For those interested in both campaigning and human-rights approaches the Campaigning Effectiveness team at NCVO is organising an event Monday 10 December on this very topic. The programme includes workshops/sessions with the British Institute of Human Rights, Amnesty International and Scope.
I have written several posts on human rights lately and here is another one. I spoke to Chris Stalker, who is head of Campaigning Effectiveness following the event he organised with his team, on human-rights based approaches to campaigning. I wanted his feedback on something which I thought was relatively new and which probably had scope for development. Chris felt there was definitely a growing interest amongst organisations, large and small but it was early days. In terms of future development, he saw some exciting and significant opportunities as well as some challenges. The three main opportunities he identified for campaigners are as follows:
1. The language of human rights is very powerful: it is based in the law, but it also moves the emphasis from ‘needs’ to ‘rights’. 2. Human rights based approaches can help campaigners link successfully the local to the global. 3. They provide a framework which has the potential to really encourage the participation of users and beneficairies.
On the downside, there are still important barriers. Cultural barriers essentially. The general public opinion is still quite negative and this can represent a reputational risk for organisations, especially for the large and well-established ones.
Following this event, Campaigning Effectiveness are planning to put together with BIHR a resource that will provide some guidelines for campaigners. So watch this space! In the meantime, you might like to have a look at this new Charity Commission publication: Charities in the field of human rights
Véronique
Third Sector ForesightFor those interested in both campaigning and human-rights approaches the Campaigning Effectiveness team at NCVO is organising an event Monday 10 December on this very topic. The programme includes workshops/sessions with the British Institute of Human Rights, Amnesty International and Scope.
Véronique
Third Sector ForesightI have written several posts on human rights lately and here is another one. I spoke to Chris Stalker, who is head of Campaigning Effectiveness following the event he organised with his team, on human-rights based approaches to campaigning. I wanted his feedback on something which I thought was relatively new and which probably had scope for development. Chris felt there was definitely a growing interest amongst organisations, large and small but it was early days. In terms of future development, he saw some exciting and significant opportunities as well as some challenges. The three main opportunities he identified for campaigners are as follows:
1. The language of human rights is very powerful: it is based in the law, but it also moves the emphasis from ‘needs’ to ‘rights’.
2. Human rights based approaches can help campaigners link successfully the local to the global.
3. They provide a framework which has the potential to really encourage the participation of users and beneficairies.
On the downside, there are still important barriers. Cultural barriers essentially. The general public opinion is still quite negative and this can represent a reputational risk for organisations, especially for the large and well-established ones.
Following this event, Campaigning Effectiveness are planning to put together with BIHR a resource that will provide some guidelines for campaigners. So watch this space!
In the meantime, you might like to have a look at this new Charity Commission publication: Charities in the field of human rights