HR entry in the new CS text

["Frank Joergensen, Rikke" <rfj@humanrights.dk>]

Hi all, 

We have been asked to draft the HR entry for the new CS document focusing on six key issues.

 

I propose we use the text that was agreed on after the intersessional meeting i Paris (CS priorities doc of 3 august) and add some more specific areas of concern departing in the speech, which Meryem delivered on behalf of the CS plenary on the last day in Paris.

Also, it has been proposed to include the issue of security/privacy in the HR entry. Personally, I would prefer to give this a section of its own, not least because it will be hugely debated by govn at prepcom3 and we need strong and specific arguments to insist on the continous protection of personal freedom and privacy. But of course we can include it in the HR section, if this is better to keep the doc. short.

 

Any thought on the above ?

 

Finally, FYI, Shulamith Koenig have asked that the attached paper on HR education be passed along to the caucus. 

Rikke 

FROM INFORMATION TO KNOWLEDGE
TO A HUMAN RIGHTS SOCIETY

Shulamith Koenig





































Shulamith  Koenig, Executive Director
PDHRE, People's  Movement for Human Rights Education
PDHRE, 526 West 111trh Street, Suite 4E, NY, NY 10025, USA
Tel : 1-212-749-3156 ; Fax: 1-212-666-6325 ;  E mail: pdhre@igc.org ;  Website: www.pdhre.org


"FROM INFORMATION TO KNOWLEDGE TO A HUMAN RIGHTS SOCIETY."
Shulamith Koenig - Founder and Executive Director, 
         PDHRE, People's Movement for Human Rights Education
 
"T.S. Elliot in one of his poems writes: Where is the knowledge we lost in information and where is the word we lost in words?
 
In our dialogue about the information society we need first to ask: What kind of society do we want to develop that will be serviced in a meaningful way by the tools of information? The answer for us human rights educators is: a society where the tools of information enable us to change the system and move from the hierarchical to the horizontal in equality and lack of discrimination for all women, men, youth and children. A Human Rights Society where information evokes critical thinking and systemic analysis with a gender perspective about civil, cultural, economic, political and social concerns applying the human rights framework as a powerful tool for social and economic transformation. 

The voices, the language, the words flowing through the high roads and low pavements of information must be thoughtfully equipped, defined and designed to break through the vicious cycle of humiliation, which causes endless pain, confusion, frustration, violence and desolation...--Where injustice is justice.
.
Information and knowledge about the holistic meaning of human rights, as relevant to peoples' daily lives, will evoke the missing dialogue about human rights as a way of life, and contribute to the questions and answers that promote social responsibility. A world where women and men alike participate in the decision that determine their lives.... where we build a new political culture based on human rights.  The answer to all our concerns about the information society is clearly founded in placing the entire exercise within the human security and the human rights contexts.

All confusion is dismissed and vague thinking becomes concrete if one thinks of ICT access as enforcing a vision of a human rights culture - as a foundational paradigm of both human development and human security. A "win-win" partnership based on advancing a human rights culture would surely overcome objections and barriers.  This is why PDHRE, People's Movement for Human Rights Education, an NGO in consultative Status with the UN, has worked to have the UN declare a Decade of Human Rights Education- 1995-2004...--For all six billion people to know and claim their human rights, where this information becomes knowledge. The ensuing action will make this a better world to live in.

The question we must ask speaking of knowledge is whose knowledge? How do we define knowledge? What type of  information leads to creative, viable knowledge? What are the moral and political roots on which the information society relies and/or limits itself thereof for its "production" of information?

Isn't knowledge the ability to use wisely scattered and often unrelated pieces of information with which we are bombarded during our lifetime?  Can we speak of information integrated into knowledge and wisdom on which our ability to lead a meaningful life is founded? And most important our ability to recognizes the dignity of the other?   And maybe it is to KNOW that the only solution is to be in the world in dignity with others?  It can be said, therefore, that knowledge is know-how. It is analysis. It is our capacity for evaluation. 

It is a framework of and for interpreting the world. It is thinking. It is living. And it is, above all, a set of values that guides our lives.  

Information that leads to knowledge that leads to a worldview, which is grounded, yet is open to questions and dialogue, sometimes even to answers is what we need to wish for: "Information" as a tool with which one builds, or weave, or construct, or determine the future of humanity and the equal participation in the decision that determine our lives. This is a heavy burden put on information that must be carried out with tenacity.

The important starting points to concentrate on in the discussions about the Information Society are the development of new forms of cooperation, new modes of social and economic organization, and new ways of thinking that MUST BE GUIDED BY THE HUMAN RIGHTS FRAMEWORK, if it is to succeed in its tasks and aspirations. Furthermore, when we hope to develop new modes of social and economic organization these modes must be understood as the human rights norms and standards which have been developed in the last fifty years, These norms an standards are a powerful too for changing institutions to serve the people by changing the vertical Patriarchal System to the horizontal human rights system...--for, with and by the people. And lastly , as we identify opportunities in economic, social, political, and cultural areas, concrete action and global commitment should be taken based on win-win situations which human rights enables us...--as no one human rights can violate another ( Article 30 UDHR)  and all conflicts must be solved the human rights way!

We cannot get away or go around human rights. It is the only real option we have. The first good step has been taken. Most governments have ratified most Convention and Covenants. But unfortunately many governments do not take the second step, as mandated, scrutinize their national laws accordingly And even if some did they do not enforce them and the people do not know about them. It is thus the duty of the those who deliver information make sure that people will learn to identify human rights as a way of life.

Governance has become a buzzword for development. Indeed the governance approaches are critical especially if they move democracy to become a delivery system of human rights. The ICT can be of tremendous help in such a process. However, political economic concerns can not be on the same level as the ICT concerns: The ICT must be of service to the political and economic future of the world In this context "Information" can indeed be a line of business, as a service to humanity. But "knowledge" which is multi dimensional that includes memory and hope and love cannot! Knowledge includes vision, mission and the practical solutions for achieving global public good. Public good is indeed well defined by the holistic vision of human rights that must be constantly supported by many forms of delivery of information to strengthen the infrastructure of a new political culture based on human rights,

And finally: we need to ask with all that it implies: " What kind of society do we hope to have? How can the ICT meet the needs of society with its multiple identities and struggles?  Answering this question we must also remember that not too many have access to ICT, those who need it the most, the poor and disadvantaged., living mostly in the  South, and whose governments can manipulate them with information.

There are many answers to these simple questions and every answer will pose another question. But, for all the needs to be done it is important to note that there is no other shared vision and true partnerships other then the one guided by human right, which  give us a very different set of action lines, i.e. promoting and protecting the human rights of all women, men, youth and children, and dismantling the patriarchal, hierarchical  systems where people exchange their equality and dignity for survival...--circumstances  that breeds violence and despair.  This may change if people had the information and will develop the knowledge about human rights as a way of life. 

What does this "information society" look like? Two billion people live in cities today where the information society is most active.  The forecast tells that 4 billion people will live in cities within 15 to 20 years. There is no inherent knowledge of how to live with one another...--with the massive amount of people's and issues one has not known before. Cities are microcosms of states. They carry all the burdens, struggles, concerns and hopes for well-being of its inhabitants, very similar to those of a state. They carry the search for a life free from fear and free form want, for women and men alike. People in the cities yearn to belong in dignity in these often-alien large communities. They need to know the promise of human rights for food, education, housing, healthcare, and work at livable wages. They need to own human rights and claim them. 

For that purpose PDHRE, The People's Movement for Human Rights Education, initiated the development of human rights cities, where wisdom and experiences accumulated in a community come together to be anchored in human rights. Where people are working to change oppressive systems of all kinds, and have people become agents of change. Where vision, opportunities, partnerships and action at the community level can now be greatly enhanced through horizontal collaborations...-- moving power to human rights! 

Human rights cities, now 12 in development and 20 more planned, are cities where the inhabitants, their local government, with local groups, and stake holders learn human rights, map the violation and realization in the city. Through dialogue each becoming a mentor and a monitor joining in planning the future development of their city with regard to laws, policies, resources and relationships within a human rights framework. To support this initiative with human resources, PDHRE has developed four Regional Learning Institutions for Human Rights Education, where a new vocation will be created: Human Rights educators at the community level. These new educators will work in cities, towns and villages to support the learning for social and economic change by using human rights as a tool of action. 

The success of this initiative depends on the good will of society to integrate the understanding of human rights as a guideline for its development. Its vitality could radiate throughput the world...--giving us solutions for the future and possibly a new political culture based on human rights. It is from the human rights cities that meaningful analysis and real change will come. The Human Rights Cites initiative poses an important challenge to the formation society and gives direction as to the contributions that must be made so that all people will learn and know human rights as a way of life!! Human Rights is the truth, we have non other! 

And finally, the good news are that by now the information society is working hard at the mainstreaming of human rights into development, promoting the recognition and affirmation of development as a human rights not to speak of recognizing women's rights as human rights, and poverty as a human rights violation.  These are major achievements of on going information and continuous learning that are shaping the 21st Century. Again: There is no other option but human rights! Human Rights. It is comprehensive, transcending and reassuring and should be the guiding light of the information society.

More can be found PDHRE Website : http://www.pdhre.org


PDHRE is an international NGO in Consultative Status with the UN, founded in 1989.  In the last fourteen years it developed, organized and facilitated, in more then 60 countries around the world, training in human rights education and learning for societal development. 
PDHRE educators and human rights experts serves as a comprehensive "extension service", to energize, and motivate communities to embark on a life long process of holistic learning about human rights as relevant to people's daily struggles and concerns; and to recognize human rights as a powerful tool for action, and as away of life.
To move power to human rights PDHRE is developing Human Rights Cities and Regional Learning Institutions. In the cities women and men take the critical steps towards having inhabitants and local authorities know, claim and fulfill their human rights-they Develop critical thinking and systemic analysis of economic and social justice issues with a gender perspective using the human rights framework as a guideline for human security, conflict resolution and towards social transformation in the city. In the Institutions a new vacation is being developed; Human Rights Educators for social transformation and societal development. They are trained to work at the grassroots level to encourage people to assume responsibility to eradicate poverty, violence and marginalization and move the prevailing hierarchal system to a horizontal human rights system where equality and lack of discrimination triumph. 
The first Human Rights cities in development are: Rosario, Argentine; Ties, Senegal;, Nagput, India; Dinajpur, Bangladesh; and Kati, Mali.