A presentation for a workshop with Amnesty touching on different aspects of Human Rights and international development

1. Amnesty
Community
Discussion
Socio-economic and
cultural rights
Development
Women’s
empowerment
An enlightening experience of
pizza and roleplay …

2. Objectives
• a framework for human rights: CEDAW and ICESCR
• how human rights organizations, development agencies and local
groups might approach empowering women differently
• look at the context of Afghanistan
• look at human rights groups work in development
• consider Amnesty’s changed role
• what does a human rights based perspective mean to you

3. After the Taliban fell in 2001..
• Ministry for Women’s Affairs created
• guarantee of equal rights for men and
women in the new constitution
• the international community has been
hesitant to push issues and upset the
fragile government

4. Injustice is the norm..
• growing trend of violence toward women
• numerous attacks on girls’ schools
• many Afghan women are turning to suicide
• many marriages are forced and involve girls
under the age of 16

5. US Looking for an exit strategy
• U.S. announcement it will start drawing down troops in 2011
• Karzai’s new peacemaking organization, National Council for Peace,
Reconciliation and Reintegration of the Taliban
• recent offensive in Marjah, city of Kandahar will follow in Helmand
province
• DDR plan to pay Taliban fighters to give up their struggle
• Women's groups are worried about the prospect of giving any type
of political control to the Taleban.

6. Current situation

7. Nadia’s story

8. CEDAW and ICESCR
A framework for women’s rights

9. ICESCR
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• In force from January 3, 1976
• As of December, 2008, the Covenant had 160 parties.
• Part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
• Monitored by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

10. ICESCR
• Principle of progressive realisation
• Labour rights
• The right to social security
• The right to family life
• The right to an adequate standard of living
• The right to health
• The right to education
• The right to participation in cultural life

11. ICESCR

12. Overview of CEDAW
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women
• Came into force in 1981 / Approved by 180 states
• Internationally accepted principles and measures to achieve equal rights for
women everywhere
• Optional Protocol
• Came into force in 2000 / Approved by 71 states
• Third-party complaints of state violations
• Independent investigations of grave or systematic violations
• Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
• 23 experts charged with oversight of compliance by member states
• Sessions twice annually to consider progress reports by member states
• States file reports once every 4 years
• Authority to investigate violations and make recommendations

13. Scope of CEDAW
• Object: First international convention to define “discrimination against women”
comprehensively in all dimensions (art. 1)
• Domains: “political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field” (art. 1)
• State obligations:
– Public sphere: to embody the principle of equality in “national constitutions or
other appropriate legislation”, “competent national tribunals” (art. 2(a)(c))
– Private sphere: to eliminate discrimination against women “by any person,
organization or enterprise” (art. 2(e))
– Cultural sphere: to “modify the social and cultural patterns…to achieving the
elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices, which are
based on…stereotyped roles for men and women” (art. 5(a))
• Reservations:
– 60 states continue to have reservations to the Convention

14. CEDAW

15. Role play overview