The new UN human rights approach... (8)
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WHAT DOES THE NEW UN HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH BRING TO THE STRUGGLE OF
THE POOR?
Part 7 (of 9)
Human Rights from the United Nations' and the NGOs' perspective
56. As is well known to most readers, in his 1997 Reform Proposal,
the Secretary General of the UN called for all UN agencies to main-
stream Human Rights in all their activities. (2)
57. UN agencies are considered to be duty bearers particularly in
terms of monitoring and publishing indicators of Human Rights world-
wide. (11)
58. It is also the UN's role to hold states accountable for non-
compliance with their specific Human Rights obligations. In such a
function, UN agencies act as political mediators. UNDAF, the United
Nations Development Assistance Framework, is a new tool set up by the
organization at country level to strengthen inter-agency cooperation
and coordination in this mediation. (9, 8)
59. Moreover, since the Covenants already delineate both state and
societal obligations, civil society, NGOs, the private sector and
others in the national and international community also are bona-fide
duty bearers. (5)
60. So, the more society is organized as a myriad of institutions
that respect, protect and fulfil Human Rights and that act locally to
assure the realization of these rights, the more we can expect pro-
gress in the future. (5).
61. The role of civil society groups is to, among other, act as pres-
sure groups. Therefore, to guarantee gains, civil society will have
to continue its strong socio-political mobilization effort in a bid
to hold national and international institutions with obligations in
the realization of Human Rights accountable. (8)
62. This, because development cooperation (ODA) does not automati-
cally contribute to the respect of Human Rights. Civil society will
thus have to oppose development activities that are ill-conceived and
even counterproductive in Human Rights terms. Ergo, development agen-
cies will need to fix their sights more on the Human Rights dimension
of their work and civil society will have to create and sustain the
pressure for this to happen. (31)
63. The NGO community can indeed play a major role in this. Among
other, they will have to:
* keep asking the right questions that seek information on viola-
tions/fulfilment of Human Rights,
* submit written statements (plus photo and video documentation when
appropriate) to authorities and to watchdog groups on their assess-
ments and findings,
* follow up on corrective measures taken (or not taken),
* detect bad faith in the implementation of Human Rights obligations,
and publicly denounce this fact.
64. Ideally, all development agencies should, in the near future, de-
velop internal mechanisms to ensure that their own policies and pro-
grams de-facto execute Human Rights obligations.(2)
65. In the meantime, the danger exists that organizations use Human
Rights language as non-committal rhetoric just to feel good and 'move
with the tide '.
66. Finally here, we still need to clarify the role of the for-profit
private sector in the Human Rights discourse. Historically, small lo-
cal enterprises have not been a threat to Human Rights; Transnational
Corporations have. Now they need to be held accountable. Little has
been written on this topic so far. (6, 18) Some breakthrough will be
needed here. I declare my incompetence on this issue.
Claudio Schuftan
Hanoi, Vietnam
mailto:aviva@netnam.vn
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