Knocking at the door, THE RIGHT to not be poor

Perhaps, in order to actually improve the state of human rights around the world, the term has to be used so excessively that its meaning becomes clearer for those who shun the concept as too ideological – or too “real”.

 

This was an idea raised at a recent workshop held by the Global Network for Rights and Development. Canadian freelance journalist Jess Freeston said some people use the term to refer to the actual people who try to foster rights. 

“Human rights came and knocked at my door,” was an example he cited. When that happens, the people trying to make a difference in the world know they’re getting nowhere. 

Obviously there are people who misinterpret the term and are simply turned off by all the rhetoric. Freeston said he usually just says “rights” rather than “human rights” – just to keep communications simple with those he’s trying to help. Certainly society knew the notion of natural (or “God-given”) rights long before there was a Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

What that document added to the struggle for equality was a formal consensus among nations that everyone must be treated the same, regardless of age, gender, race or religion.

Rights are ours by birth, and efforts to make them universal are always a noble undertaking – unless they are undermined by political currents. Using the term “human rights” for political gain is in itself an abuse against those rights, as we’ve witnessed in Thailand and around the world. Evoking human rights in the wrong context tends to cause more problems than it solves.

The global campaign against child labour should be a fine example of activist success in enshrining and protecting a natural right. Today no Convention on the Rights of the Child is necessary to make most people understand that kids should be in schools, not in sweatshops or factories. There is no room for argument. Activists have largely moved on to other rights. And yet there are still an estimated 168 million child labourers around the world. 

So, on the World Day Against Child Labour, the International Labour Organisation yesterday announced a fresh campaign, complete with a theme song of touching lyrics, “Till Everyone Can See”, recorded by Mike Einziger and Ann Marie Simpson and featuring Pharrell, Hans Zimmer and Travis Barker. Toon Bodyslam and Slot Machine have teamed up for the Thai version.

Sometimes it is the subtler messages that are best for grabbing the public’s attention. 

Data overload – too many statistics – can deaden the best of intentions. This song reaches the heart and will hopefully motivate people to actively support the fight against child labour. The softer approach reminds me of how powerful the various kinds of media can be. At the workshop I watched a dynamite film, “I’m Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced”, the true story of a girl in Yemen who was forced into marriage as a child. 

This is a great way to raise awareness and get people engaged in the campaign. 

The real-life Najoom became the poster girl for an anti-child-bride crusade and a book about her is an international best-seller.

The struggle for political rights is necessary and worthy, and the contentious issues are always a draw for the news media. But, while we agonise over greater freedom and political rights, devoting countless hours to the cause, millions of people are suffering for lack of much more basic rights. The multiple campaigns for various rights are out of balance. 

“Poverty, to me, is the most serious form of human-rights violation,” Arne Fjortoft of Worldview International said at the seminar. He’s currently helping with agricultural projects in Myanmar.