“Read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and make a personal pledge to live by its principles.” That’s what former President Mary Robinson told over 600 leaders of philanthropic foundations, corporate funders and NGOs who attended this year’s general assembly of the European Foundation Centre (EFC) in Istanbul recently.
The EFC is the leading association of foundations operating in Europe, but its members come from all parts of the globe, and many of the major US foundations are stalwart supporters.
In her keynote address to the conference, Mary Robinson encouraged foundations to give greater priority to the promotion of international human rights standards. “The sad reality is that today the view that governments will ultimately rule by power and in their own interest, rather than by law and in accordance with international standards has been strengthened significantly,” she said. “We must continue to challenge this approach and do everything possible to maintain the integrity of international human rights and humanitarian law norms in the light of heightened security tensions.”
According to her, the future of human rights depends on the capacity of civil society groups to access and analyse information and hold their governments to account. Noting the link between human rights and poverty, the former UN Commissioner for Human Rights said that discrimination in the workplace and gender based violence both contribute to poverty. The greater the gender equity, the lower the incidence of poverty. She pointed to Unescap’s 2007 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific States, which shows that the region is losing up to $47bn every year because of restrictions on women’s access to employment opportunities.
To mark the 60th anniversary of the International Declaration of Human Rights this year, Nelson Mandela’s Elders group – of which Robinson is a member – recently launched the Every Human Has Rights Campaign, in conjunction with a number of NGOs. The campaign is designed to get us all thinking about human rights and promoting the values of the Declaration (to find out more, visit www.everyhumanhasrights.org)
If there’s a view that foundations and NGOs are not doing enough to foster the notion of human rights, there is also a view that they could do a lot more to combat climate change. In the USA, only five per cent of private philanthropic investment is spent on environmental issues. The Zurich-based Oak Foundation has estimated that an extra $600m is needed to tackle the issue of global warming. An amount far less, they say, than current philanthropic investment in other areas – the arts and culture, for example.
According to the European Climate Foundation, which is the first philanthropic organisation solely dedicated to reducing CO2 emissions in Europe, we have just 10 years to turn around carbon emissions. A concentrated effort is needed to persuade the EU and its member states, business, the media and the wider public to implement change, they believe.
There is a very strong view among people working in the field of climate change that this is the most important issue facing the world today. If our planet is hit by disaster – resulting in overheating, food and water shortages, flooding and extreme weather conditions – then all the other issues that foundations are supporting will become irrelevant. Climate change affects everyone across the globe – but not equally. As one conference attendee put it: “Indigenous peo- ple around the world have contributed least to climate change, but they are suffering the most.” The move to biofuels in the west has resulted in the destruction of indigenous livelihoods in South American rainforests, for example, and worldwide food shortages. Many people also see a strong link between climate change and human rights. As Mary Robinson pointed out, climate change is happening. Flooding and drought are already hurting communities that are unable to cope. If we don’t see the impact of climate change as having human rights implications then we won’t deal with the problem holistically, she said.
Her view is a powerful one. Our world has become quite fearful and divided, she said. Security doesn’t make us safe. The way we become more secure is to uphold human rights and the rule of law.
Yvonne Healy is a former Irish Times journalist who has returned to Ireland from the United States. Her column appears monthly in Metro Eireann
