FOCUS

Focus
Asia-PacificNewsletter of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (HURIGHTS OSAKA)

March 2020 Vol. 99

Editorial

Contents
Rural Women for Sustainable Development
This is a discussion on the work of anorganization of rural women on theeconomic and social status upliftment ofmarginalized women in rural communities
in Kyrgyzstan.
- Alga Rural Women's NGO
Page 2
Advocating for the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities in Jordan
This is a discussion on the activities of anorganization of persons with disabilities in
Jordan that aim at making those withdisabilities able to enjoy their rights under
the law, live independently and engage
society.
- Asia Abdel Mutaleb Yaghi
Page 6
Empowering Communities and Building
Resilience
This is a discussion on the programs of anon-governmental organization in Fiji that
address the environmental and humanrights issues in Fijian communities.
- Social Empowerment and Education
Programme (SEEP)
Page 9Discussions on Human Rights Education
This is a review of proceedings in three
regional and international human rights
conferences in relation to human rights
education in Asia.
- Jefferson R. Plantilla
Page 13

Local Community Human Rights Work
Local communities (be they villages, districts, towns or cities)
provide a unique context for human rights work. They defineboth the limitation and opportunity for realization, protection
and promotion of human rights.
Local community human rights work takes many forms inaccordance with the needs of people in a specific locality.
Human rights work includes enhancing the capacity of rural
women in undertaking economically beneficial farming
activities. It includes engaging the members of the community
on how to change community perception and systems affecting
persons with disabilities. It covers the provision of information to
victims of human rights violation or abuse to enable them toseek protection from and remedy for their suffering.
Most significantly, local community human rights work is crucial
in helping build the confidence of disadvantaged or
marginalized people in asserting their rights and in participating
in societal and local governmental processes. Both individuals
and families, as basic units in every community, benefit fromlocal community human rights work. This is seen in the case ofhuman rights workers helping persons with disabilities develop
their confidence to become “independent and engage society”
by encouraging them to enjoy “independent living at home”
with the support of the family.

1

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICMARCH 2020 VOLUME 99

Rural Women for Sustainable Development
Alga Rural Women’s NGO

Rural women in Jerkazar
village, Isyk-Ata Rayon in
Kyrgyzstan decided in 1995 toestablish an organization of
women to address the violationof their rights to land. At thattime, Kyrgyzstan was
implementing an agrarianreform program and women(especially single mothers,
widows and single unmarried
women) were treated unequallyi n a c q u i r i n g l a n d . Th i sorganization, named Alga Rural
Women’s NGO (Alga), hassince then been working for the
improvement of the social
status, and economic and living
conditions of rural women, andcreating enabling environment
for women’s participation ineconomic life of the village andin decision-making processes ofthe local government.
The transition of Kyrgyzstan tomarket economy in early 1990s
shocked the country and its
people. Rising unemployment,
reduction of state social
protection services anddeterioration of the living
standard of the majority of the
population, especially the rural
women, were the consequencesof the new economic system.
Rural women were pushed into
vulnerable situation with thegrowth of poverty, deteriorationof the public health system,
work and home responsibilities
and lack of control over family
resources. This situation existed
in the context of patriarchal
traditions and norms that

affected their status in thefamily and society andi n c r e a s e d g e n d e r- b a s e dviolence and discrimination.
Alga aims to improve the statusof rural women and theirstandard of living by raisingt h e i r awa r e n e s s o f t h e s erealities, building theircapabilities for self–
actualization, strengthening
their participation in theeconomic development
programs and advocacy for theirrights, and adoption of
empowering strategies andstructures that can raise theirsocial status and economic
condition. Alga also helps
strengthen their social
partnership with different
stakeholders to ensure
gender equality andsupportforempowering strategies
and structures which
promote the status of
women and theirfamilies.
One of the advantagesof Alga is the diversityof its membership:
their age varies fromseventeen to seventy
years old; some ofthem are widows,
single mothers,
divorced women andmothers with many
children.
A l g a d e ve l o p e d acomprehensive

2

program for rural women
empowerment and integrationo f g e n d e r a p p r o a ch e s i nsustainable livelihood programs
that support poverty alleviation.
This program has several
components:a. Leadership development
and strengthening of
capacity of the poor rural
women to lift themselves
out of poverty - thiscomponent includes
increasing capacity toparticipate in ruralcommunity development
and budgeting, facilitating
access to resources (such as
funds/loans) and introducing
innovative technologies(such as those that protect

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICMARCH 2020 VOLUME 99

the environment and preventthe pollution of groundwater and the introductionof alternative energy
resources). It also includes
the creation of communityg r o u p s , r u r a l w o m e n ’s
groups, youth alliances andnetworking; andb. Information and awarenessraising campaigns,
community meetings, andconsultations - these
activities focus onsustainable livelihoods andstrategies which requireconsultation and assessmentwith the women on theirneeds and priorities, andinformation dissemination
on methodologies fordeveloping personal or
household strategies toattaining sustainable
livelihoods, and on needs
and opportunities forincome generating
initiatives.
Rural Community Activities
Alga starts rural community
activities by organizing
participatory community
assessment, information
campaigns on women’s rights(social, political and economic),and other strategies to reach out
to rural women, especially thosebelonging to ethnic minority
communities and religious
groups. These activities are done
during informal meetings in thewomen's homes, culturalgatherings, meetings (in local
schools, village shops andhalls), family events and otheroccasions.
The rural women view theexisting economic problems
that affect their needs as relating

to land and property rights,
labor migration, unemployment,
payment gap and low wages for
women, poor social
infrastructure, and lack ofsupport for starting small
business (existing programs are
generally not considerate of thes i t u a t i o n o f wo m e n ) . Th e
problems in engaging in small
business include high interest
rate and guarantee requirement(collateral) by microfinanceagencies, gender-based violencesuffered by those who travel tomarket places, lack ofvo c a t i o n a l e d u c a t i o n a n daffordable technologies, andlack of access to agricultural
inputs and financial resources tosupport their entrepreneurial
endeavors. Land laws are biased
against women and do notconsider cultural traditions that
often place land in the hands ofmen. Rural women often workin the informal sector and lackbasic social protection such as
sick pay, maternity leave or
retirement. Women spend an
average of four and a half hours
on unpaid domestic labor that
limit their opportunities andchoices.
Rural women want to discuss all
sorts of agro-economic,

3

livestock and business planningissues. They also want to learn
about waste management, water
scarcity, and adaptation andalternative technologies in
response to the impact ofclimate change. Alga’s activities
have very good resonance in thecommunities. Besides training
and consultation for women,development of social
partnership with local
authorities and otherstakeholders is very important.
This is particularly effective
when their requests for service
are in line with government
programs, such as the national
program for regionald e v e l o p m e n t . W o m e n ’s
networks in turn provide a goodvehicle to disseminate messages
about these programs and takeactive part in theirimplementation.
Rural women want to learn fromother women with similar
problems, experiences and also
best practices. They organize
peer exchange system to scale
up the impact of goodexperiences.
Besides their work on income
generation initiatives, women
express interest in getting more
involved in the implementation

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICo f t h e n e w D e ve l o p m e n t
Agenda 2030 and Sustainable
Development Goals in theircommunities. More than ten
initiatives on the improvementof local social infrastructures inaccordance with women’s
needs and priorities have beendeveloped and implemented
with the support of the local
authorities. These initiatives ofwomen's groups are appreciatedby the community and local
authorities; some of themreceived Letters of Appreciation
and Gratitude presented during
the celebration of the National
Rural Women’s Day (June 18th)and World Rural Women’s Day(October 15th).
A l g a ’s m e m b e r s a c t i v e l yparticipated in local andnational campaigns for the
adoption of new laws on
prevention of domestic
violence, prohibition ofreligious child marriage and 30
percent quota for women in the
National Parliament and Local
Councils (rural self–governancestructure).
F o r w o m e n ’s e c o n o m i cempowerment during the
2018-2020 period, Alga createdvocational training courses inplaces where rural women live.

MARCH 2020 VOLUME 99
T h e s e
vocationalcourses areorganized
mainly for
y o u n g
women frompoor families,e t h n i cminorities,
and also form i g r a n t
women. The
courses allow
them to findjobs or start
their own business using thepractical skills (such as tailoringskill) they acquire. There is ahigh demand for tailors but thetraining on tailoring is normallyexpensive, available only incities and mainly for men (inaccordance with tradition).
Women with tailoring skill arealso able to improve theireconomic well-being throughsavings in the family budget bysewing or mending/altering
clothes for family members or
h o u s e h o l d i t e m s s u ch a s
curtains, beddings, bed covers,
blankets and pillows.
Cases
of
Empowerment

Wo m e n ’s

Alga’s support to rural women’sbusiness initiatives yielded good
examples of women’s economic
empowerment. Below are someexperiences:
1. Raising livestock for meatand milk production andhome gardening - Mehriban
L., a woman from theTurkish ethnic minority
diaspora in the Krasnaya
Rechka village, raised young
cattle (a bull and a milkingcow) with the help of her
family members. The meat of4

the bull and the cow’s milk
were later sold in themarket, with some amountof milk left for family
consumption. She also
planted different varieties offruits and berries in her
garden. Mehriban said that
this opportunity helped a lot
in improving her status
within the family and gave
her “personal power.” Shelearned many things during
the Alga meetings andtraining and became mores e l f - c o n fi d e n t . H e rcommunication andnetworking with women inher village and those fromother villages improved to agreat degree. When
Mehriban became seriously
ill and was almost
paralyzed, the income sheearned allowed her to get
medical treatment. Inspiredby her experience, sheplanned to increase her
domestic farming andproduction;
2. Meat and milk production,
setting up of sustainablefeeding base for cattle – Alia
K., a woman from Bashkir
ethnic minority group in
Novo-Pokrovka village,raised calves and sold theirmeat and milk. With theincome earned, Alia’s family
was able to buy a small plotof land to construct a
separate farm for more cattle
breeding. Alia said that thisfarming initiative wasextremely helpful for her
personal status and built her
self-confidence. Alia wanted
to help other rural womenby sharing her experienceand establishing ademonstration site. She also

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
became more active in theactivities of her community;
3. Milk processing, integrationof variety of milk products
for healthy nutrition –Saltanat N., a young Kyrgyz
wo m a n i n B e s h k u n g e yvillage, received support
from Alga to buy needed
equipment like milk
separator, refrigerator, andoven for cooking oatmeal
and nuts to make granola ina special way. Learning how
to produce yogurt andgranola, Saltanat sold her
products in the market. She
also learned how to makesoft cheese from the milk her
cows produced. After sometime, Saltanat managed tofind regular customers in thecity sports club and fitness
center. She said that this
support gave her great
power —“she feels like she
got wings,” “it’s so nice tofeel that you can earn yourown living”— and she
thought of new ideas on
how to develop her businessfurther;
4. Livestock farming – Jamila
K., a Kyrgyz woman from apoor family in Jerkazar
village bought a small calf
and a foal. She rented a plotof land to plant crops andestablished a feeding storage
for cattle. She subsequently
sold the meat of the horse
and the cow’s milk, withsome milk left for her
children’s consumption.
Jamila said that this income
generating activity was avery important experience
considering that she failed toget credit from am i c r o fi n a n c e c o m p a n y
because of lack of property

MARCH 2020 VOLUME 99
to guarantee the loan. As aresult, Jamila was able tofulfil her old dream ofbuilding a new house for her
big family. Jamila said that“It’s difficult to express thatspecial feeling that you canbring change to the living
standards of your family andthat your kids can have adignified life, it’s really
incredible!;”5. H o m e g a r d e n i n g a n dmaking fruit and vegetable
preserves – Gulzara A., a
Kyrgyz widow with a big,poorfamilyinInternationalnoe village,
learned different gardening
technologies and establisheda shop for producing various
preserved fruits andvegetables for the local
market. She also taught herneighbors how to enrichfamily nutrition and store
food for winter. Young
women in rural communities
suffer from anemia becauseof lack of good nutrition,
vitamins and minerals.
Gulzara had good harvest offruits (apricot, apple andb e r r i e s – r a s p b e r r y,
blackberry) and vegetables
that she made into preserved
food both for family
consumption and for sale.
S h e a l s o i nv i t e d o t h e r
women to help her. Hershop acquired a good
reputation in thecommunity, and women
working outside the village
became her customers.
Thanks to the income of her
small business, Gulzara now
could afford to pay for thepreschool education of herchildren and more time forher own training andbusiness. She was able to5

repay part of her housing
loan, pay for the educationof her children and take careof her aging parents. She
expressed having increased
self-confidence and that“she is a mistress of her own
life.”
Final Note
Alga believes that the potentialof rural women to become
leaders in the work forsustainable development can be
nurtured. Rural women are a big
resource in strengthening thecapacity of local communities
to become active participants inthe local and national policy
development processes and to
be fully involved in realizing
national programs that directly
impact their lives.
For further information, pleasecontact: Alga Rural Women'sNGO,
Aidarbekov Street,
Jerkazar village, Ysykata raion,
Chui oblast, Kyrgyzstan 722177;
ph +996555554926; fax +996
(312) 610 022; e-mail:ngoalga@gmail.com.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICMARCH 2020 VOLUME 99

Advocating for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
in Jordan
Asia Abdel Mutaleb Yaghi

I

and four other Jordaniancolleagues (three women anda man) with various disabilities
started in 2008 to work
earnestly on educating otherpersons with disabilities about alaw that should be protecting
them. But their families were
not sure about our efforts
because we were a group ofactivists who did not belong to
any formal organization. And
when we asked for government
service for persons withdisabilities, government officials
would reply: Who are you? This
led us into thinking of creating agroup that would deal withmatters related to persons withdisabilities (specifically about
the law) and would advocateand demand for their rights.
In the same year, Ana Insan wasborn. In English, the Arabic
words “Ana Insan” translate into
“I am human,” and thus the
English name of theorganization became “I AM
HUMAN” Society for the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities (IAM HUMAN). It is a disabled
persons’ organization (DPO)
that is non-governmental, nonprofit and volunteer-based. It
now has almost four thousand
members all over Jordan.
Wo m e n w i t h d i s a b i l i t i e s(WwDs) constitute the majorityof its members.
I AM HUMAN aims to provide
WwDs with equal access to all

spheres of community life,
including realization of allsocial, economic, political,
cultural, health and legal rights
under Jordan’s Law on the
R i g h t s o f Pe r s o n s w i t hDisabilities No. 20 of 2017
(DPRL)1 and referenced by theConvention on the Rights of
Pe r s o n s w i t h D i s a b i l i t i e s(CRPD).
It created the Leaders’ Forum toraise awareness of issues
affecting persons withdisabilities (PWDs), promote theconcept of inclusion, secure
medical aid for them, and build
their capacities through training
on outreach, advocacy andclaiming rights at both national
and international levels. It
networks with local andinternational organizations on
empowering and building thecapacities of PWDs. It trains
female and male PWDs on all
matters related to their lives
includingpolitical
empowerment, building
advocacy capacities, selfacceptance and other matters. It
works on combating violenceagainst women with disabilities,
drafting and implementing
plans related to equality, nondiscrimination and economic
empowerment of PWDs. It isalso involved in the revision ofseveral laws on human rights
and PWDs’ rights, including
revision of the Law on the
R i g h t s o f Pe r s o n s w i t h

6Disabilities No. 31 (2007). It
has a team of volunteers fromdifferent parts of the Kingdom
that undertakes these activities.2
I AM HUMAN is implementing
major projects at present
including the following:• Inclusive Decisions for
Equal and Accountable
Society (IDEAS) project thataims to strengthen the roleand capacity of disabilityfocused civil society
organizations in working

Focus group discussion forchildren with disabilities on theprovision of psychological, culturaland social services to them at theSociety for the Preservation of
Petra.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICMARCH 2020 VOLUME 99

with the local governments,
media and PWDs to ensure
better representation of
PWDs in the policymaking
process and better
understanding andprotection of their rights;• Tr a i n i n g f o r s t u d e n t s
participating in the
Jordanian Student
Conference of Speakers of
Parliaments project in King’s
Academy;• Tr a i n i n g W w D s o nleadership skills incooperation with Mobility
International;• “Economic Empowermentof Persons with Disabilities”
project which aims atbuilding the capacity of
PWDs to be able to workand become economicallyindependent;• Project at the Faculty of
Educational Sciences,
Department of Special
Education at the University
of Jordan that presents
success stories to students
in special education class.
The stories discuss thebarriers facing PWDs andthe means to overcome
them including measures tocondition the community
on changes needed tosupport PWDs;• Implementation of “I want
my right to 4%” campaign
for the fulfilment of therights of PWDs and theirempowerment under Article
4C of Law No. 31 of 2007
on employment of PWDs.
The campaign is being
undertaken in Amman, Irbid
and Zarqa, and funded byStars of Hope.

Free drawing hour for members of I AM HUMAN with volunteers at theIslamic Scientific College School.

Community Activities
I AM HUMAN holds
community training andrehabilitation activities. It has
training for parents regardingchildren's behavior, coping
skills and other issues. There arealso training activities formembers of the community onlaws relevant to PWDs and for
those involved in the
rehabilitation of PWDs. It
provides vocational training( s u ch a s o n p hy s i c a l o roccupational therapy) in
coordination with several
institutions.
After the rehabilitation process
regarding education, work orcommunity engagement iscompleted, I AM HUMAN
undertakes follow-up activities
for PWDs to make sure that they
had acquired all the needed
skills and could integrate well insociety.

Asia Yaghi receiving recognition during the 2013 Independence Day
celebration from His Majesty King Abdullah II, King of Jordan,for her work on PWDs.

7

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICI AM HUMAN monitors anddocuments cases of violenceagainst girls and women withdisabilities in homes, schools,
workplaces, institutions, streets
and public places. Trained field
workers visit places where
women and girls withdisabilities live and collect dataon violations or abuses. It also
provides phones to women
victims so they can directly seek
help from the local governmentand civil society organizations.
Psychological counseling is also
provided for these cases. I AM
HUMAN workers follow-up
through home visits to monitor
the condition of the girl victims
and also to communicate
necessary information to thefamily.
I AM HUMAN is a partner
institution in the “three-year
project titled ‘You have a right, achoice…claim it!’, aiming toelevate the response to genderbased violence in the Kingdom
with a specific focus on womenwith disabilities.”3 The project
involves provision of legal andpsychosocial support to WwDs
who are victims of violence. It
includes the upgrade of local
anti-gender-based violence
centers to become “morefriendly and physicallyaccessible” for men and womenwith disabilities who are “moreprone to experiencing
economic and social
discrimination.” It also has ana dvo cacy com ponent that“targets both men and women
to raise awareness on women’s
rights within marriage
contracts.”4

MARCH 2020 VOLUME 99
Challenges, Reflections and the
FutureThe 2020-2024 plan5 of I AM
H U M A N r e fl e c t s t h econtinuation of its activities by
including 1) leadership andempowerment programs for
PWDs; 2) training for membersof the media, government
officials and school educators
on how to present the issues of
PWDs and how to support theirintegration in all spheres of life;3) research and awarenessraising to counter people’s
negative perception, attitudeand behavior toward PWDs; 4)activities that allow PWDs to
express their own views indecision-making processes andparticipate in different
undertakings (such as sports); 5)
practical training on how thecommunity can deal with
PWDs; 6) provision of advice to
PWDs on all issues that theyneed to know including
adjusting to the social
environment, enrolling in
educational programs, obtaining
work, etc.; and 7) implementing
protection programs for PWDs.
I AM HUMAN seeks thetransformation of the PWDs byimproving all aspects of theirlives. It seeks to facilitate thistransformation by building theircapacities without being
burdened by the complicatedsystems of government
agencies, training them on how
to protect their own selves fromviolence, and explaining tothem the importance of living
independently even though they
stay with their family.
I AM HUMAN believes that thewillingness of PWDs to become
independent and engage societyarises from independent living
at home.

8

Asia Abdel Mutaleb Yaghi is the
President of “I AM HUMAN”
Society for Rights of Persons
with Disabilities.
For further information, pleasecontact: Asia Abdel Mutaleb
Yaghi, President,“I AM
HUMAN” Society for Rights of
Pe r s o n s w i t h D i s a b i l i t i e s ,Building no. 15, Al Ordon street
Sub Rashed Baqdones Street,Amman 11121, Jordan; ph(962) 795859211 &
777751425; fax (962)65671615;e-mail:iamahuman.asia@yahoo.com;
http://anainsandpo.org;
Facebook: Human Rights Asia (Iam A Human Dpo).

Endnotes
1 Text of the Law on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities No. 20
for the Year 2017, available at
http://hcd.gov.jo/en/content/lawrights-persons-disabilities-no-20-year-2017.
2 For further discussion on thismatter, see Shadow Report on
the Status of Implementation of
The Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities in Jordan, submitted to the 17th Session of the UN Committee on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, February 2017.
3 M a ra m K aye d , “ R i g h t s o f
women, people with disabilities
at heart of 3-year nationwide
project,” The Jordan Times, 21
November
2019,
www.jordantimes.com/news/loc
al/rights-women-people-disabilit
ies-heart-3-year-nationwide-project.
4 Statements of Asia Yaghi, in Maram Kayed, ibid.
5 These are highlights of the plan
entitled I am a Human Society
for Rights of Persons with Disabilities - 2020-2024.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICMARCH 2020 VOLUME 99

Empowering Communities and Building Resilience
Social Empowerment and Education Programme (SEEP)At a time of rapidly shiftingsocial and economic
situations, there is a growing
realization that Civil Society
Organisations need to play aleading role in identifying anddefining the issues arising out ofthese changes.
The trend of particular concern
is the worsening negative
impact of globalization or“unrestrained capitalism.” Therepercussions on people in thecommunities of this concern
have been unprecedented, withfamilies being displaced andfragmented. Locally (as well as
regionally and globally), there isa g r ow i n g m i g ra t i o n a n demigration patterns ofcommunities, as people areforced to leave their homelands
and islands, families, lands andfarms in search of a better andmore secure life.
The Social Empowerment and
Education Programme (SEEP) isa non-governmentalorganization (NGO) in Fiji thatis founded on social justice andupholds principles that promote
h u m a n d i g n i t y. I t w a s
established as a response to thenational challenges initially as aprogram under the EcumenicalCentre for Research andAdvocacy (ECREA), a nongovernmental organization
established in 1987. SEEP
became an independent NGO
in 2010 with a base in central
Suva.

Social Empowerment & Education Programme (SEEP), Litea Kasatoka.

Why Do We Work in
Communities?
At the national level, the ability
and the power of the state toprotect its own people has
weakened as a result ofinternational pressure, manytimes pushed by corporate
agenda. As a result, the state
has to redefine its role in terms
of priorities, values and policy
orientation.
While globalization pretends tounite people, in reality one ofits most destructive impacts isthe disintegration of social andcultural systems that sustainsocial cohesion and which bindpeople together.
Climate change, which is now a
global issue has particular9effects on the development ofvulnerable island states. With
Fiji taking the lead at the 2017
“Conference of theParties” (COP2017) in Germany,
the Fiji Prime Minister (FrankBainimarama) in his opening
address at the conference
reiterated that Fiji and the restof the Pacific, despite the factthat they have the smallest
carbon-footprint in the world,
would experience the worst
impacts of climate change withrising sea levels that would
eventually sink islands, thehome of thousands of people.
The Fiji government and theWorld Bank put together a“Climate Vulnerability
Assessment” report on how tomake Fiji climate resilient. The

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
one hundred seventy-two-page
report detailed the effects ofclimate change on disaster risk,
p o v e r t y, s e a - l e v e l r i s e ,agriculture, food security as
well as health and tourism inFiji. It also strongly pointed outthat Fiji needs to build socioeconomic resilience, take careof the poor and keep economic
growth inclusive.
The challenge then for nations
including civil society is how tostrengthen relationships
between communities of people
and among people in order tobuild resilience. Resilience
allows communities to pause
and make decisions to retain asense of identity, relevance andpower in these fast-changing
times.
As a direct response to thevulnerability assessment report,
SEEP continues withempowerment and resiliencebuilding work in thecommunities. A core element ofresilience-building is thesustainable use of natural

MARCH 2020 VOLUME 99
resources for future generations.
The work of SEEP eventuallyboils down to having foodsecurity and sustainability in theface of climate change and its
real impacts on communities
and livelihoods.
Community Empowerment
SEEP has been undertaking
empowerment work in ruralcommunities in Fiji since 2010.
SEEP recognizes that there canbe a movement of empowered,resilient and vibrant local
communities which are able toincrease their participation in
F i j i ’s d e m o c r a t i c s p a c e s
employing people-centeredprinciples. By affirming theiridentities with the sustainable
use of their natural resources
e m p l o y i n g“organiculture” (organic
farming) and traditional
knowledge systems, thesecommunities can confidently
engage the global market
economy.

Community mapping, forexample, which is led mymembers of the community,
familiarizes people about thecommunity boundaries andplacements of houses, roads,
schools and health clinics andassists them in visualizing anddefining a starting point forcommunity profiling work.
Violence Against Women
The Office of the Auditor
General of Fiji reported in 2019
that1[T]he percentage of female
victims of sexual offenses
compared to male victims
has been consistently rising
between 2014 and 2017.
The most alarming fact isthat the largest number ofvictims of rape, abduction of
persons under 18 years ofage and indecent assault
w e r e m i n o r g i r l s . Th enumber of cases recorded
for indecently insulting or
annoying any person from2014 to 2017 decreased by
8 0 % . H o w e v e r, t h emaximum number (85%) [ofvictims] for the said crimewere women. The number ofviolence cases reported to
Fiji Police Force is low
compared to other agencies
that collect the same dataon violence against women.

Regarding laws on violenceagainst women (VAW), theOffice of the Auditor Generalexplained that the2Community mapping in Aviuta Gucake.

10[C]hallenges faced withlegislations include victimsofviolence
being
disadvantaged due to thegender neutral tone oflegislation[s],thustheneed to review them in a

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
comprehensive
andsystematic manner given thepassage of time since theirenactment. There is also
inconsistency in theapplicationofthelegislationforviolence
against women by service
providers
due
to
the
p r e s s u r e o n wo m e n t oreconcile with husbands/
partners, women’s lack ofknowledge about rights andthe law and themanipulation of law toundermine women’s rights.
Despite the positive changes
to legislation with the intent
to address the problem ofviolence against women, theuse of legislation by womenthemselves is low due to thelack of awareness, social
stigma and fear of repeatedviolence in their families.

The report also stated that,3
the most alarming reality
is that although womenand girls make up the

MARCH 2020 VOLUME 99“Thursdays in Black” campaign in solidarity with the womenʼs movement on
speaking up on violence against women.

majorityof victims forsexual offenses, there were
processes that were not inaccordance with the relevant
guidance
materials
pertaining to the reductionof crime against WomeninFiji.
These include

SEEP community partners from Lutu, Naitasiri joining the Human Rights
Day celebration, 2019.

11

administrationofthe
National
Domestic
Violence Helpline, Zero
Tolerance Violence Free
Community (ZTVFC) and
Ministry’s co-operation withFiji Police Force.

In consideration of thissituation, SEEP started a“Thursdays in Black” campaign
i n 2 0 1 9 , fi r s t a t t h eorganizational level and then at
the community level. In
communities whose members
have been informed of thecampaign, people are actively
i nvo l ve d n o t o n l y i n t h ecampaign but also in advocating
action against violence anddiscouraging“bystanding” (inaction) when it
comes to addressing violence
within their own communities.
SEEP has black-colored t-shirts
printed with key messages fort h e “ Th u r s d ay s i n B l a ck ”
campaign. The t-shirts are worn
every Thursday by SEEP staff andcommunity partners who havepurchased the t-shirts.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICMARCH 2020 VOLUME 99
called “Wednesdays for West
Papua” against the torture andkillings of the West Papuans.
Research“Wednesdays for West Papua” campaign in solidarity with the West Papuans who suffer from torture and killings.

SEEP has community activities
that inform people about theservices available to victims ofdomestic violence. Photo in theprevious page shows the staff of
SEEP wearing their t-shirts while
standing in front of the street
banner with the anti-VAW
message and contact details on
counselling services and thepolice for those who mightneed the information. The
banner hangs in front of the
SEEP office building to beclearly visible to all passers-by.

SEEP has Community
Facilitation teams in different
areas that hold community
empowerment training on
democracy and the principles ofhuman rights. These teams work
across four provinces, eleven
districts and thirty-eight
communities in some of theremotest places in Fiji.
Human Rights Campaigns
SEEP also organizes campaigns
on other human rights issues
such as the solidarity campaign

12

SEEP undertakes research on
different issues. In 2019, SEEP
launched its research report on
the mining policy in Fiji. The
report entitled Mining Realities:
Assessing State Compliance on
the Rules of Engagement
evaluated the government’s
compliance under theEnvironmental Management Act(2005) in relation to mining.
Research work was conductedin three mining sites in Fiji,
including the Namosi proposed
copper mine in Central Viti
Levu, the Nawailevu Bauxite
Mine in Bua and the Sand Ore
Mining operations in Votu, Ba.
The research findings included
a proposal to strengthen
implementation mechanisms
and processes by approving
authorities. There is also a
proposal to put in place social
safeguard mechanisms forpeople in communities who are
directly impacted by extractive
industries.
(Continued on page 15)

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFICMARCH 2020 VOLUME 99

Discussions on Human Rights Education
Jefferson R. Plantilla

S

everal regional andinternational events
discussed human rights
education in Asia during thesecond half of 2019. The 8th
Asia Pro Bono Conference, held
for the first time in South Asia
(Kathmandu) on 13 – 15
September 2019, pursued theaim of developing “sociallyaware, ethical lawyers and nonlawyers to actively participate,advocate and lead pro bonoi n itia tive s as a me ans tostrengthen access to justice onbehalf of people in fragile orvulnerable situations.” The pro
bono workers do not only
provide legal service but also
participate in “free community
legal education on issues
affecting disadvantaged or
marginalized members of thecommunity or on issues ofpublic interest.”1 The 9th World
Human Rights Cities Forum(WHRCF), an annual event held
since 2011, had special training
sessions, namely, a course on
Local Government and Human
Rights and a course on the Rightto the City for local government
officials. The 19th Informal
Seminar on Human Rights of
the Asia-Europe Meeting( A S E M ) , h e l d i n Tr o m s o(Norway) on 4-6 November
2019, focused on human rights
education.2
Event Discussions
The Informal ASEM Seminar had
a wide-ranging discussion onhuman rights education. Its

preliminary report (Key
Messages report) stresses thefollowing:
Human rights education isessential for creating aculture of human rights —that is, societies in which
each of us is encouraged andempowered to take theinitiative to respect, protect
and promote the full
spectrum of human rights forall. With the current global
backlash against humanrights, human rights
education and training ismore important than ever.
xxx
xxx
xxx
Participants shared views thatin order to build on the
momentum of this global/
regional human rights
education movement it isimportant to invest in thehuman rights education
infrastructure: invest in
strengthening support for
educators, trainers, university
instructors and all thoseothers who facilitate learning
about human rights; invest in
ensuring more coordinationand coherence in legal andp o l i cy f r a m e w o r k s a n d
guidance for actors involvedin human rights education;
i nve s t i n s h a r i n g g o o dpractices and lessons
learned; and, last but notleast, invest in research ande va l u a t i o n i n o r d e r t odevelop educational practiceand create the necessary

13

evidence-base for making thecase for human rights
education. It was noted aswell that democratic space is
crucial for human rights
education and training to be
fully embedded in thesocieties.
In addition to these areas for“investment” to support humanrights education, there should
be “institutional commitment,s u f fi c i e n t f u n d i n g , p r o p e r
m e t h o d o l o g y, l o n g - [ t e r m ]perspective and assessment
plans” at various levels andfields of education.
The discussions in the Informal
ASEM Seminar support the needto build on the existing humanrights education initiatives in
Asia, and also to create
infrastructures that would
enhance the implementation ofthese initiatives including
training, research and exchangeof good practices and learnings.
The Declaration of the World
Human Rights Cities Forum20193 subtitled “Local
G ove r n m e n t s a n d H u m a n
Rights: Reimagining Human
Rights Cities” includes anumber of statements on humanrights education. It includes anover-all view on the need forhuman rights education:
13. Concurring with theview that human rights
education is a prerequisite to
the human rights city, andthat it is necessary to make

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
every person residing in thecity or local community
aware of their rights as wellas their duty to engage inworking towards therealization of the inclusive
city.
This paragraph emphasizes thathuman rights education shouldmake “every person” in the city
aware and engaged in working
for an inclusive city. This idea
hews closely to the point raisedin the 19th Informal ASEM
Seminar that each person
should be “encouraged andempowered to take the initiative
to respect, protect and promote
the full spectrum of humanrights for all.”Th e 8 t h A s i a P r o B o n oConference stressed theimportance of “continuing legal
education” for those providing
pro bono legal services to thepoor and marginalized. The pro
bono legal service should comefrom “a variety of sectors,
including the government,
judicial, legal, private,
academic and civil society.”4
Supporting “access to justice” ofa specific sector in society (thepoor and marginalized) alsomeant empowering them. A
broader definition of pro bonowork includes educational work
(such as the Street Law
program5) that aims to enable
the poor, underprivileged or
marginalized persons orcommunities access justice on
their own. Paralegal training
also features prominently in thisempowerment concept for pro
bono legal service providers asshown in the discussions in the
8th Asia Pro Bono Conference.
I n s u m , t h e t h r e e e ve n t s
consider human rights

MARCH 2020 VOLUME 99
education as an essential tool in
facilitating people’s action inbuilding a society that upholds
human rights.
Follow-up
Recognizing the need for“[c]apacity building for all
actors including the National
Human Rights Institutions, civilsociety organisations,
government agencies, private
sector and media to deliverhuman rights education,” theAsia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)
started planning for a follow-up
project in mid-2020.6
Th i s p r o j e c t s u p p o r t s t h e
I n f o r m a l A S E M S e m i n a r ’s
“overall objective of promoting
mutual understanding andcooperation on human rights
issues at ASEM level,” andtargets “early to mid-level
practitioners from across the
ASEM Partners.”7
The training is meant to8• Support ASEM Partners’
efforts to strengthen theimplementation of national
programs in human rights
education;• Take stock of the progress ofsome human rights
education programs as casestudies and identify bestpractices and challenges
relatedtotheirimplementation;• Build capacity and improve
competency in using existing
practical tools, methods andtechniques to evaluate theimplementation of humanrights education programs;• Facilitate information-sharing
on evidence-based bestpractices in human rights
education.

14

The 2019 WHRCF declaration,on the other hand, includes
support for human rights
education seen in the following
provisions:
3. Promise to empower
local governments topromote human rights asrecommended by the reporton Local Government andHuman Rights (A/HRC/
42/22), starting from theparticipating human rights
cities,xxx
xxx
xxx5) P r o m i s e t o c l o s e l ycollaborate with the UN[United Nations], otherexpert institutions, and local
governments in establishing asystematic and professional
human rights education
program for local
government officials andcitizens for the purpose of[raising] the capacity of
citizens and local
governments in promoting
human rights.
Holding of training activities for
local government officials andother relevant persons was also
discussed as part of the WHRCF
next steps.
These discussions on humanrights education re-emphasize
the importance of training or
any form of empowerment ofp e o p l e wh o c a n p r o m o t ehuman rights on various issues
and at different levels andinstitutions in society.
Jefferson R. Plantilla is the Chief
R e s e a rch e r o f H U R I G H T SOSAKA.
For further information, pleasecontact HURIGHTS OSAKA.

FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC
Endnotes

MARCH 2020 VOLUME 99

1 See Asia Pro Bono Conference,w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / p g /asiaprobono/about/?
ref=page_internal andwww.probonoconference.org/
about/what-is-pro-bono/.
2 ASEM is an “intergovernmental
forum for dialogue andcooperation established in 1996
to deepen relations between
Asia and Europe” and “aims topromote mutual understanding
and co-operation between Asia
and Europe in the area ofpolitical dialogue, particularly
on human rights issues.”
3 Full text of declaration available
a t w w w. w h r c f . o r g / b b s /b o a r d . p h p ?
bo_table=eng_p4_05.

4 See 8th Asia Pro Bono
Conference Declaration, 15
September, 2019, Kathmandu.
5 Further information on theStreet Law program can befound in Street Law website,www.streetlaw.org.
6 “The Seminar was co-organisedby the Asia-Europe Foundation(ASEF), the Raoul Wallenberg
Institute (nominated by the
Swedish Ministry of Foreign
Affairs), the French Ministry for
Europe and Foreign Affairs, thePhilippine Department of
Foreign Affairs, the Swiss
Federal Department of Foreign
Affairs and the Ministry ofForeign Affairs of the Peoples’
Republic of China. The 19th
Seminar was hosted by theRoyal Norwegian Ministry ofForeign Affairs, in partnershipwith the Arctic University of
Norway (UiT).” Text fromwww.asef.org/projects/themes/
governance/4695-19thinformal-asem-seminar-onhuman-rights-#4966asemhrs19-podcast-launchconversations-on-human-rightseducation.
7 See ASEF’s “Call for Proposals Training Design & Delivery on
the Topic of Human Rights
Education & Training May
2020” document.
8 ASEF, ibid.

Empowering Communities andBuilding Resilience

healthy living in thecommunities.

Endnotes(Continued from page 12)

S l o w Fo o d N e t w o r k a n d
Backyard Gardening
SEEP supports the global Slow
Food initiative, and leads thiswork in Fiji. SEEP encourages
the use of traditional practices
and knowledge on foodpreparation and thus promotes

For more information, pleasecontact: The Social
Empowerment & Education
Programme (SEEP), 10 Richards
Road, Domain, Suva, Fiji; ph+679 3100 170; e-mails:
executiveoffice@seep.org.fj,
coordinator@seep.org.fj;
Facebook
page:
www.facebook.com/SEEPFiji/.

Preparing Kovu kai, smoked fresh water mussels in coconut milk, andpalusami for the Slow Food program.

15

1 Report of the Auditor Generalof the Republic of Fiji,
Coordination of Actions on
Elimination of Violence against
Women - Performance Audit,
Parliament of Fiji, Parliamentary
Paper no. 129 of 2019, page
xv. Full report available atwww.parliament.gov.fj/wpcontent/uploads/2019/09/
Report-of-the-Auditor-GeneralE l i m i n a t i o n - o f - Vi o l e n c e Against-Women.pdf.
2 Ibid., page ix.
3 Ibid.

Traditional Fijian earthen oven
(Lovo) laid with baked Palusami

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between Osaka and countries in Asia-Pacific through collection and dissemination of information andmaterials on human rights; and 3) to promote human rights in Asia-Pacific in cooperation with nationaland regional institutions and civil society organizations as well as the United Nations. In order to achievethese goals, HURIGHTS OSAKA has activities such as Information Handling, Research and Study, Education and Training, Publications, and Consultancy Services.
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