OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ACT … · 2016-12-16 · tecting human rights by encouraging people at the grass-roots level to promote human rights. At the same

UNITED NATIONSOFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

UNITED NATIONS


ACT PROJECTAssisting Communities Together

UNITED NATIONS



UNITED NATIONS

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NOTE: The designation employed and the presentation of the material inthis publication do not imply the expression of any opinionwhatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nationsconcerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, orof its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers orboundaries.

Material contained in this publication may be freely quoted orreprinted, provided credit is given and a copy of the publicationcontaining the reprinted material is sent to the Office of the UnitedNations High Commissioner for Human Rights, United Nations,1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland.

Geneva, March 2002

TABLE OF CONTENT

Foreword by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights ................3

The ACT (Assisting Communities Together) Project from 1998 to 2000................................5

Activities supported under the Project ...............6• Working with the media ....................................6• Organizing cultural events.................................7• Monitoring local conditions ...............................9• Creating information centres ............................10• Conducting awareness campaigns......................11• Translating and disseminating

human rights documents .....................................12• Organizing workshops,

training courses and seminars ..........................14• Producing educational materials .......................17• Working in schools .........................................18

Moving forward...............................................22

Facts and Figures............................................23

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FOREWORD

It is within our own communities that we can eachdo our part to make the human rights message known andunderstood. Activities carried out by local human rights andcommunity-based organizations in all parts of the worldhave shown the power of local commitment and action.International organizations could never replace the remark-able efforts of civil society, but they can encourage andsupport them.

In 1998, my Office launched the ACT Project(Assisting Communities Together), in partnership with theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to helpempower local communities to promote and protect humanrights by providing financial support to relevant projects.The ACT grants, small in scale, have proved to have a greatimpact. Our partners who received the grants – local non-governmental organizations, schools, professional groups,women’s organizations, individuals – have reported on ini-tiatives undertaken with great dedication and powerfulimagination and on the usefulness of well-oriented and tai-lored projects. UN colleagues in the field have reported thatthe ACT Project has facilitated dialogue between civil soci-ety and local/national authorities, thanks to the visibilityprovided to civil society’s work through UN support. Thisbrochure provides interesting examples of the ACT Projectin action.

The ACT Project is made possible thanks to con-tributions received from governments and from the privatesector. My Office deeply appreciates this support and paystribute to donors for their confidence. The ACT Project alsorelies on close cooperation at the field level between allUnited Nations partners involved in its implementation: thenetwork of UNDP Resident Representatives, the local pres-ences of my Office, as well as missions fielded by the

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Department of Political Affairs and by the Department ofPeacekeeping Operations. We warmly thank them all fortheir contributions and efforts to make the ACT Projecthappen.

My Office intends to expand the ACT Project in theyears to come as a practical contribution to the UN Decadefor Human Rights Education (1995-2004). We look forwardto strengthening cooperation with local partners to promotehuman rights in people’s daily life.

Mary Robinson

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

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The ACT (Assisting CommunitiesTogether) Project from 1998 to2000

Established in 1998 to commemorate the fiftieth anniver-sary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ACT(Assisting Communities Together) Project has sup-ported individuals, institutions and NGOs that undertakehuman rights activities in local communities by providingmicro-grants of up to US$3,000. The Project was launchedby the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner forHuman Rights (OHCHR) and is implemented in cooperationwith the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The ACT Project reinforces the role of civil society in pro-tecting human rights by encouraging people at the grass-roots level to promote human rights. At the same time, theProject strengthens partnerships between the UnitedNations and local human rights constituencies.

During the pilot phase of the ACT Project (1998-1999),which was funded by voluntary contributions (fromAustralia, Denmark and Norway) commemorating the fifti-eth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of HumanRights, OHCHR Headquarters received over 300 applica-tions through selected UNDP Resident Representatives andOHCHR field offices. Sixty-nine grants, totalling approxi-mately US$130,000, were awarded in 24 countries.

Given the positive feedback received for this pilot phase,in November 1999 OHCHR launched a second phase(1999-2000), supported by a contribution of US$250,000from the United Nations Foundation. The second phase ofthe ACT Project incorporated lessons learned from theearlier initiative: the Project management, for example,was decentralized, making it more responsive and effi-cient in the field. OHCHR field offices and UNDP countryoffices in 16 selected countries received more than 500

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“The ACT Project, areally fruitful initiative,brought home to us thelevel of ignorance of thepopulation at thegrassroots level abouthuman rights-relatedissues, and the amount ofwork that still has to bedone in the area ofpromotion and protectionof human rights.”UNDP ResidentRepresentative in Togo,where five projectswere funded in 2000.

“It is striking to seehow much you can dowith little money! Yougive it to the right,enthusiastic people onthe ground and they dowonders with it! […]Very little seed moneymight often be exactlywhat it takes to move anidea from utopia to realaction. In many cases, itis also of great help tohave the blue UN logobackstopping a projectproposal.”UNDP Jordan.

“Such small-fundedprojects are very flexibleand effective. They raisethe overall image andcapacity of the nationalNGOs, as well as theirparticipation in social andpolitical life in thecountry.”UNDP ResidentRepresentative inGeorgia, where threeprojects were funded in1998.

applications for grants, and local ACT Task Forces, com-posed of local offices of UN agencies and other partners,selected 97 projects to be supported under the secondphase of the Project.

Activities supported under the Project

The activities supported under the two phases of the ACTProject were mostly aimed at promoting either humanrights in general or the rights of specific populations (chil-dren, women, elderly persons, people living with HIV/AIDS).More than 10,000 persons benefited directly, and manymore indirectly, through the 166 projects that receivedgrants.

• Working with the media

In March 2000, the Mongolian NGO Globe Internationalorganized a seminar on human rights in Ulanbaatar,Mongolia, for six women journalists, each of whom was onthe staff of one of the nation’s daily newspapers. Inspiredby the seminar, and with assistance from two specializedlawyers, the journalists began writing weekly columns fortheir newspapers focusing on women’s and children’srights. Their articles reached more than 500,000 readers. Acompilation of the articles, together with educational mate-rials on women’s and children’s rights, was published inMay 2000.

In Georgia, the television station Studio RE organized a TVtalk show focusing on violations of human rights. Twenty-six people, including representatives of the GeorgianGovernment, local NGOs and other citizens, participatedin the discussion, which was broadcast live in October2000.

“The trained journalistsnow have a goodknowledge of children’sand women’s basic rightsand they can address theseissues in future articles.Moreover, UNICEF reactedpositively to the projectand agreed to support thetrained journalists throughfurther training andinternational meetings.”(Comment from GlobeInternational, Mongolia)

“Our TV show informedGeorgians of the humanrights situation in thecountry. Governmentauthorities acknowledgedthe problems. We hopethat the Georgianpopulation will thereforebe more sensitized to thehuman rights violations.”(Comment from StudioRE, Georgia)

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The General Union of Disabled Palestinians, based in Gaza inthe Occupied Palestinian Territory, conducted a sensitiza-tion campaign on the rights of disabled persons through twotelevision talk shows broadcast in December 2000 andJanuary 2001. Topics of discussion included the right of peo-ple with disabilities to an accessible environment, disabledwomen’s right to work, disabled children’s right to education,and the right of the hearing impaired to have access to asign-language interpreter in major public institutions.

• Organizing cultural events

Amis des Enfants, an NGO active in Togo, created dramasthat depicted exploitation of children in the workplace, vio-lence against children, trafficking in children, and the infe-rior status of girls. The plays were performed in schools inthe remote Tsevie-Davie area, in the local Ewe language, inApril 2000. While the NGO expected an audience of about400 children, some 1,800 attended the performances. Tothe surprise of the organizers, the children were accompa-nied by their parents, who showed a keen interest in theissues raised in the plays. The enthusiastic receptionprompted the authorities and the local NGO to scheduleanother performance of the plays on 16 June 2000, the Dayof the African Child.

“We raised awarenessabout people withdisabilities and weeducated decision-makersabout specific rights ofthe disabled. We alsomotivated media facilitiesto pay more attention tothe disabled. Above all,we offered a platform forpeople with disabilities tospeak up about theirrights.”(Comment from theGeneral Union ofDisabled Palestinians,Occupied PalestinianTerritory)

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In the Philippines, the Stairway Foundation organized afive-day workshop on children’s rights for former Manilastreet children. The May 1999 event included sportingcompetitions, songs and plays that addressed such issuesas health care, relationships with parents, the structure ofthe Government, and how to talk with the authorities.Thirty-two children participated in the activities, whichwere designed to build on the experience and knowledgethe children had acquired in the streets and to use the chil-dren’s innate talents and skills to highlight the importantpoints made in each session. The grant recipient reportsthat the children clearly appreciated the opportunity toexpress and share the many thoughts and feelings theyhad previously kept to themselves.

The Educational Theatre Association, based in Quezon City,Philippines, created and performed a play to raise aware-ness about domestic violence against women. More than1,000 persons attended performances held throughout thecountry during 1998 and 1999. The play and the issues itraised were publicized in several local newspapers.

“Empowering childrenas ‘paralegals’ in thestreets, especially thosewho have travelled thesame roads as abusedminors, vagabonds,junkies, sex workers andyouth offenders, isprobably one of the bestways we can providethem with the legaleducation they greatlyneed today.”(Comment from theStairway Foundation,Philippines)

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• Monitoring local conditions

During spring 2000, Liberia Prison Watch visited the Bongand Margibi counties of Liberia to monitor the humanrights situation in prisons and raise awareness about therights of prisoners and detainees among rural communitydwellers and members of the criminal justice system. Thegroup met with members of the courts and security forcesand with county officials to discuss the rights of detainees,including the right to a fair trial, to legal counsel and not tosuffer torture. The grant recipient reports that, as a result ofthe visits, detainees’ food rations improved in quality andquantity, cooperation with the International Committee ofthe Red Cross was strengthened, proper record systemswere established, and the courts began working to reducethe problem of prolonged detention and overcrowding.

In Yugoslavia, the Serbian Democratic Forum providedlegal aid and services to refugees in Belgrade, especiallyadvice on property rights, to facilitate their return toCroatia. Eight hundred persons benefited from the project;200 of them were able to return to their country of origin.

A Malawi journalist, Linje Patrick Manyozo, produced atelevision documentary on child labour in the Thyolo tea

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and coffee plantations. Manyozo spent 16 days in the fieldgathering information on the causes and consequences ofchild labour and its impact on the economy, on publichealth and on the children themselves. The documentary,made in 2000, reveals the harsh working conditions thechildren have to endure and highlights the link betweenthe AIDS pandemic and child labour: since many adultshave died of AIDS, children have had to go to work to sup-port themselves. Manyozo remains in contact with policy-makers and law enforcement officials to keep track of anyprogress made in eradicating the problem.

From November 2000 to February 2001, the Labour RightsDevelopment Organization in Cambodia organized humanrights and labour law training sessions for 62 workers,mainly women, from three factories in Phnom Penh.Despite the abysmal working conditions in these factoriesand the fact that one-third of the workers are illiterate, theNGO was not only able to offer training in human rights lawand negotiating skills but, as a result of the sessions, inde-pendent trade unions were established in two of the threefactories visited.

• Creating information centres

Staff of the elementary school Pere Tosev, in the multi-eth-nic village of Dupjacani in the former Yugoslav Republicof Macedonia, set up a “human rights corner” in theschool library. The corner was stocked with human rightspublications and books, and teachers initiated varioushuman rights-related activities, such as an essay conteston the theme “the rights of the child”, readings from theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights, and quizzes.

In 1999, the NGO Association of Human Rights andCitizens’ Freedom in Croatia established a human rightsinformation centre in the municipality of Srb (Zadar county).The centre, which mainly targets returnees, provides infor-

“The response to thesehuman rights activitieswas overwhelming. Theinterest and the awarenessof human rights raisedamong the children aswell as among the school’steachers were enormousand positive.”(Comment from OHCHR,the former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia)

“The main measure ofthe impact of the projectis that, as one of thereturnees said, ‘finallysomeone stood up for thepersons from the Srbmunicipality’.”(Comment from OHCHR,Croatia)

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mation about returnees’ rights, lobbies the authorities, andraises awareness about the living conditions and propertyrights of returnees. The NGO has also distributed basic foodand clothing supplies, donated by citizens of Istra County,to 36 families, and has provided legal assistance to 63 indi-viduals on cases related to returnees’ rights.

The public library in Prijepolje, an area of Yugoslavia that ispredominantly Muslim, purchased books on human rightsissues, particularly on women’s and children’s rights.Library users, who are mostly women and children, saidthat were it not for the ACT Project, they would never havelearned about human rights and how to protect those rights.

In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, theAssociation for Citizens’ Tolerance and Cooperation ofCitizens of the City of Prilep set up a local office where cit-izens can report human rights abuses. The Association alsoconducted a series of public awareness and educationcampaigns to promote the Convention on the Rights of theChild.

• Conducting awareness campaigns

On the fiftieth birthday of the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights (UDHR), the Ad Hoc Alliance for theCelebration of the 50th Anniversary of the UDHR, anumbrella group in Yugoslavia composed of 47 NGOs, dis-tributed human rights promotional materials, such asleaflets on the UDHR, lighters, stickers, and badges witharticles of the UDHR printed on them, to promote publicawareness of human rights. More than 500 persons helpeddistribute the materials in several towns across the coun-try. Festivities celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of theDeclaration, including the performance of a play thataddressed such issues as freedom of expression and free-dom of thought, and rock concerts attended by dozens ofteenagers, were held in Atezjez.

“In this small andremote community, bookshave a special value.Public education andhealth facilities are not apriority here. By givingfunds to this library weare demonstrating ourcommitment to work withmunicipalities.”(Comment from OHCHR,Yugoslavia)

“The general populationwelcomed the materialsand asked questionsabout human rightsviolations and whatprocedures were in placeto ensure that their rightswere respected.”(Comment from the AdHoc Alliance for theCelebration of the 50thAnniversary of theUDHR, Yugoslavia)

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In Nis, Yugoslavia, the Society for Roma Culture andEducation distributed 1,000 copies of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights in the Roma language andorganized an open discussion on the theme “Roma RightsAre Human Rights”.

The Nkhomano Centre for Development in Malawilaunched a campaign in the Ndirande Township, in the cityof Blantyre, to raise awareness of women’s and children’srights. By doing so, the Centre hoped to change the atti-tudes that permit violence against these groups. TheCentre trained six community-based human rights educa-tors and produced and distributed leaflets on the subject.

• Translating and disseminatinghuman rights documents

In Bujumbura, Burundi, Arcade Bacanamwo, a universityteacher, had the Universal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR) translated into the Kirundi language and dissemi-nated the document among women living in camps for dis-placed persons. Audiocassettes of the UDHR were also pro-duced and distributed, and a series of human rightsdiscussions were organized in the camps. Some 200women participated in the talks. Some of the trainedwomen were designated as human rights focal points andhave been reporting periodically to the director of the campon human rights abuses or protection needs.

In Malawi, Ali K. Phiri, a teacher with extensive experiencein human rights education in prisons, schools and remotecommunities, translated the Universal Declaration of HumanRights (UDHR) and the Constitution of the Republic ofMalawi into Yao. The Yao people are the third largest tribalgroup in the country and are active in the political life oftheir communities. Phiri produced 1,500 booklets contain-ing the translated UDHR text and 500 copies of the Bill ofRights. He distributed the booklets in various villages and

“Women responded bysaying that they wishedthey had been madeaware of their rights,especially property rights,earlier. We are nowreceiving many phonecalls from the community,especially children, whowould like to know moreon the issuesaddressed.” (Commentfrom the NkhomanoCentre for Development,Malawi)

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held discussions with villagers about human rights in gen-eral, and how they can secure their own rights in particular.

In the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Save theChildren of Macedonia translated a simplified version of theConvention on the Rights of the Child into Macedonian. Thedocument was then disseminated among 220 children livingin three orphanages. Lectures and discussions with a repre-sentative of the Helsinki Committee on Human Rights in theRepublic of Macedonia were organized for the children. TheNGO also held an art contest on the theme of human rights.The winning picture was printed on T-shirts and distributedto all the participants. For most of the children involved, thiswas the first time they had heard about human rights.

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The Youth Watch Society in Mzuzu, Malawi, translated theBill of Rights of the Constitution of Malawi and theConvention on the Rights of the Child into the Tumbuka lan-guage and published a brochure on children’s rights. All ofthese materials were distributed to various human rightsNGOs, libraries, schools, religious institutions and to theTumbuka people in the north of the country. The grantrecipient reported that most of the people to whom thematerials were distributed had never heard about humanrights before; many were particularly interested in learningabout children’s rights.

• Organizing workshops, trainingcourses and seminars

The Association for Peace and Development of Bukeye,Burundi, organized a seminar entitled “Respect for others’rights is respect for my rights”, which was attended by 50men and women, aged 16 to 30. Discussions among theparticipants, who were of various ethnic origins, led toadoption of common views on human rights issues. Theseminar was followed by a football competition in whicheach participant won a prize. The success of the competi-tion prompted organizers to hold other matches. NGO rep-resentatives reported that “people [hiding in the forestbecause of the fighting] were coming from the Kiriba forestby the hundreds” to attend the matches – and to learnmore about human rights.

The Mizan Law Group for Human Rights organized a work-shop in December 1998 in Amman, Jordan. Seventy-fourchildren and 36 adults attended the workshop, entitled“Child labour: The actual reasons and solution as seen byworking children”. The Minister for Social Development,who also attended the workshop, committed theGovernment to finding a way to finance school fees andpocket money for working children in Jordan who were notenrolled in school. As a direct result of the workshop, a

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committee called “Children for Children’s Rights”, wasestablished to ensure that applicants for the proposedfinancial assistance would receive help in meeting admin-istrative requirements.

In Nepal, the Village Women Consciousness Centre, anNGO based in the Sindhuli district, organized 18 one-dayworkshops on children’s rights, entitlements and welfarein each of the remote villages in northern Sindhuli. About900 people, including teenagers and local elected officials,participated in the discussions. The recommendations thatemerged from the workshops included: inheritance rightsshould apply equally to girls and boys; girls should receivethe same education as boys; and wives should participatein economic decisions that affect the family and thehousehold.

In early 2000, the Comité Local de Derechos Humanostrained 46 internally displaced female heads-of-householdsin the Guaduas and Carretera regions of Colombia on basichuman rights issues. The training sessions, which coveredsuch topics as domestic violence, sexual harassment, themain international human rights treaties and Colombianconstitutional law, were held in four one-day workshops.The women’s own experience formed the basis of the dis-cussions.

The Asociación de Salud Integral of Guatemala organizedinteractive workshops for more than 200 female sex workerson various human rights issues, especially violence andHIV/AIDS. The workshops were held during summer 2000 inLa Sala, a shelter for prostitutes, located in a poor district ofGuatemala City. The grant recipient established a cooperativerelationship with the national women’s rights institution toraise awareness among female sex workers about access torescue shelters, how to claim violations of their basic rights,and how to prevent such violations.

In Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Amigos SiempreAmigos organized a discussion forum on the human

“Since the project wascarried out, more womencome to La Sala toenquire about their rightsand the rights of theirchildren. This will push usto continue andstrengthen thecooperation with otherconstituencies working inthe same area.”(Comment from theAsociación de SaludIntegral, Guatemala)

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rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. The Joint UnitedNations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) also providedfunding for the February 1999 event, which attracted 78participants, including local human rights and HIV/AIDSNGOs, government officials, UN representatives and indi-viduals living with HIV/AIDS. In a post-forum workshop,people living with HIV/AIDS were given information abouttheir rights.

The Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo Social organizeda seminar on human rights and health in December 1998in Montevideo, Uruguay. More than 100 people, mainlyfrom the social service and health fields, participated in theseminar, which focused on discrimination in access tohealth care, particularly against people living with HIV/AIDSand homeless children. Following the seminar, the grantrecipient published and disseminated an outline of the pro-posals developed during the meeting and other informationrelated to violations of the right to health.

The Initiative de Développement de l’EntreprenariatFéminin, based in Gombé, Democratic Republic of theCongo, conducted a sensitization campaign on humanrights in the suburbs of Kinshasa. The campaign, held inspring 2000 and conducted in the Lingala language,

“The project wassuccessful in raisingawareness. A committeewas formed to collectinformation on cases ofhuman rights violationsof people living withHIV/AIDS. The outcomewas presented to theSupreme Court in March1999.”(Comment from UNDPDominican Republic)

“The participation oflocal media helped toconvey to the widerpublic that ‘health is aright for everybody’.”(Comment from theInstituto deInvestigación yDesarrollo Social,Uruguay)

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focused on women’s rights. The grant recipient organized a15-day training session for women, during which videos onhuman rights were shown and discussed, and variousprinted materials, including pictures illustrating variousarticles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, T-shirts and leaflets, were distributed. Some materials hadbeen translated into local languages. More than 200women benefited directly from the campaign. The use ofpictures was essential to the campaign, as most of thebeneficiaries were illiterate.

• Producing educational materials

The Organización Defensa de los Niños Internacional in ElSalvador produced audiocassettes of ten fairy tales, eachof which illustrated a right of children. Under the supervi-sion of the NGO, children from a poor district of SanSalvador wrote the texts and performed the tales. The cas-settes were distributed in schools in June 2000 and pro-moted on radio stations through a communications net-work that focuses on children’s issues.

In Durban, South Africa, the Children’s Rights Centreproduced a poster kit that included two full-colour

“The project allowed usto note the high level ofawareness of their basicrights among children.They have a clearunderstanding of thesituations in which theirrights are violated. In thiscontext, the fairy talesproduced tell much abouttheir reality. Accordingly,raising awareness ofchildren’s rights amongadults should beconsidered as apriority.”(Comment from theOrganización Defensa delos Niños Internacional,El Salvador)

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posters, in English and Zulu, entitled “Human RightsBegin with Children’s Rights”. The kit also contained apamphlet on the rights of the child, which included prac-tical activities for adults, children and teenagers. Theposter kits were distributed in December 1998 to 300organizations and institutions, including 100 librariesthroughout KwaZulu-Natal, 100 primary schools and 40rural development organizations. Another 60 kits weregiven to member and partner organizations that work onrelated issues, such as child health and education, chil-dren with disabilities, children in the legal and penal sys-tems, child labour and street children.

The Green Peace Association in Gaza, OccupiedPalestinian Territory, produced a small book on theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights in Arabic, whichwas distributed to 500 pupils, aged 8 to 12, in a refugeecamp in Deir el-Balah (Gaza). The group also organizedcommunity workshops and seminars on the right to apeaceful and clean environment, and produced promo-tional materials, such as posters and leaflets, for distri-bution in schools. The posters were reproductions of fivedrawings that had been selected through anAssociation-organized art competition on the themes ofliving in a safe and clean environment and protectingnature. Thirty students participated in the competition.

In Mongolia, the Liberal Women’s Brain Pool developed a“Human Rights Teaching Manual”, written in Mongolian,that focuses on women’s rights. One thousand copies wereproduced and distributed to NGOs and human rightsactivists/teachers.

• Working in schools

In Pretoria, South Africa, the South African Council forEnglish Education held a debating tournament in eight highschools that featured rounds focusing on human rights and

“The network ofdistribution that wasdeveloped for the projectwill continue for futureprojects. We feel that,particularly for remoteschools, the library as acentral learning resourceis vital. We hope that insome small way we havestrengthened this.”(Comment from theChildren’s RightsCentre, South Africa)

“For most of thechildren involved, thiswas the first opportunityto learn about humanrights and theenvironment in a simplelanguage. It was also achance for them toexpress their own ideason how to protect theenvironment.”(Comment from theGreen PeaceAssociation, OccupiedPalestinian Territory)

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the environment and protecting human rights in a demo-cratic government. The 1998 tournament drew about 100students and elicited such an enthusiastic response that apermanent Debating League was created.

The NGO Women in Law and Development in Africa, basedin Manzini, Swaziland, organized school events on 10December 1998 to mark Human Rights Day and to pro-mote a culture of respect for human rights. Pupils fromfour rural-based schools, representing each of the fourregions of the country, performed plays and music andread poetry. A parade was organized along the mainstreets of the city of Mbabane and students who partici-pated wore brightly coloured T-shirts and carried bannersand posters. Students were given copies of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights and other materials and wereasked to return to their schools to teach others abouthuman rights.

The Culture and Free Thought Association of Gaza,Occupied Palestinian Territory, organized eight work-shops and an art exhibition on children’s and women’srights in remote areas of the region between March andNovember 2000. Some 350 children, aged 6 to 14, attendedthe workshops, which included dramas and discussionsabout human rights in an Islamic context. Two additional

“The full objectives weremet and even more: aDebating League wasestablished and anothertournament took placeduring a national event in2000.”(Comment from theSouth African Councilfor English Education,South Africa)

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workshops on women’s rights and Islam were offered tomore than 60 women during the same period.

The Committee for Human Rights, based in Leskovac,Yugoslavia, organized an essay contest entitled “HumanRights are My Rights” for pupils between the ages of 11and 15 in 80 schools in the region . Ten young essayistsreceived awards for their work and the winning essayswere published in English and Serbian and distributed tothe schools and libraries of the region.

Women Feeling Unity Forum, an NGO based in theNawalparasi district of Nepal, ran a quiz and essay com-petition on human rights in 18 secondary schools through-out the district. The group also organized a district-levelworkshop on “Human Rights and Women” during whichissues such as property rights, the legalization of abortion,gender equity and preferences for women in education,were discussed. The workshop attracted more than 120participants from around the district.

Rohit Kumar Gurung, a teacher from the Okhaldhunga dis-trict of Nepal, visited 15 high schools in his remote districtand organized human rights classes for senior studentsand teachers. Since there are no roads or electricity in thedistrict, Gurung travelled extensively on foot throughout the

“The NGO wasestablished in August1998 and the grantreceived from the ACTProject helped them togain confidence andrecognition in theircommunity.”(Comment from OHCHR,Yugoslavia)

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area, raising awareness about human rights at marketplaces and convening a major district-level workshop forlocal officials, NGO representatives and the public.

In the district of Zomba, in Malawi, Youth Net andCounseling trained teachers and pupils in children’s rightsand related provisions of the national Constitution. Trainingalso included discussions about sexual relations betweenteachers and pupils, punishment in schools, cultural rites,and reproductive rights, including the rights of individualswith HIV/AIDS. The group asked schools in the district to setup human rights youth committees to discuss related prob-lems and to designate focal points to deal with any allega-tions of rights violations.

In 1998, the Active Youth Initiative for Social Enhancementlaunched a human rights awareness programme in theThyolo District of Malawi. A human rights club was set upin each of 13 schools in the district, and a district-wideworkshop, organized by the group for 23 teachers and stu-dents from post-primary schools, covered such topics ashuman rights and responsibilities of citizens, national andinternational human rights instruments, children’s andyoung people’s rights and responsibilities, women’s rightsand gender issues, rights of people with disabilities,democracy, and government institutions.

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Moving forward

The United Nations General Assembly unanimously wel-comed OHCHR’s ACT Project and asked the United NationsHigh Commissioner for Human Rights to continue theProject as a way of supporting NGO-run human rights edu-cation activities (General Assembly resolution 56/167 of 19December 2001). The level of interest and excitement cre-ated by the Project among local communities is reflected inthe large number of individuals, groups and NGOs applyingfor grants. The ACT Project has clearly demonstrated that ittakes only small amounts of money to make a big differ-ence in promoting human rights.

In this context, OHCHR, together with UNDP, has decided tolaunch the Third Phase of the ACT Project, which will becharacterized by increased cooperation between OHCHRand UNDP at field level through the allocation of additionalfunds on the part of UNDP Country Offices and DPA mis-sions. The Third Phase will therefore expand the ACTProject, involving countries that did not participate in theprevious phases.

If you wish to make a donation to the ACT Project,please contact:

Resource Mobilization TeamOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsPalais des NationsCH - 1211 Geneva 10Fax: +41 22 917 90 04

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FACTS AND FIGURES

I. FUNDING

Source of funding: Amount (in US$):

First Phase• Australia 36,092.00• Denmark 200,000.00• Norway 65,259.44

——————301,351.44

Second Phase• United Nations Foundation 250,000.00• General Fund for OHCHR Activities 35,000.00• Voluntary Fund

for Technical Cooperation 24,500.00——————

309,500.00

The remaining balance has been allocated to the ThirdPhase of the ACT Project and to the production of thisbrochure.

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II. DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS BY COUNTRYAND AMOUNT DISBURSED

• First Phase (69 supported activities in 24 countries)

Country Number Total amount of grants (in US$)

Bangladesh 3 6,000

Benin 2 3,816

Burundi 3 5,950

Cameroon 2 3,760

Colombia 1 2,000

Croatia 3 5,900

Dominican Republic 1 2,000

El Salvador 2 3,985

Georgia 3 5,940

Guatemala 1 1,595

Jordan 2 4,000

Malawi 7 10,650

Mongolia 3 5,493

Nepal 4 8,000

Philippines 2 4,000

Republic of Moldova 4 7,500

Rwanda 1 2,000

Sierra Leone 4 8,000

South Africa 5 9,500

Swaziland 1 2,000

The former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia 3 5,690

Uruguay 1 2,000

Venezuela 2 4,000

Yugoslavia 9 9,820

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• Second Phase (97 activities supported in 16 countries)

Country Number Total amount of grants (in US$)

Azerbaijan 4 11,990

Burundi 5 14,100

Cambodia 5 15,000

Colombia 5 14,800

Croatia 5 14,700

Democratic Republic of the Congo 5 14,730

El Salvador 5 14,800

Georgia (Abkhazia) 7 15,090

Guatemala 5 15,000

Liberia 7 15,000

Malawi 5 14,600

Mongolia 5 14,700

Occupied Palestinian Territory 5 15,000

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 5 15,000

Togo 5 14,000

Yugoslavia 19 15,000

• 29

For further information, please contact:

ACT ProjectOffice of the United Nations

High Commissioner for Human RightsPalais des Nations

CH - 1211 Geneva 10, SwitzerlandFax: +41 22 917 90 03

E-mail: [email protected]

• 30

Africa Asia Europe LatinAmerica

and the Caribbean

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Number of supported activities by region

Printing: ATAR Roto Presse SA


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OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ACT … · 2016-12-16 · tecting human rights by encouraging people at the grass-roots level to promote human rights. At the same

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