point
in ts history. Under the leadership of President Alpha
Konaré, who came to power after Malian civil society threw off a long and
oppressive military dictatorship, the government had established programs
intended to further strengthen and enhance the role of
civil society in participative democracy. Decentralization was moving
into gear. Mali's civil society had become a major actor, on quite a unique
scale, both in the restoration of democracy in 1992 after
twenty years of military rule and in a process of reconciliation and
peace throughout the country to end a protracted and draining war in the
Northern territories. Many commentators have noted the
strength of Mali's 'social capital' and associative life.
Since independence in 1956, Mali has ratified all he major human
rights instruments and Conventions. This lays a foundation
for implementation o f a human rights framework to guide policies
and regulate practices. Both government and civil society claimed a keen
interest in using the Human Rights framework as a means of
guiding human rights of all people as members of society.
They accepted Human rights education (HRE), as an imperative to build Mali as a
human rights nation.
A series of six open meetings of various constituencies were held over a
period of two years and involved various constituencies.
The purpose of the meetings was to:
Mali is a society where oral tradition is still a live source of
inspiration; narratives are accepted as a legitimate
source of knowledge. Sessions with women, young people and those whose identity
was still rooted in the life of the community --as opposed
to government officials, educational and other professionals--relied
on a discourse of personal narrative. The legitimate use of these narratives
permitted all participants, regardless of their level of
education and social status to exercise their authority.
This was particularly meaningful when it came to making human rights relevant to
daily life and identifying areas urgently in need of Human
Rights protection. "From Kuru Kan Fukan to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Mali a Human Rights Nation " The National program to draw from the culture and historic memory of
Mali was called; "From Kuru Kan Fukan to Universal Declaration of Human
Rights - Mali a Human Rights Nation" The name Kuru Kan Fukan had come
to symbolize for many people in Mali the hope of political transformation. This
political Charter of 1236 is said to have defined the goals of the new political
culture that speaks of Work, Justice and Freedom. In the current context, the
similarities between the medieval charter and the UDHR have served as a catalyst
for the activities of the human rights movement. FROM NATIONAL PLAN TO HUMAN RIGHTS CITY
Outside events in the larger political situation, amplified the
fundamental difficulty of achieving a national
ambitious plan. When the Committee presented their report in February 2000 they
had accomplished the following:
I’m headed to the boat of respect
Our brother, where are you headed?
I’m headed to the boat of respect-in-return
And you there, you who look like our father, where are you headed?
I’m rushing to the boat of self-knowledge
And you there, you who look like our mother, where are you headed?
I’m running to the boat of education
Indeed! Being Human is precious, at every moment
Yes! Respect is precious, at all times
For sure! Respect is precious, eternally!
My people in the mother!
Let’s intercede to pardon those who have been thrown off from Being Human
Let’s steady the minds of those who have been swayed from Being Human
Indeed! Being Human is forever!
Being Human sets right the world!
Yes! Happy are those who know their rights as Humans!
Let us be among those who know their rights as Humans!
Let us be among those who carry the message of those rights!
Listen to me, brave people of the land of Sido-Jara and of Bazando
You, from the hana mountains
People from Bama hare, from Beledugu, from Manden, from Kaso.
From Kehedugu, from the Songhoi, from Seno, from Masina.
From Ginbale, from Guruma, from Segou.
I have come to entrust myself to you, so let’s head together to Kati Jara.
Let’s fill this big boat with Human Beings Being Human:
Our elders with their meaning-filled message of unity
Our youth with their brand-new feasts for our eyes
Our women with their care giving that can never be repaid
Our men with their rock - like ways of standing guard.
Let’s make a mountain of our Human Being ness!
And for those who let go of the way, let us put their feet back on the path to
Human Being ness
For those who get lost in the wild, let us show them where home is
For those who are in the dark, let us enlighten them to Human Being ness!
Let us be the rays of light that make this big boat a shining beacon
And when anyone falls overboard, let’s pull him or her back on board.
Let Consensus-Building be the praise song of our Black Land
Let Mutual Respect and Mutual-Aid be the praise song of our great Mali
And let Knowing-Self and Knowing-Work be our Children’s instruction guideboard
In addition it became clear that the concept of energizing an entire community around the realization of human rights and human rights education was unquestionably alive.
By December of 2000, following a national HRE training session held in Bamako, the first steps were taken to launch a Human Rights City of Kati, at the request of Kati inhabitants and authorities. It was decided to organize in short order a dialogue on the concepts of Human rights, Human rights Education and the implications of being a city founded on Human rights. This dialogue, which mobilized more than 2000 persons belonging to all walks of life and representation of neighborhood associations, village chiefs, representatives of local NGO’s, women, youths, old persons, disabled persons etc. was held in February 2001.
WHY KATI?
The Kati area presented both problems and assets that make it a logical candidate for such an initiative. Kati is a rapidly growing urban area, which grew from market town to military base with all the problems attendants to that particular development. The Kati zone presents several emergency situations: local grassroots activists feel they will not be resolved unless solutions are developed along the axes of the interconnectedness and indivisibility of human rights.
Some of the concerns voiced were:
- A police station where the rape of young girls was routinely dealt with ‘friendly" compromises even when the victim or her family started out by filing suit against the aggressors
- An unresponsive municipality regarding the inhabitants’ needs for sanitation, road maintenance or security (in emergencies, Kati has to rely on the Bamako rescue squad)
- A high percentage of disabled people lacking any kind of infrastructure to allow them to live active, mobile and fulfilled lives
- Abuses on the part of state agencies as well as private service providers (bureaucracies, bus services, merchants) combined with consumers’ inability to know their rights
- Learning about the mission and goals of a human rights city the people of Kati realized that what will facilitate the institutionalization of Human Rights Education and the launching of a Kati as a Human Rights City are the following facts:
- Kati has a relatively young population: 67.5% of 44,000 inhabitants were less than 25 years old and 48% less than 15
- A population eager for education
- Numerous educational structures: community, public, private and religious). These include well-established adult education programs around a ‘Freirian’ institute of popular education
- Numerous health structures, birth centers, hospital, pharmacies as well as a respected ‘Traditional -therapeutic’ specialists
- Ethnic diversity that makes it a mirror of Mali as a whole
- A variety of religious communities, large Catholic and Muslim communities
- A high concentration of educators
- A large number of NGOS
- An enterprising spirit
- A large number of many big and small businesses
- An established local radio station
- "Animators" among neighborhood leadership, police, teachers, school parents, cab drivers, health personnel and youth ( with a core of about 100 high-school students) etc.
The Human Rights City project can expect to draw upon the energies of many-pronged, exceptionally successful and proactive network of ‘Freireian’ educational programs:
- A well-established Literacy Program for Women
- The Kanaga Program of Education for Empowerment: a training program for youth, adults, educators, facilitators and activists
- University Without Walls, a program for educators and activists in non-formal learning and literacy programs to reflect on and improve their efforts in educational reform
- Movement Building, dialogues with "co-visionaries" for the purpose of building a reform movement in education throughout West Africa.
- Human Rights Education Village Programs in the area of Kati
- Many programs aimed at awareness raising for women
- Curriculum which is organized around the main themes of: cultural identity, activism, justice and competency work at home.
- Students who became ‘Community-AIDS educators’
Impact on the Community
The founders of the human rights city in Kati believe that the schools and the adult literacy programs have an immediate and a long-lasting impact on the community and will become a mainstay in the City for forwarding human rights education at all levels of the community. All facilitators will come from the community. So will the trainers and resource people’, who are available to provide input into problem-solving issues around health concerns, agriculture, financing, etc.. These people, to create greater equity in the neighborhoods or villages, are devising simple innovations. As an example, one teacher recalls " People are astonished to have children 7 or 8 years old come to them with a note pad and pencil to record information. School children are rarely seen writing outside the classroom and never in Bambara. The fact that children are asking questions [to a shopkeeper] like, 'Why do you get cloth from the Ivory Coast?' or 'Why does sugar cost 10 francs more this month?-- the implications on their thinking and acting are enormous."
Similar changes can be seen in the seven villages surrounding Kati where community development programs based on a human rights framework are being carried out. The experience is that people in the villages understand very quickly the relevance or the irrelevance of a program to their lives and concerns.
The chief facilitator of the village program -several are part of the Kati municipality, insists that the participant group in any village consist of an equal number of men and women and that all participants must commit to staying with the program for its entirety. Since the project began in 1999, villagers took action education for boys and girls, local sanitation and clean water, women's health and community health, and improvement of women's work conditions in the home and village.
Here are several quotes that illustrate the impact of human rights
education at the grassroots: to show that they understand the centrality of
human rights to other issues of immediate concern and relevance:
"I liked the sessions laying out human rights. These are central for
me.
All the other sessions are developed around the idea of human rights. If
you know the rights, hygiene and health are included, are wrapped up in
there". (A man from Koneguebougou, Mali)
"What we learned about human rights allowed us to reduce misunderstandings
among ourselves. Before, we married women and took them as slaves.
Now we
understand we each have roles in the family. Women understand they are
equal, especially in communication". (Older man, Koneguebougou, Mali)
"Now there are fewer problems in the homes. Now people know on what
foot to
dance". (A woman, Ngaran, Mali)
"Since the program, my husband [a non-participant] is no longer violent
with
me. I learned not to respond to provocation from him". ( A woman
Ngaran)
A story from one of the villages:
One woman and her husband were both participants. When he began hitting
her
at home, she turned to him and said: "so, you are going to learn and
say
one thing in the sessions and then do the opposite at home?"
Apparently he
has not lifted a hand against her since.
It is clear that the idea of a Human Rights City in Kati is planted in a well-prepared ground.
Through these existing groups the initiators of the Human Rights City project hoped to create a dynamic process in Kati, most importantly, creating human rights literacy as a tool towards active human rights advocacy and the integration of human rights framework in all areas of life.
A DAY OF REFLECTION FOR THE ‘STRATEGIC ACTORS
By December 2000, the main actors of the program had been identified. Requests by these strategic actors themselves led to the organization of a Day of Reflection, held in February 2001. This ‘Day of Reflection of Kati’s brought together 211 persons, who themselves were delegated by many groups, organization and neighborhoods.
The objectives were:
- Focus on the systemic concept of Human Rights and thoroughly learn the contents of Human Rights Instruments
- Share PDHRE-Mali vision of Human Rights
- Holding four small-group workshops on needs and assets for the implementation of: human rights education and the basic principles of Human Rights monitoring
- For the people of Kati to understand the foundation of a ‘Consensual City of Human rights’
- Assess the needs of the community and the potential contribution of training in Human Rights Education
- Share the initial results of work on vision, shortcomings and perspectives
- Adopt the Hymn of the Kati City of Human Rights
The main effect of the session was to confirm the initial actors’ resolve and bring expressions of interest by groups and individuals.
In May 2001, a three-day training seminar organized jointly by the Kati Steering and Orientation Committee and PDHRE International trained 37 educators and activists on the Methodology of Human rights Education and facilitated the initial development of a plan of action.. Following this seminar a committee was elected to develop a short and long term plan of action.
V. Dinajpur , Bangladesh
- Population One Million
- Being developed by NAGORIK UDDYOG - Citizen’s Initiative and
PDHRE
In December 2000, the first steps were taken towards developing a Human Rights Sensitive City in Bangladesh. The commitment grew out of three-day intensive workshop on transformative human rights education at the community level. Fifty participants NGO activists and community leaders- had come together to learn the PDHRE participatory, pedagogical-holistic method…--learning, reflecting and acting, and engaged also in spirited discussions about patriarchy and its effect as a human rights violation.
Like Mali, Bangladesh offers assets in terms of a prior sensitization to human rights. Bangladesh has ratified all the human rights treaties with very few reservations. The shadow report to CEDAW coordinated by three women’s organizations is a remarkable example of the range this exercise of shadow -reporting can achieve. The Constitution includes major sections taken from human rights international law. One effect of a long tradition of radical organizing before and after independence has resulted in a great thirst for human rights education, an eagerness to take the concept to its outer limits, to stretch the envelope further.
In the first three months the organizers of the emerging Human Rights City conducted, through participatory research, a survey of the community’s perceived needs in regard to social and economic human rights. 100O people, from all sectors of society were surveyed. These were: City officials, Physicians, Political leaders, Business people, Industrialists, Journalists, Rickshaw Pullers, Cleaners, Slum dwellers, contractors, welding workers, teachers, transport owners, Government Employee, Lawyers, Transport owners, housewives, students, Indigenous people and Farmers.
We bring below the many details of the survey as we find it very instructive to all those who wish to map the human rights violations and realization in their city before developing educational and action plans.
THE OPINION POLLS
RANKING OF MOST IMPORTANT HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN THE CITY
I Public Health and Environment
1. 92% The failure of the city corporation to take steps for mosquito control
2. 84% Dirty and filthy situation (drain, road, town, market- garbage disposal
3. 76% Poor Drainage and sewerage conditions
4. 68.% Not enough dustbins per need
5. 64% Heaps of Garbage everywhere
6. 53% Lack of modern sanitary system
7. 53% Untimely daytime cleaning operation
8. 52% Lack and poor maintenance of public records (birth, death, marriage ,registration)
II. Planned Urbanization
1. 61% Traffic jams due to lack of terminals, parking area etc.
2. 58.% Illegal occupation of public place and shops on the road
3. 57% Unplanned house and market construction
4. 56% No specific place for garbage disposal
5. 55% Flooding of roads and by-lanes in absence of planned drainage system
iii. Democratization: Problems and Issues
1. 58% Non-implementation of the rules against corruption
2. 57% Absence of public auditing system open information on expenditures
3. 54% Absence of accountability and transparency of elected Chairman and Commissioners of
the Municipality
4. 52% No participation by the people in budgeting, fund allocations, and prioritizing areas
5. 51% Absence of Public Watch and Pressure group to oversee crimes and irregularities by
Elected Representatives
vi. Public Security
1. 80% City Commissioners donÆt pay attention to control rates charges by doctors and private
practice by public doctors
2. 62% No initiative to stop hoodlums and unsocial elements
3. 58% There is no facilities for standardization and pricing of commodities
4. 58% Commissioners play no role in fixing up lawyersÆ fees
5. 53% No effective steps to prevent drugs
v. Citizens Security
1. 86% Failure to give security to citizens
2. 84% Failure to ensure quality of health service and prevent high charges by doctors
3. 83% Lack of control of food adulteration and contamination
4. 83% Failure to control drug sales, unsocial activities and prostitution
5. 70% Inability to take strong measures against terrorism
6. 76% Traffic Control failures
7. 64% Failure to help people get rid of pigs and dogs that create health problems
8. 62% Women oppression and dowry are on the rise
9. 58% Failure to increase proportionately ambulance and fire brigades
10. 57% Lack of street lights
11. 52% Failure to form people committee to resist police torture
12. 51% Failure to support people suffering the burden of false electric bills and other services
vi. Administrative Weakness of Elected Representatives and Neglect of Citizens
1. 81% Irregular/ineffective street lighting
2. 81% Negligence to clean up drainage systems and garbage disposal
3. 80% No effort to provide parking spaces, trucks terminals and fix the rates of rickshaw fares
4. 78% No initiative to control traffic congestion terminals
5. 69% Rickshaw traffic must be licensed to fight congestion
6. 64% Not enough ambulances
7. 62% No laws against rickshaws having no license and provision to punish them
8. 61% Increase of municipal tax arbitrary
9. 60% Selling of drugs everywhere
10. 60% Digging of roads for electricity and phone lines causes public inconvenience
11. 58% No initiative to set up mobile courts to punish dishonest businessmen
12. 57% No effort to control terrorism
13. 56% No action against corruption of municipality staff
14. 56% No initiative to prevent exorbitant electricity and telephone bills
15. 52% Development work inconsistent with public needs and without public consultation
16. 52% No action to stop reckless driving by trucks, Curt etc.
17. 51% No initiative to prevent unauthorized occupants (influential) and evacuate them from
public places such as playground, footpath and government land
vii. Development of Public Space
1. 77% Degenerative Environment in market places affecting public health
2. 74% Lack of repair, maintenance and construction of roads, culverts, drains, dustbins, etc.
3. 60.% Narrow road space causing jams and inconvenience
4. 57% Dearth of public toilets
5. 52% Paving of recreational opportunities besides natural places (canals, park construction)
6. 51% Lack of ChildrenÆ s Park and amusement opportunities
viii. Social Services
1. 62% Lack of adequate records of birth register, death certificate and marriage register
2. 61% Establish an alternative dispute resolution through Municipal Council instead of
resorting to Police Station
3. 55% Special thrust and program for slum dwellers during disasters
4. 51% Establishment of Charitable Medical Services for the Poor
Now that the survey was made a steering committee will be elected from amongst the people and the short and long term pans will be developed to meet the human rights needs of the city.
VII. GRAZ AUSTRIA
-Being developed by ETC - European Training Center and PDHRE, population one million
"GRAZ TO BECOME A COMMUNITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS CITY"-news report
"In a session held on February 8, 2001, the Municipal, Council of the City of Graz voted to join the network of Human Rights Cities started y the International NGO, PDHRE People’s Decade for Human Rights Education. Plans are to complete the transition by the year 2003,. It was decided that the City Parliament will be guided in all its deliberations by the framework of human rights, with the goal of observing all human rights norms in the daily life of the city. Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner had made a plea earlier for the Styrian capital to take this turn. This seems especially relevant in view of the place of Graz as an inter religious crossroad, a gate for migrations to Southeastern Europe. Burgermeister Alfred Stingl was particularly involved in the final decision. Coordination of activities and normative work will be performed by the "European Training Center for Human Rights and Democracy, ETC", which recently established its Main office in the Styrian capital"
On the 18th of June at a public celebration, The people of Graz will declare their city:
THE FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS CITY IN EUROPE.
VII. DEVELOPING A HUMAN RIGHTS CITY AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF ABRA
-To be implemented by PDHRE-Asia Pacific and PDHRE
The province of Abra is located in the northern part of Luzon, the biggest island in the Philippines. Abra is about 700 kilometers north of Manila, in a mountainous terrain in the Cordillera mountain ranges. Bangued is the capital of Abra and is 8 hours away by bus or car from Manila. The indigenous peoples of Abra are called Tingguian. Although modern-day Abra is now peopled by large population of lowlanders whose ancestors settled, mingled and intermarried with the Tingguian, there are still municipalities in Abra populated largely by Tingguian.
The Tingguian are an indispensable part of the history of the province and of the Cordilleras as a whole. As a fact of life of the area, it is often said that there can be no authentic account of the province that would overlook or omit tlheir lexistence. This fact is well supported, this cultural community comprising more than a third of the population of Abra and well dispersed into the general populace urban and rural alike. Moreover, about two thirds of the province especially in the rural areas are occupied more densely by the Tingguian. The intervention of external forces that contributed to the accelerated integration of the Tingguian into the majority population whose ancestors had migrated into Abra is both political and religious in nature. The settling of various Christian denominations in the area by the start of the century introduced a two-thronged approach that advanced the respective philosophies into the Tingguian culture-through formal education and faith conversion.
A quarter of a century ago saw a significant effort by some concerned Tingguian aimed at cultural revival. This movement was furthered by the support of newer-generation Tingguian professionals and the cooperation of religious bodies and government agencies. This ongoing revival movement has produced the "modern day Tingguian" that most occasionally is proud and more secure of his or her cultural heritage and identity.
There is within the Tingguian culture a traditional justice system of justice that has survived cultural intervention and integration. Although it may arguably be considered that the Tingguian community justice system as well as their implementation of a common law structure may apparently differ from how similar and corollary structures in the formal government may exist, a broad range of similar principles are, however, present. Such modern-day precepts as fairness and equity, just compensation, due process, torts and damages, family and marriage relations and even diplomatic compensation and immunity are present in the common law system and implementation of the Tingguian.
Human rights is not a novel notion to the Tingguian. Their tradition is a study of traditional human rights values system, even if some its nomenclature sounds strange to non Tingguian ears. The ongoing revival that has produced the "modern-day" Tingguian will be harnessed to develop a human rights city where their own justice system will provide the anchor for human rights values that will leave a permanent imprint their consciousness and sensibilities, handing them down from generation to generation.
It is envisaged that the human rights city among the Tingguian will be fully established within a year’s time.
For more information, please contact PDHRE:
The People's Movement for Human Rights Education (PDHRE) / NY Office
Shulamith Koenig / Executive Director
526 West 111th Street, New York, NY 10025, USA
tel: +1 212.749-3156; fax: +1 212.666-6325
e-mail: pdhre@igc.apc.org