Rights, Advocacy and Social Transformation
Alan Smith
UNESCO Chair
University of Ulster
a.smith@ulster.ac.uk
UNESCO Chair in Education for
Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy
A 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 Principles
PANEL
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
Representation of bonding, bridging and linking social capital in Northern Ireland
Historically
unequal
access to
political
power and
resources
Relatively strong bonding within communities
Relatively weak bridging between communities
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
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•
•
•
Conflict ‘transformed’ but not ‘resolved’
Constitutional issues remains
Possible referendum
Role of family and community in political literacy
UNESCO Chair in Education for
Pluralism, Human Rights and Democracy