[hre-asiapacific] Pedagogy/methodology of human rights education

In the natural sciences we always read about vitamins, antioxidants,
enzymes, hormones, genes, etc, that prolong life ( I would like to
underline the word "life" here for reasons that I hope will become clear
at the end of this intervention).  By the same token, can the same thing
be said about human rights, and HRE by extension?  If I may play the role
of the "devil's advocate" for now, since we are trying to generate fuel of
debate in an "open" forum, can we state that the application of
internationally recognized human rights might "prolong life" because it
increases the expression of respect between the state and the citizenry
and general freedoms in society at large?  I like to think so but
admittedly, measuring the effect of human rights on people's lives is
controversial. And I have yet to find any statistically positive
correlations between development indicators and human rights and freedoms
outside present-day Europe.  Where are the studies that show the
contribution of human rights to well-being?

Aside from the West and its experiential history, which many in developing
countries understand to be the cause of the inspiration, organization and
direction of the activities of the current human rights regime, that we
human rights workers are involved in and or are aware of, are there good
examples to draw upon from the non-Western world, for example from
Buddhist or Muslim societies.  I have begun to do so and, to answer your
question, I am finding that were something good happened; i.e. a desirable
outcomes maximized, it was mainly due to a ground swell in public opinion
and policy makers reacting with sympathy in support of a particular cause
or issue - say the role of women in society and their internationally
respected rights.  Unearthing all the reasons behind such a shift in
attitude are obviously a difficult task to do but if one can point to a
common denominator, it is experience in most cases that lead people to
change or to understand.  In school, we are taught to understand concepts
first and go out an put them in practice, which makes sense but reality is
not always subject to common sense.  Reality on a day-to-day basis is
usually driven by habits and hobbies.  Its fine to practice human rights
if you're interested but what if you're not?

I feel that the current human rights work can do much more if it considers
societies' specificities, social composition and historical experience
important and even crucial for HRE because it's in that experience and
body of past and current knowledge that we can find what society
ultimately considers desirable or undesirable benchmarks, to survival, and
by extension one's quality of life.  To my mind, there is no substitute to
the experiential approach.  The question is can we figure out
sociocultural, political, and psychological factors in a particular
society so as to allow HRE techniques to pull on these elements to bring
about change, and ultimately benefits, in an experiential way?

Osama M. Rajkhan
Social Affairs Officer and Human Rights Focal Point
Population and Social Integration Section
Emerging Social Issues Division
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific
Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: (66-2) 288-1845, Fax: (66-2) 288-1030
Email:  <      >



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