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Human Rights, Business and Development by Lowell Ewert Conrad Grebel University College

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Title: Human Rights, Business and Development by Lowell Ewert Conrad Grebel University College


1
Human Rights, Business and Developmentby Lowell
EwertConrad Grebel University College
  • MEDA Conference
  • November 2, 2007

2
Overview of session
  • Overview of historical reasons for emergence of
    human rights paradigm
  • Impact of new paradigm on
  • Nations
  • Businesses
  • Civil Society organizations
  • Application

3
The challenge
  • Being successful at business or development is
    difficult enough without adding additional
    burdens which may not be the core responsibility
    of good business practice.

4
Watershed moment
  • World War II
  • Hermann Goering But that was our right!
  • Nazis for most part did not violate written
    international in treatment of civilians
  • Nuremberg Victors
  • Found Nazi claims repugnant, unacceptable

5
New paradigm
  • Universal Declaration
  • World reaction was to find another way
  • If world is to have peace, human rights need to
    be respected
  • Eleanor Roosevelt Dont worry.
  • No negative votes, 8 abstentions (Russia and
    Socialist bloc, S. Africa, Saudi Arabia)

6
Scope of Universal Declaration
  • Proclaims the Declaration as a common
    standard of achievement for all peoples and all
    nations, to the end that every individual and
    every organ of society . shall strive by
    teaching and education to promote respect for
    these rights and freedoms

7
Human rights vaccine for war
  • Liberty
  • Charter of Rights
  • Equality
  • Economic, social and cultural
  • Food, jobs, health care, standard of living
  • Fraternity
  • Self-determination
  • Environment
  • Peace

8
Impact on Governments unanticipated change 1
  • Accountability changed
  • Nations now were accountable to something other
    than themselves
  • Limits were placed on sovereignty
  • Impact
  • More change of international law in last 60 years
    than previous 600
  • Every area of life impacted by human rights

9
Impact on Civil Society unanticipated change
2
  • Preamble of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
    - every individual and every organ of society .
    shall strive by teaching and education to promote
    respect for human rights and to secure their
    universal and effective observance
  • Civil Society organizations began to investigate
    link between human rights and development

10
Impact of rights
  • Famines
  • Natural disasters
  • Refugees
  • Environmental degradation
  • Disease and
  • Poverty.

11
Core values of human rights
  • Core values of human rights
  • Participation
  • Accountability and
  • Peace-able change.

12
Rights-approach to development
  • Concept is about 10 15 years old
  • PPIC-Work is one of best examples of RBA
  • Working children
  • To improve working conditions
  • Loans as incentives

13
Glass half full or half empty?
  • If the development glass is half empty, what is
    the solution to poverty?
  • If the development glass is half full, what is
    the solution to poverty?

14
Common RBA approaches
  • Based on some aspect of hard law
  • Convention on the Rights of the Child
  • Economic, Social and Cultural Covenant
  • Civil and Political Covenant
  • National law.
  • Strategy
  • Look to see what law requires
  • Implement it.

15
Soft law practical manifestation
  • Some independent standard with perceived
    legitimacy or fairness to determine who is right
    - formalized in law or contract, socially
    accepted standards of behavior, reciprocity,
    precedent, equality, and seniority (Ury).
  • Law is a process - social etiquette, may readily
    be viewed as a form of legal process, church
    life, the classroom, the playing field, or,
    indeed, the workplace be viewed as micro legal
    systems (Weston).

16
Value added by including soft law
  • Private law can develop law.
  • Custom by expanding the effect, can create
    customary law.
  • Capturing by writings, conferences,
    dissemination, etc., can develop consensus.
  • Net result is creating a structure that
    surrounds the issue.

17
Impact of law creation
  • PPIC-Work is about a process, not just an
    outcome.
  • PPIC-Work is not just a passive implementor of
    rights.
  • PPIC-Work is about creating rights too.
  • Authority for creating rights
  • Participation
  • Accountability
  • Change
  • Dignity.

18
Long-term impact of structure
  • Reflecting on Peace Practice study.
  • Three year effort, involving discussions with
    over 200 agencies, 26 case studies, 25 feedback
    workshops held in 16 countries which involved 500
    people.

19
Key lessons learned
20
Implications for RBA
  • Gains most sustainable if
  • Process is central empowerment
  • Ways are found to formalize gains as principles.
  • PPIC-Work
  • Involvement of children
  • Creation of standards (Code of Conduct)
  • Attempts to create custom
  • Ripple effect conferences, writings, etc.

21
Ten Thousand Villages another model
  • How has TTV been involved in creating
    structure?
  • What has been the impact?

22
The mission statement for civil society
  • Civil society is humanitys conscience, its
    early-warning system, and its laboratory. It is
    where the worlds thoughtful, committed citizens
    go about the business of changing things for the
    better. Civil society makes a transformation to
    sustainability possible, because it is the place
    where humanitys best traits come forth, most
    strongly and most reliably. Alan AtKisson
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