Hi all, I would like to express my appreciation of what you all wrote under this topic and stress the importance of what Sainabou Jaye wrote on linking human rights values to a certain cultural situation. This is crucial especially when working in places like the Middle East and North Africa. Though I do agree with many of you also that culture is not a static entity and that it is ever changing, but that does not in any case imply an evolution towards enhanced values or values more or less the same as universal human rights values. Moreover, religious values have a high impact on culture and the formulation of its values as well as the dynamics of change and presents one major player in this discussion. Note that many cultures may exist under the umbrella of one religion, yet a set of unchanging values may persist amongst them, added to these may be some culturally variable values. What may be one of the main challanges is the way we approach those unchanging values, think and let think of them, and at the same avoiding patronizing people believing in them. It is the hell of a hard job but someone has to do it, most probably, you! Kindly find below a link to a very nice article recently puplished in Harvard Human Rights Journal by Naz K. Modirzadeh, "Taking Islamic Law Seriously: INGOs and the Battle for Muslim Hearts and Minds", http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss19/modirzadeh.shtml Best, Mazen Jaber HRE Information Officer Regional Office for Middle East/North Africa Amnesty International Makarem Bldg.- Michael Angelo St.- Raouche P.O.Box: 13- 5696 Chouran Beirut 1102-2060 Beirut, Lebanon Tel: 961-1-805664/3 Fax: 961-1-805665 Website: http://ara.amnesty.org Email: < > READ MAWARED, THE HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION MAGAZINE AT: http://ara.amnesty.org/pages/2d2-170306-editorial-ara ACT NOW FOR HUMAN RIGHTS! Take action now at: http://www.amnesty.org/actnow Support the "Control Arms" Campaign - Sign the Million Faces Petition Visit: http://www.controlarms.org On 26/01/2007 04:09, Sainabou Jaye wrote: Dear Wim (and other colleagues on this list), I would not hesitate to emphasise the importance of linking these values to the particular cultural situation you are dealing with. In Africa for instance, one of the most outstanding values we cherish is not only pursuing our rights, but most importantly, ensuring that we fulfill our responsiblities. These responsibilities would indeed address the issues of being tolerant, treating people as you expect to be treated, being disciplined and respecting authority, to name but a few. ======== Global Human Rights Education listserv ======= Send mail intended for the list to < >. Archives of the list can be found at: http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/ **You are welcome to reprint, copy, archive, quote or re-post this item, but please retain the original and listserv source.
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