Principles into Practice - Handicap International

Principles into PracticeINTRODUCTION – ADDRESSINGTHE CAUSES OF POVERTYAs a global confederation of 12 members operating inover 70 countries, CARE International’s fight againstpoverty is brought together under a unifying vision.Vision StatementWe seek a world of hope, tolerance and socialjustice, where poverty has been overcome andpeople live in dignity and security.CARE International will be a global force andpartner of choice within a world-wide movementdedicated to ending poverty. We will be knowneverywhere for our unshakeable commitment tothe dignity of people.As part of its commitment to this vision, one of theobjectives in CARE International’s Strategic Plan is tobetter understand and address the underlying causesof poverty. In recent years, CARE has thus beenencouraging the exploration of rights-based practiceas one way of doing this.What is a Rights-Based Approach (RBA)?It is a lens and an approach to all our work, bethat programming or within our own organisation.A rights-based approach deliberately and explicitlyfocuses on people achieving the minimum conditionsfor living with dignity (i.e. achieving their humanrights). It does so by exposing the roots ofvulnerability and marginalization and expanding therange of responses. It empowers people to claim andexercise their rights and fulfil their responsibilities.A rights-based approach recognises poor, displaced,and war-affected people as having inherent rightsessential to livelihood security – rights that are(sometimes) validated by law. (adapted fromAndrew Jones, et al. “Incorporation of a Rights-Based Approach”, CARE, 2001).CARE country offices around the globe have madeconcerted efforts to translate this concept intodemonstrable examples of rights-based approaches(RBA) in development programmes. This report is anattempt to bring together some experiences from thefield about how different programmes conceptualisedand tested rights-based approaches.Social injustice and poverty are closely intertwined.By making this connection, rights-basedprogramming has compelled us to carry out a moreholistic analysis that includes an examination of thestructures, systems, and social norms or traditionsthat perpetuate the poverty of specific groups ofpeople. The cases assembled attempt to addresscauses of poverty in many spheres, including:• Political – poor governance and institutionalcapacity, corruption, violent conflict, lack ofpolitical will;• Economic – globalization, unequal terms oftrade, inequitable resource distribution;• Social – harmful societal norms, culturally driveninequities and forms of exclusion such asgender, caste, wealth category, profession; and• Environmental – limits on carrying capacity,natural disasters, propensity for disease,availability and quality of natural resources.As well as addressing the structural causes ofpoverty, the application of rights-based approacheshas several other implications for CARE’s work,including the need to:• exercise more consistent individual behavioursamongst staff, partners, and client populations;• accept the limitations of a single organisation toachieve sustainable impact alone, and view whatCARE does as integral to a weave of players;• be willing to take risks and know how to manage them;• engage longer-term with a client population andgrapple with the shorter-term horizons of funders;• become more versed in human rights discourseand draw upon the concepts in sensible ways forthe people whose rights are at stake; and• rethink how to monitor and evaluate CARE’swork, particularly as changes in power relationsbecome more central.To a large extent these considerations areincorporated in a set of programming principles towhich CARE committed itself in 2003.CARE International Programme Principles1 Promote empowerment2 Work in partnership with others3 Ensure accountability and promote responsibility4 Oppose discrimination5 Oppose violence6 Seek sustainable resultsThe structure of this report broadly follows the themesraised in these principles, followed by reflections onother considerations that are considered to bedistinctive characteristics of rights-based approaches,namely the explicit linkage to human rightsinstruments and the potential to have impact at scale.A final section draws together conclusions and proposesa framework for understanding the rights strategiesadopted by the range of examples.Page 1

Principles into PracticeThe cases reviewed originated from Bangladesh,Bolivia, Burundi, Cambodia, Guatemala, Honduras,India, Peru, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia andThailand. For some cases, the emphasis was on theresearch and analysis itself that was needed toidentify the underlying causes of marginalization.In others, enough progress was made to producevisible breakthroughs. This report proposes a“continuum of rights strategies” that illustrates thecomplementarity of different approaches.These examples together illustrate how RBA can takeshape in a variety of creative ways in differentcontexts. The analysis in this report tells us muchabout their variety but, equally, about some importantcross-cutting elements of rights-based practice. It isclear from the examples that a rights-based approachdoes enable a deeper understanding of the causes ofpoverty and social injustice and therefore opens upthe possibility of longer-term changes than moreconventional development approaches.Annex 1 is a list of the cases and their respectiveabbreviations used within the report. For moredetailed reading of the 16 cases, one-pagesummaries of each are presented as separate annexes(see Annexes 2.1 to 2.16). Annex 3 applies theproposed continuum framework to the present setof case studies.PROMOTING EMPOWERMENTCARE Programme Principle 1:Promote EmpowermentWe stand in solidarity with poor and marginalizedpeople, and support their efforts to takecontrol of their own lives and fulfil their rights,responsibilities and aspirations. We ensure thatkey participants representing affected peopleare involved in the design, implementation,monitoring and evaluation of our programmes.Perhaps the crux of the distinction between rightsbasedapproaches and more conventionaldevelopment programming is making theempowerment of poor and marginalised groupscentral. Going beyond participation of clients andbeneficiaries, such programmes empower people totake control over their own lives as an integral partof understanding development and dignity as a basichuman right.There is substantial evidence in the examples of anexplicit attempt to empower client populationsand/or partners in some fashion. The pattern thatemerged across these examples was of CAREsupporting a community or social group to makedecisions about their own lives, take concertedaction to address problems, and hold duty bearersaccountable. Often, but not always, a relationshipwas made between the problem and a human right.The most comprehensive process is represented by theBangladesh SHAHAR project. It employs a communityempowerment process, known as the Pressure PlatesModel, which enabled communities to identify theirpriorities, mobilise, and build networks with localsupport structures to address their needs and rights.The model begins with a rigorous well-being analysiswith the community, disaggregating households bysocial and wealth classes. These are further sub-dividedinto categories of profession and women headedhouseholdswhich then form special interest groups toconduct separate problem trees and prioritise their toptwo or three problems. Invariably, problems wererelated to a rights violation or lack of governance. Eachspecial interest group then elects a representative tothe Community Resource Management Committee(CRMC). Simultaneously, the project raises awarenessamong service providers, mobilises them into localsupport structures known as LSPs and links them withthe low-income settlements. The CRMC can then placepressure on LSPs to be accountable to the communitiesin resolving issues.Rights also took a central place in the SHCROPproject in Bangladesh which raised awarenessamongst share-croppers whose rights were beingviolated. The project built the capacity of sharecropperorganisations to negotiate with landowners to claimtheir rights and entitlements using a strategy whichproduced benefits for both sides.Sharecroppers in Chapai Nawabgonji (Bangladesh)Results show that members of the Sharecroppers’Associations are receiving more of their entitlementsaccording to the national sharecroppers’ policy.In terms of empowerment, farmers are increasingtheir leadership, networking and negotiation skills,as is evident in their willingness and confidence totalk with landowners, organise press conferences,and raise issues with the Agricultural Minister. TheSharecroppers’ Associations are also becomingrecognised as community-based farmer-ledorganisations addressing social justice at villagelevel, as they become involved in resolving otherconflicts that require an understanding of humanrights such as dowry and family law.The Cambodia Highland Children’s Education (HCE)project, working with indigenous communities,focuses on preserving local language and culturewhile engaging the entire community in creatingschooling for their children. The project consistentlyemphasises the importance of control and ownershipPage 2

Principles into Practiceby the community, albeit without full and overt useof rights language and concepts.In contrast, Guatemala Female Citizens projectempowered Mayan women by addressing their rightsas citizens and created a process that enabled themto acquire and exercise their full rights, as did thePeru Citizenship project in its work with theQuechua-speaking people in Huaccana.The principle of promoting empowerment has strongimplications for CARE’s relationship with poor andmarginalised groups. The Raks Thai Foundationcommitment to migrant workers epitomises thenotion of standing in solidarity with the poor andmarginalised. What began as a small pilot in 1996culminated in Board approval in 2001 to makeadvocacy for this extremely disenfranchisedpopulation an organisational priority. Advocacyactivities over the years have expanded with visiblygreater influence.Raks Thai FoundationToday, Field Coordinator Sompong assists theHuman Rights Committee, a nationalorganization, in conducting a study to draft amaster plan for migrant workers in Thailand basedon human rights and international conventions.Sompong is also a member of the Action Networkfor Migrants comprising about 12 NGOs who areactive in advocacy on migrant worker issues.Empowerment can also relate to staff. CARE Hondurasused an appreciative inquiry approach within thecontext of an organisational gender and diversityinitiative to give staff the freedom to choose how andwhat they want to contribute to CARE.What all 16 examples accomplished in a variety ofways was to give voice to the most marginalisedgroups and sometimes to increase their representationin the project, and therefore in the community.In other instances, it built their capacity to claimtheir rights, as in the case of the BangladeshViolence Against Women (VAW) project.Most of the case studies treated participation as a right,not just a means to achieve project goals. They madeuse of structured learning processes to solicit andengage different perspectives, particularly those ofthe more marginalised. As such they are good examplesof what might be termed “interactive participation” 1Approaching “self mobilisation,” at the high end ofthe participation scale, were the BangladeshSHAHAR project and the Guatemala PromotingMaternal Health (PMH) project. Both projects intheir entirety facilitated the mobilisation ofcommunities to seek and maintain control overresources they needed. Similarly, in the example ofthe Cambodia HCE project, the community assumedcontrol over all aspects of the project, includinggovernance of the schools themselves.How well concepts and definitions of empowermentwere understood and interpreted in a meaningfulway for specific contexts and particular groups canonly be deduced from the response of those groupsto the various innovations undertaken by CARE.All of the projects demonstrated positive results todiffering degrees. As a minimum threshold, thevoices of the marginalised were raised. Beyond that,a gradient of progress can be identified which spans:• greater awareness of their rights,• increased confidence or self-identity (“power within”),• engagement in collective action (“power with”)to resolve problems and/or claim rights,• influencing decision makers or duty bearers tosupport their rights, and often succeeding inhaving their demands met.Further sections of this report will focus on some ofthese aspects of empowerment more specifically.What is empowerment?In analyzing empowerment it is helpful to have a clearconception of “power”. A useful typology suggested byJust Associates in “A New Weave of Power, People andPolitics” (2002) distinguishes betweenPower Over – coercion and discriminationPower With – collective strength and common causePower To – individual capacity to shape changePower Within – inner strength based on self-worth1 A term borrowed from the typology of participationapproaches in VeneKlasen, Lisa with Valerie Miller. 2002,A New Weave of Power, People and Politics: The Action Guidefor Advocacy and Citizen Participation, Oklahoma City:World Neighbors, p. 106 – seehttp://www.justassociates.org/chap5%20planning%20basics.pdf.Page 3

Principles into PracticeWORKING IN PARTNERSHIPCARE Programme Principle 2:Work in partnership with othersWe work with others to maximise the impact of ourprogrammes, building alliances and partnershipswith those who offer complementary approaches,are able to adopt effective programmingapproaches on a larger scale, and/or who haveresponsibility to fulfil rights and alleviate povertythrough policy change and enforcement.In most instances, CARE did not initiate a pilot withthe explicit intention of improving partnership.However, the focus on empowerment and/or raisingawareness of rights directly affected the nature ofrelationships with client populations, partnerorganisations, and other stakeholders.Two examples did have an explicit focus onrelationships. The Rwanda Action Learning System(ALS) case used a participatory monitoring exerciseto highlight the improvements its partners and clientpopulation felt could be made in CARE’s relationshipwith them. The exercise uncovered opinions whichhelped to strengthen CARE’s accountability tochildren and youth in preventing rights abuses.After an initial inquiry, the feedback process wassystematised through an action learning andmonitoring system.Constituency Building in the Bangladesh‘Reducing Violence Against Women’ PilotsThe two pilots did not start off with a constituencybuilding plan but made a gradual move from engagingconstituents at household level to playing a facilitatorrole in mobilizing other constituents. CARE and theseconstituents have become part of a social movementaddressing VAW (violence against women) and women’srights. These include the victims themselves, malecounterparts of victims, duty bearers in government,the media, civil society organizations, local leaders,cultural performers, donors, and the private sector.The Bangladesh Violence Against Women caseillustrates the fact that rights-based programmingcompels us to interact with a broader spectrum ofplayers, for a number of reasons:(a) to build alliances and create a more powerfulforce for change by uniting with otherelements of civil society which support acommon vision, such as the rights of women(Bangladesh) or migrant workers (Thailand);(b) to forge a link between rights holders andduty bearers, with compelling examples fromBangladesh (SHAHAR, SHCROP) or theGuatemala cases on citizenship. This createsnew partnerships which, at the same time, placeCARE more squarely in a facilitator role; and(c) to ensure voices of marginalised groups areheard and respected, a diversity ofstakeholders who compose the social andpolitical fabric of life in that community iscalled to be present. The Rwanda Causal-Responsibility Analysis (CRA) pilot and theSierra Leone Upstream Approach illustratethis well.Sustainability of project interventions and/orimpacts rely on the support that can be gained froman array of players whose behaviours, attitudes, andactions are essential to meeting the needs anddemands of a marginalised group. Teachers, parentsand civil society actors were an important part of thesuccess of the Bolivia Alternative Youth Education(AYE) initiative on the rights of working childrenand adolescents.This emphasis on partnership should not ignore thefact that a greater number of stakeholders createsnew tensions that CARE must skilfully manage inorder to maintain the positive relationships neededto sustain change.Cambodia Highland Children’s EducationAn ongoing challenge is to manage the oftenconflicting agendas of key stakeholders. Forexample, it is quite feasible to envisage a situationwhereby the Ministry of Education (MoEYS) makeschanges to curriculum documents that werepreviously approved by community school boards.Although, of course, MoEYS approval representsa step towards Government recognition of thecommunity schools, this nonetheless raisesquestions of community ownership and the project’sobligations to the communities.Finally, many examples found the need to engagethe services of human rights organisations and/orlegal services when they were explicitly promotingthe defence of human rights, prevention of humanrights violations, or education in human rights.Page 4

Principles into PracticeENSURING ACCOUNTABILITYCARE Programme Principle 3: Ensureaccountability and promote responsibilityWe seek ways to be held accountable to poor andmarginalised people whose rights are denied. Weidentify those with an obligation towards poor andmarginalised people, and support and encouragetheir efforts to fulfil their responsibilities.A rights orientation compels CARE to be moreaccountable to the people it serves. It contrasts witha ‘results-orientated’ approach to development whichcan overemphasise accountability to the donor.This begs the questions: what results and for whom?Are donor expectations always in the best interest ofpoor and marginalised people? Are some people negativelyaffected, albeit unintentionally, and how can CAREbe more consistently aware of the potential harms?At least three cases were directly aimed at improvingCARE’s accountability to the poor. The Rwanda ALSexample was a direct response to this issue,soliciting viewpoints from clients, partners, and staffabout CARE’s effectiveness.CARE Rwanda Asks Some Critical Learning QuestionsBased on its experience with a rights-based actionlearning system, CARE Rwanda formulated questionsof relevance to the wider CARE region:• How, practically speaking, do we ensure that ourdesign, monitoring & evaluation processes providethe people whose lives are affected by ourinterventions with a direct say in the way ourprojects are designed and implemented?• How can CARE be truly accountable for all of theimpacts of our interventions – positive as well asnegative, intended as well as unintended? Howdo we ensure that we capture negative impactsand avoid or at least mitigate them?• How will this tool/method’s focus on projectparticipants as client/rights-bearers and on theestablishment of a system for them to hold usaccountable help us to be more accountable?• What are the practical implications for CAREprogrammatically and organisationally? What arethe lessons learned along the way and theadjustments made?The Somalia National Relief Organisation (NRO)project took a hard look at benefits and harmsfor various social groups involved in this project.The experience directly raised questions about theaccountability of NRO and indirectly that of CARE.The analytical process revealed for NRO howimportant it was to be knowledgeable about thediversity and complexity of a community composedof different clans and social groups to avoidexclusion and harms. It also demonstrated tocommunity groups how a benefit to one group couldbe a harm to another. This, and the Sierra LeoneUpstream Approach, revealed how culturally-rooteddiscrimination will re-emerge in a developmentproject if it goes unexamined and unattended. CARESierra Leone’s pilot raised awareness about exclusionand, with partners and clients, overcame the problem.“Now We All Count – Individual Registrationand Targeting of Seeds”Research revealed that patterns of exclusion in priordistributions of humanitarian assistance in SierraLeone mirrored patterns of marginalisation in ruralsociety. Women, youth, internally displaced persons(IDPs) and weaker social groups were not involved indiscussions about the allocation of seed and,consequently, received no assistance. The samecategories of people were also excluded fromparticipating in local decision-making processes. Livingin remote, vulnerable communities, many respondentssaid they were neither recognised as citizens by theState, nor regarded as equal citizens within their owncommunities. They also believed that local elites hadcolluded with CARE staff in the past to exclude them.CARE used the opportunity of a new food securityproject to invite different social groups to discussprevious problems and propose ways to overcomethem. Using the Declaration of Human Rights as astarting point for the discussion, the project relatedthe question of equal rights and dignity to adequatefood. Participants felt all people were human beingsand citizens and should all receive seeds. Registrationof all individuals without selectivity conveyed amessage of inclusion to all groups with a cleardemonstration of how exclusion, favouritism andinjustice contributed to the emergence of conflict.Increased accountability to the poor andmarginalised was expressed by many of the exampleswhich strove to:(a) uncover the social, cultural, or economicdifferentiation within the client population inorder to know who the excluded ordisenfranchised groups were and whether ornot CARE’s programmes were neglecting them,including them, or harming them in any way;(b) create more opportunity for marginalisedgroups to make their voices heard and usetheir voices to claim their rights;(c) use the knowledge gained of those groupswhose rights were being denied for betterproject targeting and/or to explore in greaterdepth the root cause of their rightsdenial/marginalisation; andPage 5

Principles into Practice(d) constantly attempt to facilitate the fulfilmentof rights or to overcome the barriers to rightsfulfilment.This persistence can reflect a growing commitmenttowards a particular marginalised group. Forexample, in the Raks Thai Foundation’s programmefor migrant workers, solidarity and accountabilitywent hand in hand. Words like trust, friendship,and equity appear more frequently when describingthe relationship with client groups.Utilizing a rights framework also empowers clientpopulations to hold CARE more accountable for theresults of its interventions, as the Rwanda ALS casearticulated. Donor concerns with numerical targets toachieve results can sound out of synch and overlytechnical in this context. Similarly, projecttimeframes can seem artificial. More attention isneeded to joint reflection and learning to create thespace for staff, clients and partners to journeytogether through a social change process. Theexamples evince a growing, albeit not necessarilyirreconcilable, tension between accountability todonors and accountability to communities and acommitment to learning.“It is all about being a community of learners who areon a journey. It is a journey of learning; it is ajourney that is far from smooth and not without theoccasional rough patch. But it is a journey wheresteady progress is being made, and where there is aconfidence that the destination will provide indigenouscommunities in remote areas of Cambodia with newskills and knowledge to assist them in making theirway in an uncertain future.”Cambodia Highland Children’s Education ProjectPROMOTING RESPONSIBILITYThe second part of principle three (see above) refersto responsibility - CARE’s obligation to identify,encourage, and support those persons or institutionswho are duty bearers to meet their responsibilitiesvis-à-vis rights holders.The Guatemala PMH Project was conducted incollaboration with the Ministry of Health so that thepilot to improve obstetric health care would serve asthe model for the national strategy on reducingmaternal mortality. Healthcare providers, midwives,and community institutions involved in the 4-DelaysModel sought solutions to improving access andquality of care.The Peru Citizenship example very deliberately linkedcitizens and government in a participatory budgetdesign process as an exercise in citizen rights andgovernment accountability. Local authorities and thestate developed new attitudes and discourses basedon respect for rights. At the national level, lobbyingefforts shaped the rules and guidelines for theParticipatory Budget Planning issued by the Ministryof Economy and Finance and the project contributedto the formulation of the regulations governing theFramework Law on Participatory Budgets.The Guatemala Female Citizens Project directlyconfronted the obligations of municipal authoritiesby presenting them with innovative solutions forregistering poor Mayan women living in remote areasas citizens. For the first time in the modern historyof Guatemala, municipal officers and the electionregistrar spent an entire day in the remotecommunities and assisted the women on apersonalised basis to obtain identification documents.Sierra Leone’s Upstream Approach is anotherexample of success. With access to relevant information,the community of Mogbuama used due process tohold a public servant to account. This proved moreeffective and empowering than the more familiarreaction of reverting to grievance or violence.Sierra Leone: Mogbuama School ManagementCommittee: “Parent Power” in ActionIn the village of Mogbuama where CARE is working,villagers heard a local radio broadcast stating thatschools in the district had received a payment fromthe government’s schools maintenance programme.Payments are made directly to the school bankaccount and the Headmaster is responsible forallocating and spending the funds. The parents’ SchoolManagement Committee (SMC) had no information onhow the previous subsidy had been spent but whenasked to provide an expenditure account, theHeadmaster refused. The SMC sent a delegation toMoyamba to report the problem to the SchoolsInspectorate who called a public meeting at which theHeadmaster was asked to give a public account ofexpenditure. Only a portion of the account wasdeemed acceptable by the Inspectorate, who decidedthat the ‘missing’ amount would be deducted from theHeadmaster’s salary in monthly instalments. This ledto an agreement that the SMC would meet with theHeadmaster twice a month to discuss and agreespending priorities, and two SMC members would beincluded as signatories to the school bank account,thus requiring the authorization of the SMC forwithdrawal of funds.Page 6

Principles into PracticeRwanda’s Causal-Responsibility Analysis (CRA)tool expressly raised awareness amongst a range ofstakeholders on the rights of marginalised groupsand the moral and legal responsibilities ofauthorities and duty bearers. The methodologicalapproach is being further explored with the aim ofimproving governance in the province of Gikongoro.An aim around promoting responsibility appearsin most examples as a natural extension of invokinghuman rights in development work. Many of thecases accomplished this through discussion anddialogue amongst rights holders and duty bearers ina transparent, collaborative manner. Others createdthe opportunity for rights holders to organise andput pressure on authorities or those responsible fordenying them their rights with a clear agenda oftheir demands.A Perspective from the Bolivia AYE ProgrammeChild or youth labour is a structural problem that existsin Bolivian society, due to the conditions of extremepoverty. As a result, a rights based approach had towork intentionally in the context of educative politicalstructures in order to press them to assume theirresponsibilities. Therefore the project opened doors toother actors in civil society who were able to promote theexercise of rights. For example, CARE has been workingwith the Ministry of Education, the National Ombudsman,the Directorates of Alternative Education and of Youthand Adolescents, among others.There was clear admission of risk and the need forrisk assessment and management, as duty bearers orrights violators who are in positions of power maychoose not to co-operate. A sensitive approach, assought by the Burundi Theatre Project, provedeffective. A solid knowledge of rights and theirframeworks, advocacy and often collective action onthe part of rights holders are of equal importance torisk-taking. The Bangladesh SHCROP Projectdemonstrated the value of a win-win strategy.OPPOSING DISCRIMINATIONCARE Programme Principle 4: Oppose discriminationIn our programmes and offices we opposediscrimination and the denial of rights basedon sex, race, nationality, ethnicity, class,religion, age, physical ability, caste, opinionor sexual orientation.CARE has been actively promoting a working cultureof challenging discriminatory attitudes and practicesthrough its gender equity and diversity (GED)initiative, begun in 1999. This has strongly reinforcedthe development of the skills and approaches relevantto practise equity and diversity in programming,observing the adage that “to really make a change,we must be the change we want to see.”Honduras: Using Appreciative Inquiry forBuilding a Gender StrategyUsing techniques that facilitate conversation, suspendjudgment, and build trust amongst people can bequite powerful when dealing with a sensitive subjectsuch as gender. Appreciative inquiry focuses on whathas been working well. CARE Honduras applied thistechnique to shape the flow of a gender workshopbased on “who we are” and “who we want to be”.“Conversation Cafes,” an adaptation of the nativeAmerican tradition of the “talking stick”, was alsointroduced to promote conversation withoutinterruption or judgment. Drama was used tointroduce the topic of rights-based approaches,leading in to examples of “participation” and how tofoster it internally and externally. While emphasizingthe “freedom to be heard,” participants told stories ofsuccessful relationships between men and women,creating a sense of connection and shared powerbetween staff.In relation to programming, the projects incorporatevarious efforts to oppose discrimination in all itsforms by:(a) focusing attention on people or groups whoare being discriminated against (and whoserights are being denied);(b) recognizing discrimination where and when itoccurs; and(c) raising the consciousness and sensitivity ofstaff, partners, and clients on the gains ofequity and diversity.Page 7

Principles into PracticeDiscrimination against women in many societies ismost starkly manifested by domestic violence.The prevalence of this phenomenon in Bangladeshisociety prompted a large-scale effort on the part ofCARE Bangladesh to promote gender justice forwomen victims of violence. It did so by improvinggovernance at local level, empowering communitiesthrough women’s rights and gender education,enhancing village support mechanisms, collaboratingwith human rights organisations for legal advice,and co-ordinating existing efforts of government,civil society, and other actors.CARE Bangladesh: Reducing Violence AgainstWomen and Promoting Women’s RightsThe project in Natore district created a structureof cells called Violence Prevention and RightsReinforcement Cells (VPRRC) to carry outinterventions in three domains: (1) legalprotection, (2) violence prevention and communityawareness raising, and (3) networking. Cellmembers were local male and female leaderswho consulted with ‘confidants’ responsible formediating social conflicts. The confidants were thenlinked to a committee at Union level, consisting ofthree women and two men. This structure from thegrassroots to local government made it possible toaccomplish much in a coordinated, complementaryfashion to report and resolve cases of violence andcontinue marshalling support for the protection ofwomen’s rights.Women may also suffer double discrimination insome societies as a result of belonging to a sociallymarginalised group whose norms and traditionsfurther subordinate women. They are specificallytargeted in the Guatemala PMH Project, whichaddresses the needs and health rights of indigenouswomen, and by the Guatemala Female Citizenswhich made it possible for “anonymous” women tobecome rightful citizens. In this latter case, womenvoted for the first time in general and publicelections, and some women from 50 to 60 years ofage entered a relationship with the State for the firsttime in their lives.Attention to gender disparities generally is apparentin the majority of projects reviewed and is anintegral part of working with marginalised groups.Women’s exclusion from participating in localgovernance structures is one issue that CARE hassought to confront. As the Somalia NRO caseshowed, an in-depth knowledge of the local socialand cultural context is an important considerationwhen seeking to raise women’s representation inlocal governance structures.Guatemala Female Citizens Project –From Anonymous to Female CitizensIndia Integrated Nutrition and HealthProject (INHP)This project increased women’s voice andrepresentation of their issues in a traditionally maledomain, the Gram Sabha or Village Parliament. Thisstructure discussed issues around using the fundsavailable with the Gram Panchayat to buildinfrastructure like roads, buildings, ponds, handpumps, in short, men’s priorities. Today, the morebasic and important issues of nutrition and healthhave made it on to their agenda.Page 8

Principles into PracticeOPPOSING VIOLENCECARE Programme Principle 5: Oppose violenceWe promote just and non-violent means for preventingand resolving conflicts, noting that such conflictscontribute to poverty and the denial of rights.Many of the countries where CARE works arerecovering from war, are under threat of conflict,and/or are so affected by chronic conflict thatpeople only know violence as a means to resolve it.Burundi is a country that has been plagued withconflict since the end of colonial rule. The colonialpowers managed to destroy traditional conflictresolution bodies placing social structures alongethnic lines. Endless conflict has a profound impacton the livelihood strategies of populations as well astheir behaviours and relations with others. Asindividuals suffer trauma and loss, they become lesswilling to discuss issues and seek solutions. In ruralBurundi, social networks have been destroyed andthe poor do not have a voice on basic issues such asaccess to education or land-use. They are far frombeing involved in the national level decisions aroundthe peace agreements and elections.Faced with traumatised and destroyed ruralcommunities, CARE International in Burundi beganan innovative peace education project in 2001.The project aimed to work with traditional conflictresolution structures that exist in the hillsides aswell as to help the communities begin to addresspast conflict and find ways to move forward. Thegoal was to reduce the barriers that have beencreated by those with power, allowing the poor toparticipate in the reconciliation of conflict and theirown development. The project made use of CARE’sexperience in the Balkans and the work of Search forCommon Ground in Burundi to use interactivetheatre as a way of bringing to light sensitive issuesand giving people a supportive environment in whichto discuss them.In post-war rural Sierra Leone, CARE conductedresearch on the underlying causes of war anddiscovered that decades of political decay,corruption, injustice, and the exclusion of youth andpoorer sections of society from decision-making weremore forceful than the apparent economic factors,such as control over diamond mining, in driving theconflict. CARE responded by designing its nextproject on the premise that poverty, marginalization,and inequality would best be addressed by setting uplocal mechanisms to encourage social inclusion andpromoting the principles of citizen responsibility andcommunity self-reliance. The project facilitated thepractice of resolving local disputes peaceably withincommunities by demanding transparency,accountability and representation from authoritiesand responsible institutions/individuals.War-affected countries often witness a rise in socialproblems at the end of the conflict, among them,domestic violence against women.However, violence against women also exists inmany societies as an outcome of the gender ideologyof that culture. The VAW Project of CARE Bangladeshfirst had to grapple with the cultural context andthen use that understanding to construct aprogramme of prevention.Exploring the Causes of Violence AgainstWomen, BangladeshThe basic cause of violence is rooted in the genderideology, which promotes male dominance andsuperiority and women's subordination andsubservience. The husband's primacy and wife’s lesserrights stem from this ideology. In CARE’s research,many women and men felt that the disparity in therights of women and men created the social imbalancewhich has resulted in the violence against womensyndrome. At the same time, while some women saidthat it was the lesser value of women in Bangladeshthat led to this problem, the men disagreed. They feltthat equality between women and men cannot beallowed and that a man had the right to discipline hiswife through violence – but they disapproved of himbeating her unfairly or too much.Preventing violence and rights abuses againstmarginalised or disenfranchised groups is anothercommon theme in the projects reviewed. Exploitationand discrimination can take various forms ofphysical, mental, or emotional abuse. Supporting therights fulfilment of vulnerable groups, such as thestreet and working children in the Bolivia exampleor female migrant workers in Thailand worked toprevent such abuses and rights violations.USING HUMAN RIGHTSINSTRUMENTS AND LAWSome case studies invoked human rights instrumentsor legislation to support their rights-based work, andalmost all of them made reference to rights thatwere relevant to the types of interventions beingproposed. In most cases this reference to the lawwas used to inspire discussion rather than to makeuse of the specific legal instruments. The tableillustrates the range of such uses.Page 9

Principles into PracticeCountry and InnovationRwanda Action Learning System for Monitoring andAccountability for Orphans, Vulnerable Children andYouth (OVCY) in Gitarama provinceBangladesh Reducing Violence Against Women andPromoting Women’s RightsBolivia Promoting The Rights Of Working ChildrenAnd Adolescents – Alternative Youth EducationProgrammeGuatemala From Anonymous to Female Citizens –the Post Conflict Democratisation ProjectIndia Four Innovations in an Integrated Health andNutrition ProjectPeru Breaking the Silence – Using a ParticipatoryBudget Planning Process to Build CitizenshipSierra Leone Upstream Approach to Human RightsThailand In Search for Rights – A Programme onHealth for Migrant WorkersHuman Rights Instruments or LegislationA child rights framework with categories drawn fromthe Convention on the Rights of the Child to groundthe results of this participatory monitoring exercisein a legal contextThe constitution that recognises equal rights forwomen, ratification of the National Policy forWomen’s Advancement to eliminate all forms ofdiscrimination against women (CEDAW) and, theNational Policy on Women which identified actionsagainst violence as a priority area for governmentinterventionsThe law that promotes the protection and attentionof boys and girls in health, education, and otherservices (Código del Niño, Niña) and the UDHRincorporated into the school curriculumUDHR with emphasis on the political rights(right to citizenship)The Indian constitution that mandates that GramSabhas (village parliaments) should be held in ruralareas 3-4 times a year to strengthen and rejuvenatetheir role in local governance and get health andnutrition on the agendaUDHR quoted in reference to rights education inSpanish and QuechuaUDHR to stimulate discussion on rights relevant tolocal conflicts (e.g., right to adequate food)Convention on Human Rights to seek legal redress formigrant workersAs evident in the table, many of the projects used arights framework for education on human rights.Others used rights instruments that were pertinentto the issue at hand, such as policies forsharecroppers, legal rights for women in Bangladesh,or the Indian constitution, which mandates theactivity of local governance institutions. Somesought to raise awareness of the legislation withbeneficiaries and stakeholders (including responsibleactors) or offer training in rights legislation tobridge the gap between policy and practice.Less discernible was precisely how well the humanrights frameworks were understood and taken up byclient populations and partners. Indeed, CARE SierraLeone designed its innovation with this very concernin mind. Rather than engage people at grassrootslevel with national issues such as corruption or poorgovernance, the project focused attention of poorand marginalised groups on their everydayexperiences with corrupt local politicians, creatingthe space for them to reflect on and construct theirown meanings of injustice and then draw upon theirvalue systems to challenge and confront them.In other projects, the reference to rights lentlegitimacy to community groups to engage in publicadvocacy around a common cause.Other examples spanned a wide spectrum of rights,both legal and moral, but without an explicitreference to any rights framework. Many fell withinthe broad category of economic, social and culturalor simply human rights.It was also not always perceptible whether the casesdeliberately used rights language. Similarly it was notalways clear when projects deliberately refrained fromthe use of rights language in their relationship withpartners and clients, while still maintaining humanrights as a conceptual framework for their work.Where legislation and human rights conventionswere not specifically invoked, rights discourseseemed to stress the imperative of a basic humanneed, entitlement, or benefit that would empowerand improve the life conditions of marginalisedgroups. Rights were often upheld as moralobligations to provide equal opportunities andbenefits to all groups of individuals or to protectoneself against potential harm, for example in sexualand reproductive health. The central issue in thePage 10

Principles into Practicedeployment of rights language was equity in mostinstances. In addition, rights awareness amongstthe client populations frequently served as a meansof empowerment aimed at increasing self-worth(“power within”).Which Rights? The right …To be heardTo chooseTo adequate foodTo live in dignity and well-beingTo participationTo proper health careTo educationTo own cultural identity and languageTenure rightsSexual and reproductive rightsBreastfeeding rightsIndividual human rightsCollective human rightsWomen’s rightsCitizen rightsAs exemplified by the Sierra Leone Upstream Approach,it is also possible, with or without rights language, to tapinto the values, beliefs, and principles inherent in theculture, religion, or traditions of the population as ameans of bringing about more equitable treatment ofothers. Somalia sensitised the communities to the equalworth and rights of all groups through the use of dialogueand by citing Somali poems and proverbs and Qur'anverses. The India INHP revived traditions, such as theDharamDai, to overcome inequities in access to propernutrition and health care based on caste and creed.CARE SIERRA LEONE UPSTREAM APPROACH“An important question for agencies such as CARE ishow to ‘connect’ the rural mass of the population tothe human rights commitments made by theirgovernment? The project’s strategy is to facilitate thedemand for principled behaviour at all levels ofsociety; central to this strategy are representative andresponsive local authority structures – ‘formal’ and‘traditional’. Thus, rather than informing people oftheir rights and encouraging them to claim them, theproject encourages a culture of principled behaviour inrelation to its activities, and then facilitates discussionabout these principles in relation to other walks of lifewhere problems exist, such as the functioning of localauthority structures, or the strictures of ‘traditionalcultural practices’, in practice it fosters adequatecommunity management and good governance.”A CONTINUUM OF RIGHTSSTRATEGIESThe 16 case studies reveal how an understandingof rights was used in a range of different contextsto inform practical action. This suggests acontinuum of stages from diagnosis and researchto rights fulfilment. The diagram below describessuch a continuum. Although it breaks down into fourcategories, there is overlap between them and manyof the case studies consisted of a sequenceof steps along it. Annex 3 attempts to assign thepresent case studies to the stages of the continuum.Research, analysis, or diagnosis. Research mightdelve into underlying causes of poverty, socialinjustice, conflict, or human rights violations or thesearch for causality might pertain to a particularproblem like high maternal mortality rates. What isevident in the cases at this end of the continuum isthe participatory nature of the research whichstrongly upheld the importance of giving voice todisenfranchised groups.Dialogue and awareness raising. In this category,the object was very much centred on reflection,learning and sharing, on creating dialogue and onrespecting the views of others. In some cases, theintention was to acclimatise groups to a dialogueprocess and then maintain the practice. Throughoutthese processes, most projects sought to introduceand build a culture of rights and responsibilities.Planning action, proposing solutions, preparingthe ground. Many innovations developed structuredprocesses, firstly to pilot and then to institutionalisethe ways in which marginalised groups, communities,and the range of state and non-state actors couldengage towards rights fulfilment. Others focusedmore on broadening the support network to advocatefor rights.In other cases, efforts were focused on educatingclients and different stakeholders on human rights.They all sought to increase knowledge andinformation about rights and responsibilitiesamongst duty bearers and rights holders.Action. ‘Taking action’ meant that the acquiredknowledge of rights and responsibilities was appliedto some extent. Not all cases witnessed this. Formany cases, undertaking a public advocacy campaignor joining forces with other organizations was initself a considerable achievement. Moreover, suchefforts often require persistence and long time horizons.It is worth noting that the strategies also reflect adifference in entry point for developing a rightsorientation in programming. This is partlyexplainable by the varying contexts (internal andexternal) in which the programmes operate. Yet thePage 11

Principles into Practicerationales given for the entry point also suggest adifference in premises and beliefs about what works,particularly in their own context. Do all RBAprogrammes need a phase of research to identifypotential harms and develop a deep understanding ofmarginalisation within a community? Is awarenessraisingand dialogue enough or should all RBAprogramming be ultimately focused on the ‘action’end of the continuum?As CARE is still in a testing phase on rightsprogramming, it remains to be seen where thecrictical point of agreement are.Page 12

Principles into PracticeSCALING UP INNOVATIONSThe scaling up of innovations is either planned oralready occurring in various ways. Many cases used acombination of strategies to scale up orinstitutionalise the innovations.Within the country (in some cases, the region)• A modelling or demonstration effect – TheBolivia AYE Programme for working adolescentsand young people began in seven experimentalschools and has since been incorporated into 47other Educational Units in seven departments ofBolivia. The Guatemala PMH was set up as amodel for the Ministry of Health to beinstitutionalised in its national strategy forreducing maternal mortality. In other cases, thereplication was voluntary rather thanintentional. The Peru Participatory BudgetPlanning Process attracted the interest ofmunicipal authorities in surrounding districts.The modelling effect of the ‘DharamDai’ andother practices in the India INHP projectspurred spontaneous uptake.• Sustained advocacy – There were manyinstances of the use of advocacy to promote thepractices and/or innovations of the pilotprojects. For example, one of the India INHPinnovations was the MELA, a Hindi fiesta thatbecame a forum for promoting better access tohealth and nutrition services in a concerted way.CARE Peru together with other institutions usedthe participatory budget planning process modelas a frame of reference to lobby government toadapt its budgetary processes. Raks Thai Foundationshored up its advocacy efforts to promote betterhealth care access for migrant workers and morebenefits to this population generally.• Information dissemination – Some casesorganised events aimed at a broad audience asan opportunity for others to learn about theinnovation (Cambodia HCE, India INHP). Otherswere invited by other NGOs or governmentbodies to present their results at national andregional forums.• Documentation – The Peru Citizenship projectdeveloped a manual on its participatory budgetplanning process. Other projects developed trainingmaterials, often in local languages, to make itaccessible to others. Still others expressed intentto publish materials on the innovation.• Participation in networks – The BangladeshVAW (violence against women) project and itsconstituency-building efforts have evolvedinto a much broader network, now referred toas a social movement. Many other projectsexperienced the value of networking andcoalition building. This could also refer toexpansion of smaller groups such as sharecropperassociations into a national network.• Replication to other geographical areas –Some programmes intend to extend geographically(Guatemala Female Citizens) because of thewidespread relevance of the innovation.• Demand – Although not a strategy per se, demandfrom other organisations, communities, or clientgroups is helping to popularise innovativepractices or processes. In another kind ofdemand, marginalised groups with a newly foundvoice are in some cases putting more pressureon duty bearers for similar improvements(e.g. Guatemala PMH, India INHP).Within the country programmes• Spillover effects – In the case of the BurundiTheatre Project and the Bangladesh SHCROP,elements of the process or skills acquired bybeneficiaries are being applied to other situations.• Systematizing learning and feedback – Theintent behind the Rwanda ALS innovation is tobe appraised of the effects of CARE’s work onbeneficiaries. CARE Rwanda also seeks to integratethis action learning process into the monitoringand evaluation systems for all projects.• Deepening commitment to client population –More than a few cases expressed the concernthat the achievements have been good but notsufficient to sustain the impact. Thus, theirintent is to continue the programme with thissame population (e.g. Cambodia HCE).• Continuation of a structured learning process –For other cases, the innovation is only a first stepin a longer, phased learning process that will becontinued (e.g. Rwanda CRA, Burundi Theatre).• Promoting same ethos, principles andapproaches across the whole programme –This was explicitly stated in one case(Sierra Leone) but was implied by many more.Many CARE country offices expect to use the RBApilot as a launching pad for re-orienting theircountry programme.• Hiring staff from the client group – Raks ThaiFoundation relied on volunteers from themigrant worker population initially to facilitatecommunication with its client population.It later hired some as paid employees. Althoughnot documented by other cases per se, it wouldbe interesting to know whether country officesseek representation of marginalised client groupson their staff.Within CARE• Networking and information exchange – A fewcountry offices, through their participation in aregional working group or network, are sharingand discussing the results of the RBA pilots toPage 13

Principles into Practicegenerate feedback and encourage testing byother country programmes. CARE Honduras hasformed a network with other Latin Americancountry offices to experiment with theAppreciative Inquiry methodology, for example.• Cross-visits – Some have also scheduled reflectiondays to which other CARE offices are invited tothe country for sharing/learning on the innovation.A few country offices have had visits which haveresulted in replication of the innovation.• Information dissemination – Many CAREcountry offices participate in CARE’s RBAReference Group. This and other forums are oftenused to present and publish case studies topromote more inter-regional or global exchange.COMMON CHALLENGES ANDDIFFICULTIESDifferent levels of challenges and difficulties withapplying rights-based approaches have emerged fromthis overview. These are summarised as follows.• Obtaining the support and buy-in upfront –RBAs require more effort in pursuing and securingsupport from government authorities andcounterparts, not only to create the operatingspace, but also to secure their participation. Thisis due to a combination of factors:– many of the innovations were unprecedented,non-conventional, or alternative solutions;– the increased need for duty bearers to acceptinterventions as compared with traditionalproject activities;– the greater number of stakeholders that needto be involved from the outset.Yet once that support was forthcoming, the restof the programme proceeded steadily. Many goodexamples issue from the Rwanda ALSinnovation, the Cambodia HCE, the IndiaINHP, the Burundi Theatre, the GuatemalaFemale Citizens, and the VAW Project.Persistence, advocacy, transparency, dialogue,and negotiation were some of the reportedtechniques for obtaining buy-in.• Assessing, managing, and taking risk – Makingindividuals face up to the realisation that theyare not meeting their responsibilities brings withit a certain level of risk. None of the instanceshave proved insurmountable or generatednegative effects, but these situations must beentered with prior risk analysis. Many of theprojects acknowledged that rights-basedprogramming implied more risk, not only toclients and partners, but to CARE staff.• More time and support for taking root –Admittedly, many of the innovations representedan initial stage of experimentation. Given thenovelty of the processes, modes of organization,structures, and greater assumed responsibility,it is perhaps not surprising that projects requiremore time and more support to take root, asmuch as four to five more years. More ambitiousinnovations, such as the Pressure Plates Model,would require proportionally more time. Insofaras rights-based programming is aimed atovercoming barriers at a deeper societal orstructural level, like power balances or socialnorms such as early marriage, the changeprocess will be immeasurably longer.• Donor constraints – RBA initiatives areencountering more constraints from therelationship with and accountability to donors.Donor requirements tend to emphasisequantitative targets and therefore do not fiteasily with a focus on inequities, for example.A multiplicity of donors with different agendasand timelines all operating in one geographicalarea also poses a challenge. In particular, thisrequires solid co-ordination to keep a closewatch on the benefits and harms to a highlyvulnerable population. CARE’s increasing focuson specific marginalised populations rather thana sector per se reinforces the need for greaterco-ordination. Donors may even impede or notagree with CARE undertaking activities at a policylevel. And resources available for reflectionprocesses, even when their contribution toproject impact is evident, are scarce.• Organizational or internal change implications –Some of these implications have already beenmentioned and interspersed throughout this report.(a) The innovations, particularly those thatentailed reflection, inquiry, or dialogueprocesses were said to require inordinateamounts of time to which staff and countryoffices were not accustomed. Inasmuch asstaff may favour and value these processes,there are concerns about replication as well asintegration into the work flow. Moreover,financial resources to support these processesare not easily forthcoming.(b) There is growing awareness around the needfor principled behaviours and attitudes withinCARE offices to co-exist with those promotedin programming. Commitment, a commonvision, and solidarity amongst staff areemerging as requisite strengths that willenable them to take risks, become advocatesfor change, etc.Page 14

Principles into Practice(c) The requisite skill set is also beginning tochange. Staff need more skills in facilitation,mediation, advocacy, relationship-building,community organizing, cultural sensitivity andanalysis. They also need a social scienceorientation rather than purely technical skillsto undertake rights-based work.(d) CARE’s financial and administrativerequirements should support innovativework, particularly in relation to the level offlexibility and creativity accorded to projectpartners’ activities.CONCLUSIONS ANDRECOMMENDATIONSCARE Programme Principle 6:Seek sustainable resultsBy acting to identify and address underlyingcauses of poverty and rights denial, we developand use approaches that ensure our programmesresult in lasting and fundamental improvementsin the lives of the poor and marginalised withwhom we work.All 16 cases of CARE’s rights-based work displayinnovation, creativity, courage, persistence, andwillingness to learn and to change. Across the rangeof examples, some stand out for either conceptualrigour, vision, openness to scrutiny, commitment,scale of undertaking, penetration into the localcontext, or the network of players involved.Across all examples we see some evidence of how arights-based approach in our own organisation andin our programming is able to bring changes tomarginalised groups’ own sense of power and worthas well as the power relations imposed upon them.Some consistent messages emerge about what itmeans to adopt rights-based approaches.In particular, uncovering the root causes of povertyand social injustice compels us to differentiate thepopulation with which we work in any one countrybased on an analysis of prevailing inequities.Who are the disenfranchised, excluded, vulnerable,or marginalised groups and what are the forces thatcause and perpetuate their condition? This researchis fundamental to initiating any rights-based workand its validity relies very much on the participationof marginalised groups themselves. Furthermore,engaging with people who have had little to novoice in their communities or in public life spawnsan empowerment process. Once their perspectivesare heard and a picture of their lives constructed, itbecomes someone’s responsibility to act. It is thesame when problems or conflict issues are aired.Dialogue is one commonly used instrument toconnect vulnerable groups with stakeholders who area part of the social and political fabric of their lives.This needs to be managed well to be effective andtransforming at the same time. Moreover, any effortsto raise awareness of rights and responsibilitiesaround the problems affecting marginalised groupsmust be inclusive of both rights holders andduty bearers.The projects also show us that discrimination canhave many layers, and further disaggregation isimportant to unveil gender or other forms ofinequities within marginalised groups. Thechallenges in confronting the culture or social normsremain formidable.Furthermore, realigning CARE’s focus with theproblems and rights of marginalised groupsgenerates, intentionally or as a consequence, adeepening commitment to their cause. A principledstance such as this implies greater risk-taking bystaff. Yet standing in solidarity with clients andpartners only serves to deepen CARE’s engagementwith them. And in work such as this, CARE’srelationship with marginalised groups increasinglytakes centre stage.CARE’s accountability to communities isconcomitantly often in tension with accountabilityto donors. Although this does not necessarily haveto be the case, in practice CARE’s operationalprocedures are more geared to the latter. If CAREcannot get donors to support the reflectionprocesses, the search for underlying causes,advocacy for policy change, and innovation itself,it will become an increasing drain on resources tomeet the needs of dual accountability to donorsand clients, following different sets of criteria.Alternatively, it may lead to a widening riftbetween donor expectations and CARE’s reality.Viewed positively, rights-based approachespotentially offer an opportunity to shift donorattitudes towards a greater understanding of thelong-term commitment required and the underlyingissues that need to be addressed to tacklemarginalisation and social injustice.Ultimately, RBAs strive to achieve sustainablechanges in the societal structures and relations thatcause and perpetuate poverty. How well do theydo this?Page 15

Principles into PracticeWe look to assurance in the following:(a) understanding and addressing root causesof poverty that exist at the level of society,structures, and systems;(b) involving a broader network of stakeholders,spurring duty bearers and constituents intoaction; and(c) our own conscious longer-term commitmentto the marginalised.We have some promising signs of change alreadyfrom these examples: duty bearers who respondedto pressures or demands of marginalised groups;a greater ability in CARE to broach and discussissues of inequity with clients and partners; wholecommunities that have taken control over decisionmaking processes; and myriad instances ofmarginalised groups no longer voiceless or faceless.A word of caution is in order. Perhaps it is still toosoon to tell if RBAs do indeed achieve sustainableimpact in the form of changing power relations insupport of the excluded and marginalised. It wasnot always apparent from these case studies howfully the projects grasped the complexity of powerrelations in their context; in some cases it appearsthey did not probe those issues. Even with theevidence of change thus far, will marginalisedgroups, for instance, have the confidence and skillsto continue to take risk, advocate, or pressure othersonce CARE removes itself as the external facilitator?An exploration of rights-based approaches at thisstage in their development opens up a number ofintriguing questions.• When and under what conditions does adopting anexplicitly rights-based approach make a difference?• In what circumstances is the approach of castingwide the network of constituents a fruitful one?• When is it feasible and practicable to pursue amore formal process of bringing together rightsholders and duty bearers?• How do we assimilate into our ownorganisational culture and structure the morechallenging change processes that the exampleshave shown to be a necessary support to rightsbasedprogramming?• How prepared are we to open ourselves up toscrutiny from our clients and partners, as someof the projects have done deliberately?CARE is currently collaborating with other NGOs toprobe further the difference that RBAs make. Ourcolleagues in the field continue the substantive workof exploring what RBA looks like in practice and incontext, developing these projects and learnings stillfurther in both organisational practice and programming.CARE is still feeling its way and there is as yet nocharted course. The rights strategies and approachesin this collection of RBA examples give us a sense ofwhat is possible in initiating rights programming,albeit not with consistent clarity on the use andeffect of rights terminology. As for what works, themodels and processes associated with rights-basedapproaches explored in these examples emerge fromthe specific contexts and from opportunities thatpresent themselves.The next generation of innovations may offer upeven more incisive lessons learned, as we refine ourunderstanding of rights-based approaches in bothour organisation and in our programming. For now,this collection of case studies makes a compellingcase for how much we can achieve in addressinginequity and marginalisation by applying a rightsbasedapproach.Page 16

Principles into PracticeLIST OF ACRONYMSAIAppreciative InquiryALSAction Learning SystemCOCountry OfficeCRACausal-Responsibility AnalysisCRMCCommunity Resource Management CommitteeCSOCivil Society OrganizationGBVGender-Based ViolenceGEDGender Equity and DiversityH&NHealth and NutritionICESCRInternational Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural RightsIDIdentificationIDPInternally Displaced PersonIMRInfant Mortality RateLSPLocal Support StructureM&EMonitoring and evaluationMMRMaternal Mortality RateMPHMinistry of Public HealthNGONon-governmental organizationOVCYOrphans, vulnerable children, and youthPPMPressure Plates ModelRBARights-Based ApproachesSCASharecroppers AssociationSIGSpecial Interest GroupSMCSchool Management CommitteeUDHRUniversal Declaration of Human RightsUSAIDUnited States Agency for International DevelopmentVPRRCViolence Prevention and Rights Reinforcement CellPage 17

Principles into PracticeANNEX 1LIST OF RIGHTS-BASED APPROACHES CASE STUDIESNo Country Name of Case Abbreviation1 Bangladesh A Tradition Broken – A Strength Emerges. SHAHAR Project(Supporting Household Activities for Hygiene, Assets andRevenue) using the Pressure Plates Model (PPM)2 Bangladesh Securing Legitimate Rights of Sharecroppers –an Initiative of Life-No Pest Phase II Project3 Bangladesh Reducing Violence Against Women and PromotingWomen’s Rights4 Bolivia Promoting The Rights Of Working Children And Adolescents– Alternative Youth Education ProgrammeSHAHARSHCROPVAWAYE5 Burundi Use of Interactive Drama in Peace-Building Theatre6 Cambodia Highland Children’s Education Project HCE7 Guatemala From Anonymous to Female Citizens – the Post ConflictDemocratisation Project8 Guatemala Innovations on Rights Directed to Promotion of MaternalHealth – the 4-Delays ModelFemaleCitizensPMH9 Honduras Using Appreciative Inquiry for Organisational Change AI10 India Four Innovations in an Integrated Health and NutritionProject11 Peru Breaking the Silence – Using a Participatory BudgetPlanning Process to Build CitizenshipIHNPCitizenship12 Rwanda Applying The Causal-Responsibility Analysis Tool CRA13 Rwanda A Rights-Based Action Learning System for Monitoring andAccountability for Orphans, Vulnerable Children and Youth(OVCY) in Gitarama provinceALS14 Sierra Leone Upstream Approach to Human Rights UpstreamApproach15 Somalia Growing a Tree of Harmony in a Diverse Community – workwith the National Relief Organization (NRO)16 Thailand In Search for Rights – A Programme on Health forMigrant WorkersNROMigrant WorkersPage 18

Principles into PracticeANNEX 2CASE SUMMARIES2.1 A ‘TRADITION’ BROKEN –A ‘STRENGTH’ EMERGESSHAHAR PROJECTCARE BangladeshContext: One of the poorest, most denselypopulated and most corrupt countries in the world,Bangladesh has a substantial number of householdsthat have left their rural homes to earn athreadbare existence in the cities. This trend hasled to urban low-income settlements in which wholecommunities are vulnerable to inhumane andbarbaric evictions. SHAHAR (Supporting HouseholdActivities for Hygiene, Assets and Revenue) is oneof CARE’s integrated food security projects whichseeks to promote and protect food and livelihoodsecurity for vulnerable groups in four municipalitieswith a reach of 35,000 households.The initiative and its application: Two years intothe project, a new project co-ordinator led a seriesof in-depth reflective exercises with staff andpartners to understand how well the project wasprogressing, with a view to maximising itssustainable impact. These reflections showed thatSHAHAR had been conceived and designed asprimarily operational in its approach, focusing onknowledge transfer and developing infrastructurewithout paying attention to gross rightsviolations, the lack of good governance and theabsence of a safety net for a largely un-servedpopulation of urban poor.Internally, CARE’s staffing structure was adaptedto afford flexibility in working with both hard andsoft components (e.g. community mobilization).This replaced a more traditional project approach.Teams were formed that were able to approach therange of a community’s needs. Field managementbegan regularly convening the different teams toshare ideas and lessons learnt. At a strategic level,the co-ordination unit began linking with otherorganisations and policy-makers and formed acommittee of 15 major urban development anddonor agencies, known as the Bangladesh UrbanRound Table.SHAHAR then developed the Pressure Plates Model(PPM), based on the premise that any developmentachieved by an external project slowly erodes andeventually disappears unless the communities takescharge of their own lives. The model promotes andenables a process whereby the community identifiesits issues, organises itself, and mobilises forchange. Critical steps include establishing specialinterest groups by social and economic distinction,for example women-headed households, setting upCommunity Resource Management Committees(CRMC) with representation from each interestgroup, and forming Local Support Structures, knownas LSPs, who are responsible to the urban poor.Pressure is then exerted from interest groups whotake their issues to the CRMC who in turn applypressure on the LSPs with the aim of making localinstitutions and actors more responsive tocommunities for resolving issues sustainably.Results to date: Over the course of one and ahalf years, numerous examples of communityempowerment and mobilisation have been achieved.One of the most notable successes in increasing theaccountability of state and non-state actors was theChachra Check Post, a 20-year-old low-incomesettlement of 77 households evicted by thegovernment and left homeless. With the evictionand the subsequent death of one of its members,the community marched to the municipality todemand relocation. The two land-related claimsmade to local government resulted in the transferof permanent land and the government assumingresponsibility for land-filling and construction ofbasic infrastructure. This obviated the need forSHAHAR to invest further. A large part of thesuccess was a true partnership with the stateand service providers.Innovation: SHAHAR’s management succeeded inconverting a traditional project approach andstaffing structure to one more oriented towardscommunity empowerment and focused on therights of the vulnerable. The pilot arose after theproject team began assessing the effects of itstools and discussing the information collectedwith all levels of staff and external experts. Thiscatalyzed a series of fairly dramatic changes.These were carried forward despite the lack ofinterest from the donor in engaging policy-makersthrough the formation of the urban round table.Suggestions for building on the learning:The PPM model systematizes how a communityshould organise, recognise problems and buildnetworks with local support structures tocontinually address emerging issues. Thus, it isrelevant to most projects, rural or urban. Stafffacilitation skills are critical and the processrequires considerable time, owing to thesignificant behavioural change required.Page 19

Principles into PracticeDiagrammatic representation of pressureplates modelCARE BangladeshSIG = Special interest groupCRMC = Community Resource Management CommitteeLSP = Local support structurePage 20

Principles into Practice2.2 SECURING LEGITIMATERIGHTS OF SHARECROPPERSAN INITIATIVE OF LIFE-NO PEST PHASE IIPROJECTCARE BangladeshContext: The LIFE-NoPest project has been workingwith small-scale farmers in five different sites, oneof which consists primarily of sharecroppers. Theexploitative nature of sharecropping arrangementshas a negative impact on efforts to make farmproductivity more environmentally friendly as theydiscourage investment and the application ofimproved technology. Although the national LandReform Ordinance provides for an egalitariansharecropping system, this has not been the case inreality. Sharecroppers are often short-changed bythe duration of land tenancy and on the share ofthe harvest.The initiative and its application: CARE decidedto undertake a pilot to address the issue ofsharecropper rights and entitlements in relationto landowners, using a farmer field schoolapproach to raise awareness about human rightsand to build the sharecroppers’ capacity to claimtheir rights. The lives of 500 sharecropper familiesin the Chapai Nawabgonj district were changedthrough the project.Households were organised into 20 sharecropperassociations (SCAs). Their objectives were tobecome familiar with the sharecropping policiesand to claim their legitimate rights. Relationshipswith key actors in the community were builtfollowing an analysis of local power structures.This helped the project staff gain the sensitivitythey needed to facilitate rights issues.A rights forum consisting of government, NGOs,and local representatives was created and usedto give information about land policies andprocesses. In negotiation with land-owners,sharecroppers were taught a win-win strategy,arguing that the current pattern of land tenancyarrangement was a loss to both parties. Technicalsessions had to be facilitated to demonstrate thedisadvantages of short-term contracts and rightsabuses. The SCAs also engaged in advocacy tobring attention to the fact that sharecroppingpolicy was being poorly applied by land-owners.Results to date: In the case of the ChapaiNawabgonj sharecroppers, results show thatmembers of the SCAs are receiving more of theirentitlements according to the policy. In termsof empowerment, farmers are increasing theirleadership, networking and negotiation skills, as isevident in their willingness and confidence to talkwith landowners, organise press conferences, andraise issues with the Agricultural Minister. TheSCAs are also becoming recognised as communitybasedfarmer-led organisations addressing socialjustice at village level and resolving otherconflicts that require an understanding of humanrights such as dowry and family law.Innovation process: This was an ongoing,traditional project focused on technical issueswhich switched emphasis to a focus on rights.Once it was recognised that the exploitation ofsharecroppers was impacting negatively on theproject’s ability to increase small farmers’productivity, the project decided to address theissue of their rights. A pilot was set up to buildsharecroppers’ understanding of rights issues.This shift was aided by consultation with theRights & Social Justice and Governance Unitswithin CARE Bangladesh and led to severalworkshops/training sessions with local actors.Other “like-minded” NGOs and relevant literaturewere also consulted. Several ideas were generatedon the most appropriate approach. This wasfollowed by a filtering process and review periodwith CARE staff, other NGOs and governmentorganisations, concluding in the launch ofthe pilot.Suggestions for building on the learning:Empowering the poor to claim and enjoy theirrights requires three-to-four years’ back-up supportuntil there are sufficient levels of local resources,skills and confidence. The sustainability of SCAsmay need more ongoing support or local resourcesto be able to take more risks, strengthen theirleadership, mitigate class conflict in communities,engage in civic action and improve internalgovernance. The SCA idea could be built upon bybringing the associations into a national forum tostrengthen their collective force. CARE Bangladeshhas a plan to organize a national seminar that willinvite critical analysis of this initiative from anetwork of development partners.Page 21

Principles into Practicethrough alliances with a shared vision will bringabout a more just, peaceful and equitable societyfor poor and marginalized groups.Suggestions for building on the learning:Long-term involvement is necessary to achievesustainable results and to institutionalize theinitiative at local level. The use of popular mediais important for sensitizing communities aboutviolence and legal issues. The role of respectedleaders is also critical in gaining acceptance fordealing with sensitive issues.2.4 PROMOTING THE RIGHTSOF WORKING CHILDREN ANDADOLESCENTSCARE BoliviaContext: Increasing levels of poverty in Boliviahave driven girls and boys as young as seven intothe cities in search of a better life. Twenty-onepercent of the population is between the ages ofseven and 19, many of whom find themselves inpoorly paid jobs and street life. The majority ofthese children and adolescents belong toindigenous rural, farmer populations. They areextremely disadvantaged by their low educationalabilities, having abandoned school or neverentered the formal education system, and by thefact that Spanish is not their mother tongue. CAREBolivia’s Alternative Youth Education (AYE)programme was designed to meet the specificeducational and life-skill training needs of streetandworking-children, by offering them a tailoredcurriculum through night classes. For the initialpilot, six experimental schools in La Paz and onein El Alto were selected. The curriculum has beenincorporated into 47 other Educational Units inseven departments in Bolivia.The initiative and its application: While notdesigned to promote human rights as an end initself, the AYE programme saw the need toemphasise rights education to promote the dignityof these young people who were at risk, beingexploited and devalued by their teachers and toencourage respect for them. The programme notonly developed the children’s life skills but alsostrengthened their identity and self-worth,developed their abilities to define their rights andexercise their citizenship, protected their sexualand reproductive rights, and raised awareness ofgender equity to overcome discriminatoryattitudes and behaviours towards women.Strategies and achievements of the AYE• 250 teachers underwent training to strengthentheir classroom skills and to learn to facilitatea curriculum on rights, citizenship anddemocratic participation.• Mothers and fathers were sensitized to andprovided with information on the importanceof the integral development of the child. Theylearned the value of their support and increasedtheir abilities to communicate and enjoydialogue. They too have had the opportunityto recognize the importance of rights.• 520 adolescents were trained to be leaders andto orient their peers in the knowledge ofrights and citizenship. Their capacity to makedecisions affecting their own lives and tonegotiate, particularly in worker-employersituations, has been strengthened.• 7000 adolescents have developed life skillsand social abilities and have improvedknowledge about how to exercise their rights.Many participating students have also gaineda stronger social identity and increased selfesteem,leading to behavioural change andgreater self-discipline.• Young women who typically work as domesticmaids or small-scale street sellers have madestrides in their personal development andeducational achievements, gaining the potentialto promote themselves as leaders in education.Innovation process: Recognising the specificneeds of working and street children, CARE Boliviadeveloped an alternative education curriculumgeared towards their holistic development.The programme was based on a vision of educationthat encompassed empowerment of young people,especially girls and young women, to strengthentheir self-worth, identity, and knowledge of rightsas healthy, reproductive individuals and ascitizens. This was achieved by also addressing thebehaviour and attitudes of parents, teachers, andthe institutions with which they engaged.Suggestions for building on the learning:It is essential to find and create opportunitiesfor political advocacy aimed at enforcing thosepolicies which defend the rights of children andadolescents. This requires stronger networks ofindividuals and civil society organisations who arebetter able to respond to the demands of thispopulation, not only in the areas of health andpsychology but also in civic participation and theexercise of rights.It became apparent that adults needed to freethemselves from their limiting assumptions aboutadolescents and young people and to fosterPage 23

Principles into Practicepartnerships that promoted the participation ofyoung people in their own development. For CARE,the level of trust between facilitators and theclient population is very important – it must be arelationship in which friendship and equity arerecognisable. The programme could be made evenmore effective by:• breaking down the population by age groupand designing relevant interventions;• addressing other rights, such as freedom ofexpression, the right to equal opportunity,rights to private property, personal securityand so on;• extending citizenship and democracyeducation to the entire population in Bolivia,particularly to children and young people sothat they view themselves as full participantsin civil society. This is needed urgently.2.5 USE OF INTERACTIVEDRAMA IN PEACE BUILDINGCARE BurundiContext: Plagued with conflict since the end ofcolonial rule, the people of Burundi have sufferedtrauma, loss, disempowerment, and the erosion oftraditional conflict resolution bodies. Against thisbackdrop, CARE Burundi began an innovativepeace education project in 2001 to revivetraditional conflict resolution structures(‘Bashingantahe’) and help communities reconcileconflict to further their own development. Anassessment study conducted with various segmentsof society revealed that distinct, homogeneousgroups can be quite open about sensitive orcontroversial issues but this was not the case in amore diverse group. It also found that sensitiveissues could be approached through the use ofstories or proverbs more than through directquestioning. Furthermore, reinforcing the capacityof the Bashingtahe seemed a viable avenue forresolving issues at local level. Based on examplesin the Balkans as well as the work of Search forCommon Ground, CARE turned to interactivetheatre as a way to create safe space fordiscussing sensitive issues.The tool and how it has been applied:CARE field staff worked with associations, theBashingtahe and other community members toidentify issues of conflict, unresolved tensionsand sensitive issues which contributed to themarginalization of certain members of thepopulation. These themes were then discussedwith a local theatre group, the Tubiyage, trainedby Search for Common Ground. The Tubiyagedeveloped a story around the theme, for examplePage 24the return and reintegration of refugees or formercombatants, with no set script and adapted to theaudience. As the conflict is about to erupt in thedrama, it is interrupted and the audience isinvited to play a role and alter the scene to avoidthe conflict. When the audience reaches anemotional high-point, comedy is added to allowpeople to digest and internalize the issues.Discussions take place after the performance toenable everyone to talk about the problems, analyzethe critical issues together, and determine the rolesand responsibilities of all players. The longer-termeffect is continued learning which in turn leads tothe population advocating for social change.As interactive drama is recreational, it is open to allmembers of the population. Mothers, children,government officials, the army, and even members ofrebel groups attend, all on the same footing. At theend of the performance, all members of the audienceare engaged in discussing and resolving issues.Results to date: The use of interactive theatrehas focused attention on two main types of issue:those that can be resolved by encouraging peopleto work more closely together or to forgive eachother as well as those which deal with the barriersfaced by marginalized people, such as land use.It has also been beneficial to involve theBashingantahe in the performances and to buildtheir capacity. Several councils realised the needto include others, such as young people andwomen, in resolving conflict.Spillover EffectsOther CARE projects have observed the advances madeby the peace education project for the purpose ofcommunity problem analysis and planning. In onelocation where interactive theatre was being used, themembers of that community felt empowered to maketheir own decisions. The Caprin Project offers a rotatingcredit scheme of goats and had traditionally left thedecision of which households would benefit and inwhat order to the project staff, local administration,and village leaders. Since the peace education projectwas implemented, the conflict over who gets whatbefore whom has been supplanted by control overdecisions by community members, both men andwomen, who are part of the scheme. Now theassociation, or credit scheme, makes decisions andplans for the future which it hitherto had not done.Innovation process: While the idea of interactivedrama is not new, its introduction into CAREBurundi’s Programming for conflict resolution hasbeen both innovative and beneficial. CARE Burundicontributed to its innovativeness by invitingcommunity members to identify the themes and

Principles into Practiceadapting the tool to the cultural context and in sucha way that sensitive issues could be addressed.Suggestions for building on the learning: It ispossible to scale up the use of interactive theatreso long as culturally accepted ways of addressingsensitive issues can be adopted. Most cultureshave their own forms of drama, and the arts canbe adapted to help these communities addressconflict. CARE Rwanda staff recently visited itsactivities. Cross-learning between the Tubiyageand other theatre groups in Rwanda, for example,may be possible. In a next phase, CARE intends tostrengthen the capacity of the Tubiyage and totarget government officials in a move to addressthe most critical issues plaguing Burundian society.2.6 HIGHLAND CHILDREN’SEDUCATION PROJECTCARE CambodiaContext: Highland indigenous peoples, such asthe Tampuen, Jarai and Kreung, occupy themajority of the remote northeastern province ofRatanakiri. With their own distinct languages andcultures, they differ from the lowland Khmerpeople who are being encouraged by thegovernment to migrate into the highlands.Indigenous peoples are disadvantaged by theirlack of Khmer language skills – the language ofinstruction in government schools – and have thelowest enrolment and retention rates in Cambodia.They face enormous external pressures on allaspects of their lives. CARE Cambodia designed thepilot Highland Children’s Education Project (HCE)project aimed at providing relevant education tohighland indigenous communities in partnershipwith the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports,the communities themselves, and localorganisations. It is being implemented in threeTampuen and three Kreung remote villages whichhave never had schools or any form of education.The initiative and its application: The HCEproject has evolved from being primarily aneducation project into one that addressescommunity development and empowerment in aholistic manner. The knowledge and skills thatchildren gain assist them and the widercommunities to face their uncertain future.Children are taught basic skills in their mothertongue, Khmer literacy and numeracy, andtraditional livelihood skills such as makingroosting baskets for chickens. The notion ofcommunity ownership is pivotal to the project’ssuccess. Communities establish their own schoolboards based on traditional decision makingprocesses. The boards then choose whichcommunity members will train as teachers, buildand run the schools and supervise studentprogress. Gender equity on the school boards isrespected and there is a special focus on girls’education. The very idea of bilingual education inrespect of the language and cultural rights ofindigenous children distinguished this approach.After significant levels of advocacy, it has finallybeen recognised by the provincial office of education.Pilot Project Components1 Community governance and managementof schools2 Building a team of ethnic minority resourcepersons to support the establishment andoperations of community schools3 Establishment of a stable teaching force of20 community teachers, increasing theircompetence through a community-basedteacher education programme4 Adaptation of the Ministry’s (MoEYS)curriculum to local school settings5 Linkages and advocacy with the provincialand national system of the Ministry (MoEYS)Results to date: Children are able to undertaketraditional activities in their mother tongue anddisplay more respect for community elders. In onevillage, school board members felt the village hadbecome more cohesive, as the school provided afocus that resulted in people working together more.It was noticed that teachers and the school boardfeel a duty to help children. Other effects such asbetter hygiene and a slight reduction in illness inthe village were also attributed to the project."The children are the future leaders of the village.If our future leaders are literate and educated, thenwe will be able to protect the land and forest of theTampuen people into the future. Others will notdare to exploit and threaten us".Parent, Paor Kei Chong villageInnovation process: CARE developed an approachcentred on a ‘learning community’ including staff,school boards and teachers, using the education ofindigenous children as its core issue. Thisembedded control and ownership in thecommunities and helped to enrich them bypromoting the language and culture of theindigenous peoples.Page 25

Principles into PracticeSuggestions for building on the learning:The pilot faced initial challenges to win the supportof government for community schools and bilingualeducation. Potential scale-up is now possible thanksto a number of opportunities that have arisen topresent the project’s results at local, regional andnational fora and to interest from a number ofparties including the government. While it grappleswith short-term donor timeframes, CARE is looking ata longer-term commitment to the indigenouscommunities who have expressed a clear vision foreducation and development.Page 262.7 FROM ANONYMOUSTO FEMALE CITIZENSCARE GuatemalaContext: A racist culture has prevailedin Guatemala for centuries and ismanifest in the facelessness of a highproportion of the population, above allthose with Mayan ancestry who do notenjoy the most fundamental humanrights. Mayan women stand to lose themost. As “women of third category,”they possess no identificationdocuments (identity card, birthcertificate, etc.), leaving themdisenfranchised as citizens, unable toparticipate in elections, leave thecountry, or be given access to creditand other basic services. The situationgrew worse for them during the armedconflict when the municipalityregisters were burned or the militaryauthorities destroyed ID documents.Further disadvantaged by their remoteand poor living conditions in placeslike Cuilco, Ixtahuacan orHuehuetenango, the women couldhardly afford to travel to urban areasto visit municipal offices. During therainy season, walking was the onlypossible mode of transport. The plightof Mayan women inspired thedevelopment of the Post-ConflictDemocratization Project.The initiative and its application: Inits goal to modify the racist treatmentof citizens by public authorities atmunicipal level, the project focused onthe lack of identification documentsfor women, first by encouraging themto go to request their documents fromthe municipal offices and register withthe Supreme Electoral Tribunal offices.In most cases, those who did try failed. Ratherthan give up, the project innovated with publicauthorities. For the first time in the modern historyof Guatemala, the municipal officers and theelection registrar spent an entire day in the farthestcommunities and assisted the women on apersonalised basis to register. Community leaders,project staff, and municipal offices had to invest instrong relationships with one another to achievethe levels of support required for the project.Confidence in the goodwill of the municipalgovernment had to be fostered amongstcommunities, while the Supreme Electoral Tribunaloffices, municipalities and mayors had to beconvinced of the importance of innovating withpublic service. This entailed training and awarenessraising with various institutions. A departmentaldocumentation forum conducted documentationcampaigns for each and every woman.Results to date: Municipal personnel fulfilledtheir commitment and took their services to thecommunities, bringing registration books andoffice supplies, including typewriters and cameras.A mobile documentation centre was set up in eachcommunity and the project changed perceptions ofpublic service on all sides. The women of the AguaDulce village, El Rodeo (Cuilco), La Cumbre andEl Papal (Ixtahuacan) went from being anonymousto visible citizens with their full identity rights.Women between the ages of 30 and 60 voted forthe first time in general and public elections on9 November, 2003. Rates of participation inelections in the two provinces increased between1999 and 2003. Women from 50 to 60 years of ageentered a relationship with the state for the firsttime in their lives.Innovation process: The democratization projectforged a relationship between the rights holdersand duty bearers to resolve a fundamental humanrights issue that caused the disenfranchisement ofMayan women. Change occurred on both sides -the image of public servants reportedly improvedthrough responsible action that required a specialeffort, and the situation of Mayan women was madeclear to public authorities. Innovating with thedelivery of public services to accommodate a neglectedsegment of the population with no citizenshiprights was central to this endeavour to bring aboutlonger-term positive change for these women.Suggestions for building on the learning:CARE Guatemala plans to develop four moredocumentation campaigns in different villages inthe department of Huehuetenango. The projectcan be applied to the remaining 29 municipalitiesin the department, where high percentages ofanonymous Mayan women have no documentation.However, this requires a long-term commitment.In Latin America, there are women who suffer the

Principles into Practicesame exclusion and denial of basic human rightsfor which documentation is indispensable. Movinggovernment services to be more closely located tothese women is equally relevant elsewhere.2.8 INNOVATIONS ON RIGHTSDIRECTED TO PROMOTION OFMATERNAL HEALTHCARE GuatemalaContext: The majority of the population in theDepartment of Baja Verapaz are Achí, K´ekchí andPokomchí. High levels of illiteracy and povertyprevail amongst the women. Girls have limitedopportunities for primary education or to attendany type of schooling. This, in turn, determinestheir access to information on self-care, health,and knowledge about their civil rights or how toexercise and claim them. The disadvantagedposition of indigenous women accounts for highmaternal mortality rates. Innumerable barriersdelay the quality care a woman needs duringpregnancy and through to delivery. CAREGuatemala decided on a project to promotematernal health in five districts (Salamá, Rabinal,San Miguel, San Jerónimo y Purulhá) of BajaVerapaz in collaboration with the Ministry ofPublic Health (MPH) by improving access to andquality of essential obstetric care.The initiative and its application: The projectfirst undertook to explore what restricted women’saccess to Emergency Obstetric Services. This wasdone through an analysis and participativeplanning approach with central and local MPHstaff, piloted in the district of Salamá. Otherinstitutions were also invited to participate.The investigation and the subsequent design ofstrategies to improve the health of women andtheir newborn babies was structured around “the4-Delays Model.” The aim was to highlight andthen overcome the obstacles to obtaining propercare. The first delay could be attributed to thepregnant woman and her family not recognisingdanger signs. The second delay often resulted, forexample, when a woman was denied her right todecide the care she needed. The decision wasoften made by her father or another male relative.The third delay could be due to inadequatetransport and the fourth delay could relate todeficient, incompetent, and/or disrespectfultreatment by health care providers. The results ofthis inquiry process with the women werepresented to health personnel – the solutionsproposed came from the women, midwives, healthpromoters, leaders, and health service providers.The 4-Delays ModelDelay #1:Delay #2:Delay #3:Delay #4:Delays in problem recognitionDelays in deciding to seek careDelays in reaching the health facilityDelays in receiving treatment ata health facilityResults to date: The methodology using the4-delays model permitted men, women, andcommunity leaders to design, validate and start toimplement strategies to reduce maternal mortalityfrom the community standpoint. Women whoparticipated in the analysis had input intocommunity action plans. Community councils anddevelopment committees formed withrepresentation of women who were aware of theproblems they face. Community committeesobtained seed money to transport women withobstetric emergencies to referral centres. Toimprove their knowledge and practices, midwiveshad the opportunity of rotations in the regionalhospital of Salamá. Innovation process: The pilot project linked theobstetric needs of under-served women withhealth providers, including midwives, andcommunity institutions whose role and obligationit was to deliver quality services to this clientpopulation. Since it began in April 2003, the projecthas made progress in facilitating a change in healthcare provider attitudes. Once involved in thecommunity, health care providers began to act onthe recommendations they were given on how toimprove services. The learning process made gooduse of the wisdom and experience of the communities,created a voice for women, gave them control overtheir own and their children’s lives, and broughtabout recognition of women’s right to health andthe responsibility of health institutions.Suggestions for building on the learning:Following this pilot in Salamá district, the Ministryagreed that the model would be institutionalisednationally as the strategy to reduce maternalmortality. It is expected to invite broadparticipation of different sectors and favourcommunity involvement.Page 27

Principles into Practice2.9 USING APPRECIATVEINQUIRY FORORGANISATIONAL CHANGECARE Honduras"To really make a change, we must be the changewe want to see.”(The Enactment Principle of Appreciative Inquiry)Context: CARE Honduras and other country officesin the central America region have been workingtogether on a gender, diversity and organisationaldevelopment initiative. A network of countries hasformed around learning and experimenting withthe methodology of Appreciative Inquiry (AI),each with a different purpose and according to thepriorities and opportunities of each country. CAREHonduras sought out the methodology to promoteinternally what it promotes externally, consistentwith CARE’s rights-based programming. It is onlywhen people change, individually and collectively,that the organisation changes.The initiative and its application: CARE Hondurasorganised a workshop to develop a gender strategywith a rights-based approach using the AImethodology. Colleagues from CARE Guatemala,Salvador and Nicaragua were invited aswere staff from different levels of programme andprogramme support in CARE Guatemala andrepresentatives from Honduran communities.The diversity of the group helped to create avision and strategy that were applicable bothinternally and externally and had relevance for theregion. The entire workshop was run without anagenda, pre-defined objectives, presentations,rules or limitations. The facilitators had a planthat changed depending on the group dynamic.The 5-D model of appreciative inquiry shaped theworkshop and centred on “who we are” and “who wewant to be.” Conversation Cafes, an adaptation ofthe native American tradition of the “talking stick”,were also introduced to promote conversationwithout interruption or judgment. Drama was usedto introduce the topic of rights-based approaches,leading in to examples of participation and how tofoster it internally and externally.Results to date: Participants told stories ofsuccessful moments in relationships between menand women. The informality of telling stories on asensitive topic such as gender encouraged a highlevel of participation. A conversation about “whatgender means to you” reached the consensus thatmen and women were equal and needed tounderstand each other, work together, and sharethe power. Throughout the workshop, a sense oftrust and support prevailed which enabled eachperson to decide how they wanted to contribute.Page 28

Principles into PracticeInnovation process: This pilot centred on apersonal and organisational change process, usinga well-adapted methodology for trust building, topromote the values and actions internally in CAREthat are expected of rights-based programmingand in support of its gender strategy. It aimed atempowering staff to participate, make their owncommitments, and foster natural leadership.Suggestions for building on the learning:Improvement is needed in finding ways todocument the creative ideas that came up in theconversations. It was critical to ask clear andcomprehensive questions.2.10 FOUR INNOVATIONS INAN INTEGRATED NUTRITIONAND HEALTH PROJECTCARE IndiaContext: In Chhattisgarh state, the infantmortality rate is 76 per 1000 live births and thematernal mortality rate is 498 per 100,000 livebirths. CARE India started an Integrated Healthand Nutrition (H&N) project in 2001 reaching808,000 beneficiaries and introduced four bestpractices aimed at sustaining positive changes incommunity health. By disseminating thesepractices, CARE India sought to:• raise awareness among beneficiaries of theimportance of nutrition and health interventions;• bring about a change in behaviour and practiceswithin the rural community which accountedfor high rates of infant and maternal mortality;• and strengthen the health care system bybuilding the capacities of government officialsfrom the grassroots to the developmentalblock level to the district level.The initiative and its application: The diagrambelow highlights the aim, specific innovations andresults achieved throughout this project. All fourinnovations relied significantly on advocacy as acritical step. They also emphasized the voice andparticipation of women.Results to date: The results from a project of thisscale are multifarious. Communities, and especiallywomen, began to voice their opinions andunderstand the problems. Responsible individualsand institutions became more accountable andtransparent. Networks of officials and beneficiariesbegan to form, enabling the latter to voice theirconcerns and influence decisions. Information wasshared more fully between villagers and serviceproviders. Coverage and access to health andAIMINNOVATIONRESULTThe communitiesshould be able todemand and accessservices from theState.Strengthen localgovernance to takeup H&N issues as apriority during thequarterly VillageParliamentH&N on agenda of 3most populateddistricts withconcrete benefitsto pregnant ruralwomenEnable peoplecenteredadvocacyon the IntegratedChild ServiceDevelopmentProgramMeet for EmpowermentLearning &Advocacy (MELA) – aforum for learningand making needsheard to officialsMinistry resumespractice of “TakeHome Rations” vs.Spot Feeding,increasing accessto health servicesPromote right toinformation onhealthSocial Auditconducted in severalvillages to makepeople moreproactive about H&NThrough communitydialogue andpressure on govt.leaders, variousproblems weresolvedProvide disadvantaged,malnourishedchildren with betternutritional optionsRevitalize the “fostermother” (DharamDai)tradition to ensureEssential NutritionActionsReplication ofDharamDaisbreaking barriers ofcaste and creed toadopt malnourishedchildrenPage 29

Principles into Practicenutrition services improved as a result of thereinstitution of the “Take Home Rations,” therevitalization of the DharamDai, the incorporationof health and nutrition issues into localgovernance for the first time in the country, andincreasing pressure from grassroots women exercisingtheir right to information.Innovation process: The project simultaneouslytackled several aspects of the health and nutritionsituation for women and infants/children throughthe introduction of four innovations. All fouraimed to make sustainable changes by empoweringwomen and their communities and engagingvarious stakeholders to put pressure on dutybearers to take responsible action. The projectmade best use of traditions and existing structuresto create positive changes, not only in health andnutrition, but also in the general health ofcommunities and their ability to raise their “voicewith dignity.”Suggestions for building on the learning:The innovative approaches are being replicatedthrough demonstration sites, sustained advocacyat all levels, and through sheer momentum.2.11 BREAKING THE SILENCECARE PeruContext: CARE Peru has been running the REDESAprogramme (Food Security Networks) since 2000.The aim of the programme is to:• create the conditions for sustainable food security;• strengthen local institutions;• empower citizens so that they can play theirpart in the development of their communities;• support democratic processes;• stimulate local and regional economies; and• tackle discrimination in all forms.Project’s Applied Definition of Citizenship• the capacity to exercise and demand theobservance of one’s rights;• the power to be involved in state decisionmakingat national, regional and local levelwith respect to economic, social and culturalrights and foreign policy; and• the ability to demand accountability and tohave joint responsibility for the search fordevelopment solutions.The CARE office in Ayacucho has focused on thepoorest regions of the country which have beenhardest hit by the political violence between theShining Path and the Armed Forces. CAREundertook a pilot project to restore the right to beheard and the right to participation amongstexcluded or marginalized people in extremelypoverty-stricken rural areas. It selected theQuechua-speaking population in the district ofHuaccana in Chincheros province. The team heldseveral meetings before selecting a participatorybudget planning process for the municipal officeaimed at building citizenship.The initiative and its application: The projectlasted 12 months, encompassing the design,preparation and training workshops with thepopulations, implementation, and evaluationof the participatory budget design process.The project team, local authorities, municipalofficials, and civil society organizations,particularly those representing excluded groups,validated and approved the proposal.Implementation and monitoring of the budgetproposal is done with institutions in the area.The process is systematized and outlined in abook called “Democratizing public budgets.”It was understood that to build up citizenship fordisenfranchised people the project had to encouragenew forms of self-perception and opportunitiesfor practice. This was why the process also providedthem with information, knowledge, and a reaffirmationof the value of rights and responsibilities.A parallel stream focused on educating people abouttheir rights – economic, social, cultural and political.Materials in Quechua and Spanish were developed ondifferent rights, providing a guide to how torecognise when they are not observed, when they areviolated, who is responsible for upholding them,where to go to report rights violation, and so on.Results to date: The project took note of resultsat individual, group, national, and institutionallevels. At the individual level, improvements wereseen in self-esteem and being confident to voiceopinions publicly in one’s mother tongue. Peopledeveloped better relations with the authorities andwomen adopted leadership roles. Groups acquiredthe capacity to identify rights violations andsolutions to these. Consensus-building committeesat zonal and district levels were institutionalised.Excluded groups participated in local governmentaffairs. Local authorities and the state developednew attitudes and discourses based on respect forrights. At national level, lobbying efforts shapedthe rules and guidelines for the ParticipatoryBudget Planning issued by the Ministry ofEconomy and Finance and the project contributedto the formulation of regulations governing theFramework Law on Participatory Budgets. At theinstitutional level, the experience of citizenparticipation and local governance in rural andpoor areas was ground-breaking. The populationnow monitors compliance with the decisions adoptedPage 30

Principles into Practiceon municipal budgets, which in turn makes theseinstitutions more transparent and efficient.Innovation process: The one-year process is aninnovation in building citizenship for excludedgroups through an exercise in citizen participationin local governance. The process of planning linkedterritories, strengthened development processes,and facilitated the practice of rights education.Suggestions for building on the learning: Thetraining of experts from other institutions andauthorities, and the materials produced will helpreplicate the process. The new legal frameworksalso guarantee the sustainability of the budgetaryprocess. More systematic processes that integratethe interventions of different institutions are neededto sustain processes of ownership and changes inattitudes, conduct, discourse and behaviours.2.12 APPLYING THECAUSAL-RESPONSIBILITYANALYSIS TOOLCARE RwandaContext: In its long-range strategic plan for2002-2006, CARE Rwanda began emphasizinghuman rights and diversity as core values andright-based approaches, civil societystrengthening and advocacy as central to itsstrategy for reducing poverty and advancing socialjustice. To make the shift away from needs-based,opportunistic programming to more holistic,principled programming grounded in RBA, variousintegration processes were undertaken. One wasthe holistic analysis of the root causes ofeconomic insecurity affecting the poorest andmost food-insecure province of Rwanda -Gikongoro. As a participatory and planningprocess, the causal-responsibility analysis (CRA)tool sought to identify fundamental and specificcauses of economic insecurity, general humanrights concerns, responsible actors and theirresponsibilities. Through this process, root causesrelated to (a) marginalization, discrimination, andsocial injustice affecting the most vulnerablesegments of society and (b) the norms, politicalsystems and structures that perpetuate the powerimbalances were elucidated. The exercise helpedCARE, in partnership with others, to influence theexisting systems and structures in favour of thepoor and create opportunities to promote thefulfillment of human rights responsibilities by keyactors. Operationally, the analysis was expected toevolve a rights-based programme approach versusa project approach for the province.The initiative and its application: The causalresponsibilityanalysis tool, as illustrated, looks ateach level of causation from fundamental tointermediate to immediate in order to identify boththe gaps from a human rights perspective in acommunity’s conditions and the actors at differentlevels who have some capacity to address thesegaps. Within a human rights framework, capacitiesbecome legal responsibilities for governments andmoral responsibilities for all. As such, it does notignore the range of responsible actors, fromindividual household members and traditionalleaders to international civil society organizationsand multinational corporations. The appointed CAREprogramme team, in collaboration with governmentauthorities and civil society representatives,decided target groups, geographic coverage, andother key aspects for the analytical exercise whichthen took place with the involvement of themarginalized groups in four districts, one per week,in the province.Causal AnalysisOutcomesImmediatecausesIntermediatecausesFundamentalcausesCausal-Responsibility AnalysisUnrealizedRightsWho IsResponsible(How/ To WhatExtent)?What Are They Ways toDoing (+ or -)and Why?PromoteResponsibleActionResults to date: The exercise produced usefulinformation on the concerns of the mostmarginalised and on the fundamental causes oftheir marginalisation relating to power relations.The exercise influenced decision-makers bycreating an opportunity for them to discuss issueswith communities and to listen to people’s views,even when discriminatory attitudes were revealedthroughout the process. Importantly, the exerciseraised awareness of rights and responsibilities,although not without some discomfort, givensensitivities around underlying issues. Riskassessment and management should be madepart of the approach.Innovation process: For staff, integrating ananalysis of human rights and responsibility into anexploration of underlying causes of poverty wasitself innovative. Moreover, a participatory processthat engages a wide range of responsible actorsimplies a built-in process of awareness raising anddialogue around rights and responsibilities whichhas not been a typical focus or intervention forCARE. A central feature to the tool is the jointengagement of both rights holders and dutybearers, opening the space for honest discussiontowards the emergence of shared goals.Page 31

Principles into PracticeSuggestions for building on the learning:CARE Rwanda has developed a longer-term plan forutilizing the results and lessons from the exerciseto engage CARE and other RBA supporters in aregional working group in reflection on theprocess and outcomes. Programmatically, it aimsto develop a methodological approach tounderstanding and addressing power imbalancesand will initially take more immediate steps toachieve the specific objective of improvinggovernance in the province. Any attempt to usethis tool should be a collaborative, group effortwith all stakeholders and should not be carried outby an external consultant.2.13 A RIGHTS-BASEDACTION LEARNING SYSTEMFOR PARTICIPATORYMONITORING ANDACCOUNTABILITYCARE RwandaContext: CARE Rwanda is seeking ways tostrengthen and increase the sustainable impact onthe livelihoods and rights of its client population,in particular orphans, vulnerable children andyouth (OVCY). In the province of Gitarama, CARE isexpanding its work with households headed bychildren and youth who receive food, psychosocialsupport, HIV/AIDS awareness, access to basichealth and legal services, vocational training, andincome generation from CARE and local partners.To be more responsive to the expressed views anddemands of this vulnerable group, CARE isdeveloping a participatory monitoring and actionlearning system to keep close track of changes intheir conditions and assess how the programmecan be more effective at facilitating therealisation of their rights and aspirations.Through this initiative, CARE Rwanda will be moreresponsible for the results of its interventions andwill demonstrate its accountability to the clientpopulation by collecting, on a regular, continualbasis, information on client-perceived successesand failures and adjusting, as much as possible,organizational approaches and practice in response.The initiative and its application: CARE Rwandaconcedes that CARE and other NGOs have not beensufficiently accountable for the results –foreseen/unforeseen and positive/negative – ortheir work. This RBA pilot is especially aimed atimproving CARE’s accountability, inviting regularfeedback from clients on CARE’s work to act ontheir views of its interventions. The actionlearning system makes use of a child rightsframework with categories drawn from theConvention on the Rights of the Child, therebygrounding the results of this participatorymonitoring exercise in a legal context that shouldcompel more responsive action, not only fromCARE, but also a wide range of other, especiallystate, actors. Participatory methodologies havebeen developed to enable OVCY clients to freelyexpress and follow up their views, concerns andrecommendations about CARE’s interventions.Results to date: Staff and local partners haverecognized the value of more systematicfeedback – local partner representatives havejoined the team to carry the initiative forward.Notwithstanding a recognized need for CARE tobe more accountable for its results, the pilothighlights many challenges of engaging in thisprocess. Staff time and resources are at a premiumand donors will not fund a monitoring process of amore reflective nature, going beyond the agreedworkplan and results. Moreover, the multiplicity ofdonors for projects focused on OVCY in Gitaramacomplicates the efforts of an integratedmonitoring and evaluation system that has tomeet donor requirements as well as incorporateparticipatory monitoring and learning. The abilityto engage a wider range of actors serving OVCY atthe very outset in order to compel them to takeresponsible action is also crucial to systematisingthe reflection process. This is no less challengingthan managing donor requirements.Innovation process: This innovation gives astrong message to CARE staff to view themselvesas promoters of human dignity and rights and toview so-called beneficiaries as rights-bearingclients with a right to be heard and, morespecifically, to participate in decisions affectingtheir lives. As such, they should be enabled tohold CARE responsible for its actions. The initialstep in the process was forming a team made upof Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) staff andsocial worker staff, and overseen by the AssistantCountry Director for Programmes to develop a planfor taking the pilot forward. A consultantspecializing in participatory monitoring was hiredto assist the country office, taking into accountbest practice in the wider child rights anddevelopment community, to design an appropriatemethodology to first critically analyse therelationship between clients and CARE and thenprovide suggestions on how to improve it. On thisbasis, the methodology was developed, pre-tested,and integrated into the existing monitoring andevaluation system. Page 32

Principles into Practice(d) recognition of the importance ofconsultation with all relevant actors.These serve as valuable lessons to otherinterested country offices.2.15 GROWING A TREE OFHARMONY IN A DIVERSECOMMUNITYCARE SomaliaContext: Somalia remains “stateless” after thecollapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991.The legacy of the decades-long authoritarian ruleand the concurrent civil war that pitted clansagainst one another rendered the countryfragmented and its population destitute. Withouta broadly supported central government, clanbasedtraditional institutions and religiousauthorities fill the power vacuum. The people ofGaldogob District along the border with Ethiopia,95 km northwest of Galkayo, are largely pastoralcommunities with a distinct clan identity from themainstream Puntlanders. Under the USAID-fundedCivil Society Expansion programme to supportnascent Somali organisations, CARE had beensupporting the local NGO National ReliefOrganisation (NRO) to increase access to animalhealth services for rural families in GaldogobDistrict. One and half years into the project, CAREencouraged its partner to pilot a rights-basedapproach. This initiative is part of CARE Somalia’sdocumentation of ongoing learning processes.The initiative and its application: CARE Somalia’saim to pilot RBA came during the third phase of aproject based on a proposal by NRO that hadoriginally made decisions with little input fromcommunity members or civil authorities in order tomeet a deadline. NRO changed tack as it becameclear from discussions with a broader range ofcommunity representatives that the minority clan,women and others had been excluded by theproject unintentionally. The poor in thecommunity were made up of the minority clan,women, and internally displaced persons whosemain livelihoods were not livestock herding andwhose survival often depended on the exploitationof natural resources. After NRO moved its officefrom Galkayo to Galdogob to learn more about thecommunities, they came to know where thedisparities lay. In fact, access to and use ofresources such as grazing land and water has longbeen a source of intense conflict.Through a wealth ranking exercise and discussionwith community groups, the project identifiedsocial groups based on means of livelihood andwealth level and then analyzed benefits/harmsfrom the project. This revealed a relationshipbetween the level of participation of a group andlevel of benefit.Results to date: The application of the benefitsharmtool in a diverse community is useful forexposing how benefit to one group can be a harmto another. The results of the analysis led theproject to be more inclusive of minority clanmembers and women. These efforts did not alwayswork. Women’s contribution gained widerrecognition but some minority clan membersmoved out of the communities, feeling theirlivelihoods threatened in the long run by theenvironmental campaign. NRO as a localorganisation demonstrated the commitment tolearn from these experiences.Innovation process: The RBA pilot with NROdelved into issues of power relations through aparticipatory process of analysing the socioculturalcontext. This revealed who was benefitingor not benefiting from the project. The languageof equal worth and rights helped sensitizecommunities and address in the project theunintended exclusion of socially marginalizedgroups. The pilot also pointed to the possibility ofa project gradually evolving into a rights-basedapproach if the implementing agency is openmindedand willing to learn deeply about theexisting patterns of power and wealth and use thisknowledge flexibly.In one of the earlier meetings with communities, NRO drewan analogy of a tree to explain the interdependency betweendifferent groups to secure their rights and the equalimportance of every group to the community as a whole.Page 34

Principles into PracticeSuggestions for building on the learning:Much was learned about the importance of hiddenpower relationships in the communities, theirconsequences for the marginalized, and theprocesses for grappling with them. The poor canoften internalise existing power structures and notquestion authority. This means it is important toaffirm their equal worth and engage in ongoingdialogue with dominant groups at the same timeso that they fully realise the concerns of themarginalized. Furthermore, local NGOs like NROmay be able to address sensitive issues in aculturally appropriate manner, but externalassistance may be helpful in critically analysingthe foundation of their own values and norms soas not to perpetuate patterns of injustice.2.16 IN SEARCH FOR RIGHTS:A PROGRAMME ON HEALTHOF MIGRANT WORKERSCARE Thailand/Raks Thai FoundationContext: Thailand has a migrant population of2.5 million. Most of these migrants enter Thailandillegally through its long land borders withMyanmar, Cambodia and Laos. In 1996, CAREThailand started a simple research study in theport town of Mahachai to understand the risk ofHIV-AIDS among migrant workers from Myanmar.Owing to the language barrier and their illegalstatus, this population was highly under-served atthe time. The study revealed much about howmigrant workers sought health treatment and thebarriers they faced. CARE began a series of stepsto defend the rights of the migrant population.The initiative and its application: Thegovernment policy was unfavourable to migrantworkers due to the economic crisis in the late ‘90s.However, this shifted in 2002 to allowregistration, repatriation and insurance formigrant workers on whom Thai industriesdepended for low cost labour and to fill jobsunpopular with Thais. After an initial registrationof 500,000 workers, the numbers begandiminishing over the years. What follows is thechronology of steps taken by Raks Thai from1997 to the present.Actions Taken by CARE / Raks ThaiFoundation (1997 – present)• Small grant from new donor to open a smallfamily planning service centre in Mahachai neara large shrimp-peeling market where 100,000Burmese migrants, mostly women, worked.• The Field Coordinator writes stories voicingperspectives of migrant workers. Invites twoEnglish newspapers to write stories.• Small AIDS prevention project in two provincesfor Burmese and Cambodian migrant workersworking on Thai fishing boats• Volunteer migrant workers hired tocommunicate with other workers. Ei Ei, aBurmese doctor, hired to communicate directly.• Raks Thai adopts first vision, mission andstrategic plan. The Board agrees on strategicdirection to address issues of migrant workersand their access to health services as anorganisational advocacy issue.• Due to restrictions on health services andgap in preventive health programmes,Raks Thai collaborated with Thai Lawyers’Council to conduct “legal clinics” at migrantcommunities in Mahachai, independent offunded project activity.• National workshop on migrant workers andaccess to health in Thailand organized.A network of NGOs formed with the two RaksThai staff as active members. Small grantsfunds secured to support network meetingsand training on advocacy skills.• Raks Thai works with five NGOs and Ministryof Public Health in organizing HIV/AIDSprevention activities for migrant workers in22 provinces. Also aimed at strengtheningcommunity self-help and livelihood securitynetworks. Includes training on legal rights.Aimed also at influencing government policyin favour of migrant workers.• The Field Coordinator assists Human RightsCommittee, a national organization, toconduct a study to draft a master plan formigrant workers based on human rights andinternational conventions. The FieldCoordinator is member of the Action Networkfor Migrants of 12 NGOs.• Raks Thai modifies its policies to allow morebenefits to paid migrant workers as projectemployees. Advocating with other NGOs to beable to register/document migrant workersworking in projects to help migrant communities.Page 35

Principles into PracticeResults to date: Raks Thai deepened itsexperience with the migrant worker populationthrough its focus on access to health services andits deepening commitment to defend their humanrights. The opportunities to work with thispopulation solidified when the Board agreed tomake this an organizational advocacy issue.Raks Thai has continued to expand its advocacyactivities and has joined a network advocatingfor the migrant rights.Innovation process: The accomplishments of RaksThai in working with migrant workers are ademonstration of a long-term commitment toexplore all opportunities to improve their accessto HIV/AIDS prevention and health services. Theextremely risky and difficult situation of migrantworkers clearly revealed rights issues that RaksThai has sought to address increasingly throughadvocacy efforts. This experience is particularlyexemplary in its demonstration of solidarity withthe poor and marginalized.Suggestions for building on the learning: Keylessons learned from the work of Raks Thai include:(1) there are many instances in developmentwhere a straightforward response atcommunity level is inadequate andobsolete;(2) it is crucial to understand and acceptrisk not only to the organisation but alsoto staff;(3) The organisation and staff must believe inwhat they are doing and not operate merelyon a project implementation plan; and beable to practise the same principlesinternally;(4) Working with networks is a must with RBAand advocacy;(5) Advocacy and pushing for rights ofmarginalized groups must be backed by thestaff, the management, and the board; and(6) Advocacy is not only about influencinggovernment policy but also about changingpublic opinion.It is clear that a number of further behaviours areassociated with standing in solidarity with thepoor and marginalised, namely perseverance,defending the rights of the marginalized group inthe face of opposition, risk-taking, working withlegal rights specialists, and investing in staff whorepresent the population.Page 36

Principles into PracticeANNEX 3CASE STUDIES ALONG THE CONTINUUMThe innovative aspects of the individual casestudies – whether in approach, methodology, toolor process – vary from case to case. They can beusefully described in terms of the continuummodel outlined on page 12 by exploring thefollowing questions:• What are the gaps in knowledge and practicewhich the innovations fill?• What is noteworthy about the particularmethods or approaches?• And what changes, organisationally or inCARE’s relationships with staff, partners orclients, are implied by the innovations?The chart below classifies the case studiesaccording to their characteristics. Most appearmore than once, indicating the use of overlappingstrategies. Each case is highlighted once to showwhere it contributed the most.The commentary highlights the contributions ofone particular case study for each stage of thecontinuum. This is not intended to judge orprioritise the cases, but rather to illustrate thesummary observations about the whole of thatcontinuum stage.RESEARCH, ANALYSIS AND DIAGNOSISRwanda CRA Innovation. CARE Rwanda engaged abroad range of responsible actors from governmentand civil society to agree to plan and thenparticipate in an analytical exercise to examinedifferent levels of causality for vulnerability ofmarginalised groups: who was responsible for theproblems, whose rights were not being realised,and what was being done or not done? Thisresearch, using the causal-responsibility analysistool, was conducted in four districts withrepresentation from vulnerable and marginalisedgroups (the Batwa, widows, children heads ofhouseholds and street children, etc.) The resultswere then shared broadly. A central feature of themethodology was that it jointly engaged bothrights holders and duty bearers, opening the spacefor honest discussion towards the emergence ofshared goals. It was a powerful exercise to haveduty bearers exposed to discussion about theirresponsibilities from the viewpoint of previouslyvoiceless groups. Introducing human rights andresponsibility analysis into research on povertywas particularly new and innovative for staff.In this innovation, the research/analysis stageflowed into dialogue and awareness-raising asone process. Facilitating right to beheard of marginalizedand excluded groupsRaising awareness of rightsand responsibilitiesIncreasing the knowledgeand information ofrightsholders anddutybearers on rightsApplying knowledge of rightsand responsibilitiesRwanda CRARwanda ALSBangladesh SHAHARBurundi TheaterGuatemala PMHSierra Leone UpstreamSomalia NRORwanda ALSBangladesh SHAHARBangladesh VAWBurundi TheaterGuatemala PMHHonduras AISierra Leone UpstreamSomalia NROBangladesh SHAHARBangladesh SHCROPBangladesh VAWBolivia AYEBurundi TheaterCambodia HCEPGuatemala PMHGuatemala Female CitizensIndia INHPPeru CitizenshipSierra Leone UpstreamSomalia NRORaks Thai Migrant WorkersBangladesh SHAHARBangladesh SHCROPCambodia HCEPGuatemala Female CitizensIndia INHPPeru CitizenshipSomalia NRORaks Thai Migrant WorkersNote: The highlightingrepresents where innovationscontributed the most on thecontinuum. Each innovation ishighlighted only once.Rights FulfillmentResearchAnalysisDiagnosisDialogueAwareness RaisingPlanning ActionProposing SolutionsPreparing the GroundActionPage 37

Principles into PracticeSummary Observations. Engaging marginalisedgroups in this stage was empowering andrevealing. Their perspectives and opinionsshed light on the conditions they suffered –discrimination, exclusion, powerlessness – andenriched the analysis of poverty in a way thatcould not have been contributed by others.Once their views were spoken and heard, themarginalised people gained a voice. Using a ‘rightsand responsibilities lens’ in the analysis also gavegreater weight to claims made by marginalisedgroups and placed a greater imperative on theactions expected of responsible individuals.DIALOGUE AND AWARENESS RAISINGGuatemala PMH. Using an approach called the4-Delays Model to reduce maternal mortality,CARE Guatemala engaged women, men, communityleaders, and medical staff in a dialogue on thecauses of maternal mortality. Women expressedlegitimate fears about going to hospital or dying inlabour during the long journey. Seeking help outsidethe community required money and women wereoften ill-treated once they reached the healthfacility. Solutions were proposed by women andmembers of the community, rather than by themedical staff. Some more ‘unconventional’ solutions,such as allowing midwives into the health facilities,were accepted and health personnel committed tomore humane and friendly care.Summary Observations. To be effective, dialogueand reflection processes must be carefullymanaged and facilitated. RBA cases that focusedon approaches to dialogue and reflection werenon-conventional, culturally sensitive, nonjudgmental,non-threatening and took intoaccount power relations while putting all on anequal footing. They sought to empower andinform, allowing people to come to their ownrealisations while raising awareness of rights andresponsibilities pertinent to underlying problemsin the inequity such as violence against women.Summary Observations. The breadth ofobservations that can be made on this stage is fargreater than the scope of this report. Theindividual cases in Annex 2 capture some of therichness. A few observations are included:(a) It is possible to adapt traditional projectsto a rights-based approach. In other words,it does not require starting from scratch.(b) Empowerment in the sense of “powerwithin” – self-worth, identity, confidence –is a critical part of encouraging excludedand marginalised groups to act in their selfinterest (‘courage’).(c) Similarly, to empower a vulnerable ormarginalised group, the sphere of changemust always be broader than the groupitself (for example, the teachers andparents of Bolivian street children).(d) The rights framework alters communitydevelopment approaches by necessitatingthe involvement of duty bearers. It is nolonger strictly a question of self-reliancebut of holding others accountable for thecommunity’s welfare.(e) There are many ways to educate peopleabout their rights and responsibilities butrelevance to their life situation, integrationinto their professional responsibilities, andcongruence with the socio-cultural contexthave proven effective, if not essential.(f) Facilitating participatory planningprocesses with a wide range of stakeholdersand partners must be done with a high levelof transparency and inclusion on the part ofCARE. Often, the external player, such asCARE, is critical to achieving thistransparency and inclusion.PLANNING FOR ACTION, PROPOSING SOLUTIONS,PREPARING THE GROUNDBangladesh SHAHAR. The pilot started with atraditional project approach. This was then adapted tocreate a new strategy and staff structure gearedtowards facilitating the fulfilment of rights of theurban poor. The Pressure Plates Model (PPM) promotedand enabled a process whereby the communityidentified its issues, organised itself, and mobilised forchange. The final pressures in the structured processwere upon the Local Support Structures with the aimof making the local institutions and actors moreresponsive to communities for resolving issues in asustainable way.Page 38

Principles into PracticeACTIONIndia INHP. The project tackled several aspects ofthe health and nutrition situation for women andinfants/children through the introduction of fourinnovations. These were all aimed at facilitatingsustainable change. The project did this byempowering women and their communities, andengaging various stakeholders to put pressure onduty bearers to take responsible action. It madebest use of traditions and existing structures tocreate positive changes, not only in health andnutrition, but in the wider health of communitieswho were now able to raise their voice with dignity.Summary Observations.(a) The ability to act depends firmly onhaving access to relevant information andknowledge (the right to information), notonly on the issue but on one’s rights inrelation to it.(b) When introducing principles relating tohuman rights or equity, offering opportunitiesand a structure for these to be put intopractice will facilitate their assimilation bycommunity groups more easily.(c) Collective action enables community andmarginalised groups to engage in advocacy.Broader, higher level policy changes,however, often require coalition buildingacross a wider spectrum of civil society.(d) Advocacy is both about influencing policyand changing public opinion.(e) None of the examples reported instancesof significant, and certainly notinsurmountable, resistance from dutybearers, aside from a degree of discomfort.(f) Organisational change and commitment onthe part of CARE are integral to theadoption of rights-based programming.Principle four, opposing discrimination, hasproved to be highly relevant to the casestudies. CARE Honduras brings to light theimportance of internal reflection and dialogue.No less important is reflection with the clientpopulations, as the CARE Rwanda ALSrevealed. This aimed to ensure CARE was madefully aware of the potential harms andunintended effects of its work by solicitingregular feedback from clients on CARE’seffectiveness. Many RBA cases implied requisitechanges, not only in staff attitudes andbehaviours, but also in skills, such asfacilitation, conflict mediation and communityorganising. The Raks Thai Foundation exampledemonstrates the fuller meaning ofcommitment when we start to make choices ina rights-based framework, for exampleselecting as a focus an excluded group anddefending their rights.Page 39

‘Principles into Practice’ was published byCARE International UK in September 2005.For more information about our work, look atwww.careinternational.org.uk or call020 7934 9334.