Human Rights-Based Approach to Programming - UNFPA -

1
Human Rights-Based Approach to Programming-
UNFPA -

• SESSION 2
• Basics of Human Rights

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Session Overview

• Culture, gender and human rights - an integrated
  package
• What are human rights?
• Human rights as a foundation of the UN
• The nature of state obligations
• Examples of human rights
• Accountability
• Key points

Over- arching frame
Basics of human rights
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Culture, Gender and Human Rights

• Culture, gender and human rights are inter-linked

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Human Rights-Based Approach (1)

• A culturally sensitive, gender-responsive, human
  rights-based approach has replaced the basic
  needs approach that UNFPA used to follow
• Central elements of a HRBA
• development programmes further the realization of
  human rights
• programming is guided by human rights principles,
  such as universality, indivisibility,
  interdependence, equality and non-discrimination,
  participation and inclusion, and accountability
• human rights frame the relationship between
  rights-holders and duty-bearers

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Human Rights-Based Approach (2)

• HRBA aims to
• protect and promote rights
• reduce inequality
• harness the substantive participation of those
  who are most affected
• By definition, HRBA is sensitive to issues of
  culture and gender

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Culturally Sensitive Programming

• Culture
• beliefs, attitudes, values, behaviours and
  traditions that are learned and shared by virtue
  of membership and socialization in groups
• Culturally sensitive approach aims to
• transform cultural traditions from within by
  using societies own dynamics of change
• engage social leadership rather than attempt to
  dispense with it completely

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Gender

• Gender
• social attributes and opportunities associated
  with being male and female
• relationships between women and men and girls and
  boys
• relations between women and between men
• UNFPA policy calls for
• gender equality to be mainstreamed across all
  UNFPAs activities
• programme components that explicitly support
  womens empowerment

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Gender-Responsive Programming

• Within UNFPA, application of gender-responsive
  approach requires understanding of causes of
  discrimination and unequal power relations
  between men and women in specific contexts.
• Given that achieving gender equality and
  eliminating all forms of discrimination are at
  the heart of a HRBA, HRBAs and gender-responsive
  approaches are inextricably related and should be
  integrated.

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How are These Three Approaches Interconnected?
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Basic Concepts and Principles of Human Rights
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What Are Human Rights?

• Human rights are intrinsic values that give all
  human beings dignity

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Characteristics of Human Rights

• Are universal the birthright of all human
  beings
• Focus on the inherent dignity and equal worth of
  all human beings
• Cannot be waived or taken away
• Impose obligations upon States and State actors
  to respect, protect and fulfil human rights
• Are internationally guaranteed
• Are legally protected

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Human Rights in Your Work
Everyone enjoys this right Most people enjoy this right Some people enjoy this right A few people enjoy this right No one enjoys this right

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Examples of Human Rights

• Right to life
• Right to health (including mental health,
  reproductive health, sexual health, etc.)
• Right to decide the number and spacing of
  children
• Right to privacy
• Right to education
• What other examples can you share?
• Can you give examples of UNFPA activities that
  promote these rights?

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The International Human Rights Legal Regime
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The International Human Rights Legal Regime (1)

• Human rights are codified in treaties
• The international human rights regime as we know
  it evolved within the United Nations
• a fundamental purpose of the UN is to promote
  human rights
• the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the
  cornerstone document of the modern human rights
  movement

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The International Human Rights Legal Regime (2)

• Treaties and other legally binding documents
• The Charter of the United Nations
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and
  Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights (ICCPR)
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
  Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• Convention on Migrant Workers (CMW)
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with
  Disabilities

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Treaty Terminology

• Ratification - what does this mean?
• Accession - how is this different from
  ratification?
• Signature - what is expected of a State Party if
  it has just signed, but not ratified, a treaty?
• Reservations - what are these?

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Progressive Realization

• Allows governments to take steps towards the
  progressive achievement of the full realization
  of human rights
• Governments cannot use progressive realization as
  an excuse for deferring their efforts!

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Example of Immediate Obligations

• According to the Committee on Economic, Social
  and Cultural Rights, the following obligations
  are of immediate effect
• obligation not to discriminate
• obligation to take steps targeted deliberately
  towards the full realization of the rights in
  question
• obligation to monitor progress in the realization
  of human rights

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Regional Human Rights Systems
Europe Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Americas American Convention on Human Rights and Pact San José, Costa Rica on economic, social and cultural rights Africa African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights Arab States Arab Charter on Human Rights European Court of Human Rights Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Inter-American Court of Human Rights African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights African Court on Human and Peoples Rights
Action 2 slide
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Links Between International, Regional and
National Systems

• International and regional norms require national
  implementation to be effective
• National norms should be consistent with
  international and regional Standards
• International and regional judicial protection
  when national remedies have been exhausted
• International and regional protection are
  complementary

Action 2 slide
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Additional Protections for Human Rights

• Declarations, recommendations, conferences and
  codes of conduct generally regarded as having
  moral force and providing a guiding reference to
  States, include
• The ICPD Programme of Action
• The Beijing Declaration and Platform For Action
• The Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS
• The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
  Against Women
• These commitments have helped to create new
  approaches for considering the extent of
  government accountability for health and gender
  issues
• ICPD is of particular relevance and significance
  to UNFPA

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ICPD and Human Rights

• The fifteen principles outlined in the ICPD PoA
  are based on fundamental human rights drawn from
  international human rights treaties, such as
• All human beings are born free and equal in
  dignity and rights (grounded in rights to
  equality, non-discrimination, liberty)
• Advancing gender equality and equity and the
  empowerment of women, the elimination of violence
  against women, and ensuring womens ability to
  control their own fertility (grounded in rights
  to health, life, equality, freedom to decide the
  timing and spacing of children, etc.)

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Obligations to Respect, Protect, Fulfil

• What are a governments obligations when it comes
  to human rights?

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Human Rights Obligations
Duty-bearers obligation to
Protect
Respect
Fulfil
prevent others from interfering with the
enjoyment of the right
refrain from interfering with the enjoyment of
the right
adopt appropriate measures towards full
realization of the right
Action 2 slide
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Accountability

• Accountability is the process whereby
  governments/public service organizations/other
  institutions and the individuals within them are
  held responsible for their decisions and actions,
  including their stewardship of public funds,
  fairness, and all aspects of performance, in
  accordance with agreed rules, contracts, and
  standards, and fair and accurate reporting on
  performance results vis-à-vis mandated roles
  and/or plans.
• UNFPA Accountability Framework, Report of the
  Executive Director, DP/FPA/2007/20.

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The Human Rights Council
What is it? A subsidiary body of the General
Assembly composed of Member States. It replaces
the UN Commission on Human Rights

• What does it do?
• promotes universal protection
• addresses and prevents violations
• develops international law
• reviews compliance of Member States
• responds to emergencies
• creates I ADDED CREATES/OK? OK international
  forum for dialogue

Action 2 slide
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International MechanismsThe Role of Treaty
Bodies

• Monitor and facilitate the implementation of the
  treaty through
• examination of State party reports and additional
  sources of information
• observations and recommendations
• General Comments on HR standards contained in the
  treaty
• examination of individual complaints (some of
  them) DO YOU NEED SOME OF THEM HERE AND IN NEXT
  ITEM? NO
• confidential enquiries (some of them)

Action 2 Slide
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Treaty Monitoring Bodies

• Examples of TMBs
• The Human Rights Committee monitors compliance
  with the ICCPR
• The Committee on the Elimination of
  Discrimination Against Women monitors
  implementation of CEDAW
• The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
  Rights monitors implementation of the ICESCR

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International MechanismsSpecial Procedures
Thematic mandates include right to highest
attainable standard of health right to
education extreme poverty right to food
freedom of opinion freedom of religion
IDPs migrants indigenous people violence
against women
Countries Burundi Cambodia DPRK Haiti
Myanmar OPTs NOT SURE WHAT COUNTRY THIS IS
Its Palestine and the Acronym is correct
Somalia Sudan
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National Human Rights Protection Systems

• Constitutional and legislative frameworks
• Effective institutions (parliaments, governments,
  judiciary, public administration, HR
  institutions)
• Policies, procedures and processes
• Vibrant civil society

Action 2 slides
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UNFPAs Role in Promoting Accountability

• Building closer partnerships between government
  and civil society
• Developing government capacity for collecting and
  analysing data
• Gender-responsive budgeting
• Supporting governments in their reporting to the
  Treaty Monitoring Bodies
• Mainstreaming reproductive rights, gender
  equality and population and development issues
  into ALL UN activities and processes

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Different Levels of Accountability

• Accountability of the government/State Party
• Accountability of UNFPA (the UN in general)
• Accountability of individuals - service
  providers, teachers, religious leaders, etc.

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International Humanitarian Law

• Is a set of rules that seek to limit the effects
  of armed conflict
• Protects persons who are not or are no longer
  taking part in hostilities
• Restricts the means and methods of warfare

1. on the care of the wounded and sick members of
   armed forces in the field
2. on the care of the wounded, sick and shipwrecked
   members of armed forces at sea
3. on the treatment of prisoners of war
4. on the protection of civilian persons
5. in time of war

Action 2 slide
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Exercise

1. HRBA
2. Gender-responsive programming
3. Human rights
4. Treaties and other legally binding documents
5. An important conference promoting womens human
   rights

1. Focus on the inherent dignity and equal worth of
   all
2. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action
3. Frames relationship between rights-holders and
   duty-bearers
4. CEDAW
5. Requires understanding of causes of
   discrimination and unequal power relations
   between men and women in specific contexts

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Conclusion

• Because a HRBA aims to promote and protect
  rights, reduce inequality and harness the
  substantive participation of those who are most
  affected, it is by definition sensitive to issues
  of culture and gender
• Understanding human rights law and the UN human
  rights system is essential to the implementation
  of a HRBA
• HRBA is normatively based on international human
  rights standards and operationally directed to
  promoting and protecting human rights