04 Rights based approach
What is the rights-based approach?
The rights-based approach to development is an approach that systematically incorporates the values and principles of the human rights (esp. the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) into development cooperation.
This means that all citizens - youth included - know their rights and become empowered (empowerment) to claim them. This approach has been implemented by most of those active in development cooperation for almost ten years. Based on it, youth shall not only be recipients of aid, but actors who know and claim their rights.
The approach is based on the hypothesis that people who are deprived of their rights are poor. Poverty is therefore more than simply a lack of resources; it also means that individuals are marginalised and powerless. Youth, for example, often have limited or no access to education and the labour market, are discriminated against because of their age, are disproportionally often victims of violence and poverty, are confronted with HIV/Aids, etc.
How can the rights-based approach be implemented in projects?
Practically speaking, the approach means that the principles of the human rights are considered in the whole project cycle (when defining objectives, planning, implementing or evaluating). Following questions should be addressed when planning a project:
- Can human rights education and their promotion be a key element of our project? Can human rights be explicitly mentioned in the objectives?
-> e.g. human rights workshop (general knowledge), seminars on specific topics (such as racism, equal opportunities, etc.) The youth could then act as multipliers and pass on their knowledge. - Does our project respect the needs and rights of all the youth involved, without discrimination based on gender, race, religion, etc.? Is the do-no-harm approach being respected?
- Is our project being planned and implemented in a participatory manner together with the local youth organisation? The local youth know best which rights they are deprived of and where they need empowerment; participation is therefore a key element of the rights-based approach.
- Can we link our project activities to the human rights and discuss these?
-> e.g. renovating a school = the right to education and the right to an adequate standard of living; summer camp = right to rest and leisure, prohibition of discrimination, etc.
The same questions also need to be addressed in the implementation phase (project management). During the evaluation phase the project should be evaluated specifically in terms of the rights-based approach; this means checking if it was possible to address human rights, if youth were empowered to claim their rights, etc.
Links:
Tool for the Human Rights Based Approach
http://www.deza.admin.ch
Documents of the SDC on Human Rights
http://www.deza.admin.ch/
Frequently asked questions on human rights-based approach to development cooperation
http://www.hurilink.org/
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