[hr-education] Re: First phase of the World Programme for HRE

Dear Abraham Magendzo and all other colleagues, 

I agree that the key responsibility of facilitating enjoyment of human
rights in any state (and facilitation of HRE and realization of the World
Programme) lies with the government. But we must not lose sight of the
reality that many of our governments are faced with a challenge of
choosing between numerous competing national priorities in the face of
scarce resources and limited human resource capacity. While this cannot
excuse State inaction towards fulfillment of its promises and obligations,
it means that NGOs and other actors must reinvent workable approaches to
make our government see HRE as a priority in its national agenda.

In my view, for us to succeed in realizing the objectives of the World
Programme, we must seek the path of partnership and cooperation with the
government as stakeholders in enhancing a rights-based approach in
designing and implementing our national agendas. This means that in our
efforts to demand government fulfillment of its obligations to
successfully implement HRE in our countries, we should agitate for greater
public participation in government initiatives rather than attempting to
arm-twist the government. That is why to me enhancing greater public
participation seems a more workable approach in complementing government
policy and strategic reforms.

On the question of lack of awareness of the World Programme: my belief is
that in the face of many ordinary people the World Programme adds no value
to our national struggles/agendas which are actually already over-burdened
by numerous international law obligations -- many of which may have no
practical benefits to our current national struggles albeit their obvious
long-term benefits. A simple way to challenge the World Programme would be
to ask: How does the World Programme put food on my table? or pay schools
fees for my children or my siblings? Thus, as I said in my earlier
communications, unless we can establish an interconnection between human
rights and the daily struggles of the people, the World Programme for HRE
will remain an academic phenomenon for most of us in the 'third world'
countries. If we want our people to appreciate HRE, we must (not
necessarily through qualitative or quantitative methods) show its
relevance to our people by making them actors and partners in its
implementation. Traditional approaches have proven unworkable in this..,
that is why I think we must agitate greater public participation to come
up with innovative ways of redefining our values system and entrenching a
culture of human rights in our countries. This is a task that no
government can achieve without informed participation of its citizenry.

Perhaps we have joined in the debate abit too late, but if there is
anything we are missing -- please keep us informed.

Kind Regards, 

--------------------------------------- 
Patrick Karanja 
Executive Director 
Youth Rights Forum International 
Nairobi, Kenya. East Africa. 
Fax: +254-20-3744266 
www.freewebs.com/yhrkenya

Rights-Based Youth Empowerment 





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