UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Rights, Advocacy and Social Transformation

Alan SmithUNESCO ChairUniversity of Ulster

a.smith@ulster.ac.uk

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

A Human Rights Based ApproachA Human Rights Based Approach

• explicit links between human rights commitments and legislation

• greater accountability

• genuine participation in decision-making

• non-discrimination that meets the needs of poor, vulnerable and minority groups

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Five Important PrinciplesPANEL

Participation• active, free and meaningful access to processes, information and institutions

Accountability• identify rights-holders and duty-bearers• enhances capacities of duty-bearers to fulfil their obligations• laws, policies, mechanisms and benchmarks for measuring progress

Non-discrimination• particular attention to equality and vulnerable groups• disaggregated data by sex, religion, age, ethnicity, etc.• develop safeguards against reinforcing power imbalances

Empowerment• enhances capacities of right holders to claim their rights

Linkages to Human Rights Standards•sets obligations and minimum guarantees

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Human Rights as a basis for advocacy

• Clarification of concepts of advocacy• Mapping of experiences and approaches• Further development through 3 entry points

• National support for personal empowerment• Inclusion in professional education and training• Agency policies

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Human Rights as a basis for citizenship

• Most states no longer monolithic• Concept of nation state challenged• Emergence of supra national entities, such as EU,

transcending states• Diversity of origins, cultures and beliefs citizens have

multiple group loyalties• Relationship between church and state being

redefined

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Relatively weak bridging between communities

Relatively strong bonding within communities

Historicallyunequal

access to political

power and resources

Representation of bonding, bridging and linking social capital in Northern Ireland

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Citizenship based on rights

The two Governments recognise the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both … and accordingly confirm that their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland

The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, 1998

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Belfast Agreement 1998

1. Constitutional issues

Ireland removes territorial claim to NI from its constitution

any change to future constitutional status to be determined by the people

both British and Irish governments will work to facilitate any change

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Belfast Agreement 1998

2. Political Institutions

New NI ‘power sharing’ Assembly with 108 representatives from different parties

North-South Ministerial Council in Ireland

East-West Council between Britain and Ireland

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Belfast Agreement 1998

3. Confidence Building Measures

Human Rights

Equality

Decommissioning weapons

Security and demilitarisation

Policing and the justice system

Prisoner releases

Support for victims and survivors

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

The challenge of diversity

• Assimilation, unitary institutions operating according to dominant values

• Separate development, plurality of institutions• Essentialism (organised around identity)

• Integration• Conservative pluralism (similarity)• Liberal pluralism (difference)• Critical pluralism (challenging power relations)

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Dealing with the Past

“Will the twentieth century be most remembered for its mass atrocities? The rape of Nanking. The Holocaust of World War II. The killing fields of Cambodia. Argentina’s ‘Dirty War’ and regime of torture and killing. South Africa’s apartheid and the violence deployed to sustain it. The Turkish massacre of the Armenians. The Romanian terror before and after communism. The slaughter by Stalin. The Americans at My Lai. Military regimes using repression, mass tortures and murders. The massacres of Ibos in Nigeria. Genocide in Rwanda. And yet, a century marked by human slaughter and torture, sadly, is not a unique century in human history.”

Martha Minow, Harvard Law School (2003) ‘Between Vengeance and Forgiveness’, Beacon Press

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Dealing with the past

• Common attitudes– Forget the past, live for the present, look to the future– The present can only be understood through the past– The past needs reconciled to create a new future

• Common rationales for dealing with past events– Learn lessons from the past so that it doesn’t happen again– Identify the guilty and bring those responsible to justice– Provide ‘closure’ for ‘victims’ and those who have suffered– Enable a transition from conflict to stability– Restore confidence in law and order

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

What do we mean by truth?

Truth is objective. This view is that ‘the facts’ should be established, that there is an objective account and one version of reality. This approach tends to be favoured by fairly rigid education systems with syllabus, text-based and transmissional curricula.

Truth is relative. This approach places a high value on individual subjectivity. There are many versions of reality based on individual experience and all are equally valid. This approach may be favoured by education systems that place an emphasis on experiential learning as an end in itself.

Truth is inter-subjective. This approach accepts that there are many subjective views of the truth, but the emphasis is on problematizing concepts, interrogating each, weighing evidence, coming to conclusions through negotiation.

RETURN

UNESCO Chair in Education for Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy

Preparing for the future

• Conflict ‘transformed’ but not ‘resolved’• Constitutional issues remains• Possible referendum• Role of family and community in political literacy