Dignity News

* Dignity International Supports Forum Asia Regional Training

* Dignity International’s New Office

* A Fight for Water from Mumbai Slums Settlements

Other News

* Paying Lip-service to Poverty Eradication

* International Civil Society Statement to the G-20 Leaders

* People on the Move: Safeguarding the Rights of Migrants

* 2011 World Social Forum in Dakar

* Council of Europe Hearing on Combating Poverty

Action Appeals

* Ecuador: Urgent Action on Land Reform

* Join the EAPN campaign for Adequate Minimum Income Schemes

Announcements

* PWESCR Annual Leadership Institute

* Feminist Responses in a Fierce New World

* Job Announcement: ESCR-Net Seeks New Director

Events

* Speak Up Stop Discrimination: Human Rights Day 2010

* ESCR-Net: Solidarity Visit to Brazil

* GCAP Invites Communities to Take Action

Publications

* New Book: Learning from Latin American Social Movements

* African Women Writing of Resistance

14th ATSS Training Group Photo

*** Dignity International Supports Forum Asia Regional Training - Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) organised its annual 14th Annual Training and Study Session for Asian Human Rights Defenders (ATSS), in Bangkok from 17 to 29 October 2010.

The general objective of the 14th ATSS is to empower Asian human rights defenders by providing the opportunity to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to carry out their human rights work and missions in a more effective manner.

Dignity International, through its Executive Director, Jerald Joseph did the training for the 2nd week of the workshop which focused on Advocacy and campaigning skills and methodologies and Strategic advocacy planning while looking at the international human rights norms and standards. The 20 participants from all over Asia went through participatory methods in learning these aspects.

Jerald Joseph, Dignity International’s Executive Director
at the Forum Asia Training Workshop

*** Dignity International’s New Office – Please be informed that Dignity International will be having its official opening of its new Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in December during the 9th Annual Global Linking and Learning Programme on Human Rights Based Development. Our new address is:

Dignity International
A-2-7 Pusat Perdagangan Seksyen 8,
Jalan Sg Jernih 8/1,
46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor,
Malaysia
Tel/Fax: +603 7931 0741

Dignity’s New Secretariat HQ in Malaysia

*** A Fight for Water from Mumbai Slums Settlements - Dignity International’s partner, Yuva ( India) has been working with the Urban Poor for the past 26 years in the State of Maharashtra mostly on urbanisation issues. The fight for equal rights of urban poor communities on land, housing, water and social security has been critical in YUVA interventions apart from mobilising women, children and youth for human right cities.

School girl crossing railway lines for collecting water in Mumbai

This article looks into the issues of drinking water in the state of Maharashtra with a special emphasis on Mumbai. YUVA has been fighting the proposed privatisation of water through pre-paid metres and for equal and adequate water for Mumbai’s poor. The Private – Public Participation Model being propagated by World Bank and Water Corporations took a setback with the Mumbai People questioning this model.

Privatisation of Mumbai Water

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) initiated a pilot project funded by (Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) of the World Bank in administrative ward of – “K-east”. This was done under the guise of improving water distribution and was popularly named “Water Distribution Improvement Project” (WDIP). This pilot project aimed at exploring Public Private Participation (PPP) in water distribution in Mumbai. The proposals include long term and short term management contracts to private companies for water distribution. The final set of proposals also came with the idea of pre paid water meters, which failed in other parts of the world as a solution for water woes in the slums settlements of Mumbai.

Mumbai Municipal Corporation apparently have the best water management system and had pioneered in purification, leakage prevention and distribution network. The civil society groups including YUVA demanded transparency in the pilot study done by International Management Consultant from France, ‘Castalia’. The suggestions during the consultations were on strengthening the public sector and none of these suggestions were taken into account when the final report came which suggested pre-paid metres. The Major section of the people then closed down the consultation as it was fake and was done for making forced consensus on water privatisation.

The civil society groups including the urban poor groups joined together as Mumbai Pani, demanded that water being treated as a public good and to ensure universal and adequate supply of water in city, particularly to urban poor settlements. The campaign led to MCGM launching a city-wide ‘Sujal Mumbai Abhiyan’ which accepted the basic demand for strengthening of water department, The Campaign led to the stoppage of water privatization for the time being.

Campaign for Universal Right to Water

To intensify the struggle for Right to Water, YUVA facilitated the setting up of the Paani Haq Abhiyan into Pani Haq Samittee. YUVA organised a city-level Paani Haq Parishad with like minded partners, in February 2010 wherein Paani Haq Samittee (PHS) was formed at the city level comprising of local activists, CBOs, NGOs and people’s movements. Since then, PHS is deepening its roots in different areas to spearhead the local action for access to water. The PHS is also engaged with MCGM and Urban Development Department of Maharashtra and through these processes YUVA and PHS have been able to politicise the issue of denial of access to water to non-notified communities.

Activists demanding regular water connections and protesting
against pre-paid water metres in Mumbai

Based on our above mentioned experiences, we have identified some major issues in urban water sector in the context of right to water:

The Maharashtra state government and its Urban Local Bodies have set 1st January 1995 as a cut-off date for the urban poor households to provide basic services. This means that any one who have come to a slum after 1995 will not be given water by the public authorities. This denial has lead to people having to spend a large amount of time in the collection of water apart from encouraging water mafias in the slums. According to a statement by the Chief Minister, there are about 3 million people who do not have access to legal water in Mumbai alone. The denial of water has also added to the burden of Women and children which according to study done by YUVA carry the responsibility of collecting water. Only 12 percent of men collect water and just 9 percent assist women in water collection. In non notified communities 4 percent of children are solely responsible for collection of water this having a negative impact on education. Many of the children drop out of school or report late due to time spend for collecting water.

Unequal water distribution between slums and non-slums

Mumbai is known for its unequal distribution of land, housing, and water. In Mumbai 72 percent population resides in suburbs and gets only 65 percent water of total supply, while 28 percent of city’s popu lat ion residing in the island city gets 35 percent of the water (MCGM’s water department’s White Paper 2009). MCGM’s water By-Laws set an institutional discrimination of water requirement of 45 lpcd and 180 lpcd for slum and building residents respectively. According to a study done by YUVA in December 2009, 24 percent people in slums get as low as 18 lpcd.

The Water sector in India is the most lucrative as well as promising sector for public private partnerships (PPP) hence public water supply institution fall prey to privatization as it happened in Nagpur.

Ecological Issues

Massive untreated Industrial discharge and sewages are endangering our finite water sources up to the extent of non-recuperation, causing colossal harm to the ecological system and making urban water supply more dependent on external sources.

Mumbai Water Rights Conference, 16 February 2010

YUVA’s advocacy efforts in State Water Policy

Maharashtra is the first state to prepare and implement state water policy in 2003 on the basis of which it prepared India’s first water regulatory authority named Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) in 2007. MWRRA was working to prepare a tariff structure for bulk water users, for which it organized series of consultations, including regional ones.

Various civil society organisations and trade unions came together at the Maharashtra state level to debate the pros and cons of proposed tariff structures of MWRRA. YUVA (urban) brought in urban water issues into this discourse. To facilitate maximum participation in the consultations by MWRRA, YUVA (urban) took the responsibility of organising participation from Nagpur (Vidharbha Consultations) and Mumbai (Kokan Consultations). The issues we identified with the Maharasthra state water policy and MWRRA are as follow:

Maharashtra State Water Policy

Maharashtra Water Resource Regulatory Authority (MWRRA):

Apart from the above specific interventions in Mumbai, Nagpur and the state level, we took our issues to various national and international forums, networks and discourses like World Social Forum- Nairobi-2005, People’s World Water Forum-Istanbul- 2009, represented case study in Independent People’s Tribunal on World Bank Group in India, Delhi, 2007.

Source: Water Rights Team, Yuva Urban

*** Paying Lip-service to Poverty Eradication – While many treaties and other international instruments declare and affirm that poverty is a human rights violation, year after year those living in poverty in both South and North are marginalised by national and international neoliberal “priorities” that do not include them. Every child, youth, man and woman has the human right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being, to food, clothing, housing, medical care and social services. These fundamental human rights are defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights treaties and declarations. The UN General Assembly declared 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and invited all states to devote the International Day to presenting and promoting, as appropriate in the national context, concrete activities with regard to the eradication of poverty and destitution.

The theme for the 2010 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is "Working together out of poverty", which was meant to highlight the need for a truly global anti-poverty alliance, one in which both developed and developing countries participate actively. However, as we have seen in the previous years, it is the people who must organise and participate in economic, social and cultural rights learning programmes, in order to effectively demand and implement all human rights for all. Leaving that task to governments would mean a list of official days, activities and conferences celebrating empty platitudes.

Sources: UN, Dignity International

*** International Civil Society Statement to the G-20 Leaders - Civil society organisations from 41 countries, urge G-20 leaders to make concrete progress towards the introduction of an internationally coordinated financial transactions tax (FTT) at the upcoming summit in Seoul. To read more click here>>>

Source: Choike

***People on the Move: Safeguarding the Rights of Migrants - Human Rights High Commissioner, Navi Pillay told the Global Forum on Migration and Development meeting in Mexico that the global community must work together to overcome the problems associated with irregular migration and the demand side of trafficking.

In her capacity as Chair of the Global Migration Group for the past six months, Pillay adopted as her central theme the centrality of human rights to the complex and multiple problems created by the movement of millions of people globally.

Pillay recalled in her address to the Forum that today, 214 million people or almost three percent of the world’s population are migrants. She emphasised the economic benefits that flow to countries of origin and destination because of contributions from migrants and described the other ways in which migrants enrich other societies through new practices, ideas and technology, fostering understanding and respect among peoples, and contributing to demographic balance.

“For many, migration is a positive and empowering experience,” Pillay said, “but many others endure human rights violations, discrimination, and exploitation.”

The High Commissioner highlighted the problems faced by irregular migrants. Their situation, she said, should not deprive them either of their humanity or their rights. “Government authorities, the media, the general public, often behave as though abuse of a migrant somehow matters less than the abuse of a regular citizen. It does not. A child is a child, a woman is a woman, a man is a man: whoever and wherever they may happen to be, at home or abroad,” Pillay said.

The GMG brings together 14 UN agencies, the International Organisation for Migration and the World Bank. Both the GMG and the Global Forum were established in 2006 to find solutions to the many complex issues arising from global migration.

Read the full text of the High Commissioner’s address to the Global Forum on Migration Development.

Source: OHCHR

*** 2011 World Social Forum in Dakar - Follow the mobilisation of thematic forums that are building the centralised edition in Dakar ( Senegal). The registration of the event, to be held on February 6th-11th 2011, will be opened soon. Organise your activities! To learn more about the WSF Dakar click here>>>

Source: WSF

*** Council of Europe Hearing on Combating Poverty - The Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held a hearing in Paris on 15 November on “Combating poverty”, in connection with the preparation of a report on this subject by Luca Volontè ( Italy, EPP/CD).

The discussion provided an overview of poverty in Europe and efforts to combat it and established a link between poverty and social exclusion. The specific case of child poverty was considered. Among the participants at the hearing are a representative of the Movement ATD Fourth World, a representative of the Russian Ministry of Health, the Director of the Child Poverty Action Group (from the United Kingdom), and a representative of Caritas Europe. To read more click here>>>

Source: Council of Europe

*** Ecuador: Urgent Action on Land Reform - On 2nd of November FIAN launched a new urgent action. An effective allocation of the lands utilised in financial speculation during the bank crisis to peasant families by means of the Lands Plan has not been possible due to the private nature of these lands.

Despite its importance, this plan has generated expectations and competition for the wealth at stake that has in turn threatened the tenure security of the land possessing families and peasant associations. They have been demanding the regularisation of their land tenure for years. This situation clearly puts these families´ right to adequate food at risk. For this reason, urgent pressure must be placed on the Ecuadorian State demanding that it solves these conflicts and formally transfers the land immediately to peasants with little or no land that are peacefully occupying the said lands. Please send a letter to the President of the Republic asking him to issue an Executive Decree regarding this matter. To learn more and tack action, click here>>>

Source: FIAN

*** Join the EAPN campaign for Adequate Minimum Income Schemes - 24 out of 27 Member States have minimum income schemes in place at this present time, but there are serious flaws with their accessibility and their adequacy. It is time to state clearly that adequate Minimum Income schemes are a fundamental prerequisite for an EU based on social justice and equal opportunities for all! See the current EAPN Campaign on Adequate Minimum Income on www.adequateincome.eu.

Source: EAPN

*** PWESCR Annual Leadership Institute - PWESCR’s annual leadership development programme is uniquely designed for women’s rights leaders (men and women) working in organisations from the economic South in key leadership positions. Using a human rights framework and the ICESCR to address structural causes of poverty and inequality, the Institute will particularly focus on the social construct of gender and women’s poverty.

The facilitating team is composed of experienced trainers and prominent leaders who possess the necessary creative skills to foster an enjoyable learning process. The faculty for the Institute includes Priti Darooka, Maria Virginia Bras Gomes, Gagan Sethi and Jerald Joseph of Dignity International. All selected participants should attend both the phases. The Leadership Institute will be conducted in two phases:

Phase 1:January 23rd to 29th, 2011 New Delhi, India

Phase 2: June 20th to 25th, 2011 Kathmandu, Nepal

Application deadline: 19 November 2010.

For further information please visit the website at

www.pwescrleadership.org

*** Job Announcement: ESCR-Net Seeks New Director - ESCR-Net seeks a Director to provide strategic guidance, management and leadership to expand the Network's capacity and substantive work; to guide the process to relocate the Network's Secretariat to a global South country; and to lead the Network in its new period of growth. For more details click here>>>

*** Speak Up Stop Discrimination: Human Rights Day 2010 - The theme for Human Rights Day 10 December 2010 is human rights defenders who act to end discrimination. Human rights defenders acting against discrimination, often at great personal risk to both themselves and their families, are being recognised and acclaimed on this day.

Human rights defenders speak out against abuse and violations including discrimination, exclusion, oppression and violence. They advocate justice and seek to protect the victims of human rights violations. They demand accountability for perpetrators and transparency in government action. In so doing, they are often putting at risk their own safety, and that of their families.

Some human rights defenders are famous, but most are not. They are active in every part of the world, working alone and in groups, in local communities, in national politics and internationally.

Human Rights Day 2010 will highlight and promote the achievements of human rights defenders and it will again emphasise the primary role Governments must play in enabling and protecting their role. The Day is also intended to inspire a new generation of defenders to speak up and take action to end discrimination in all of its forms whenever and wherever it is manifested.

To learn more about Human Rights Day 2010 click here>>>

Source: OHCHR

*** ESCR-Net: Solidarity Visit to Brazil - ESCR-Net's Social Movement and Grassroots Working Group (SMWG) will be celebrating its 3rd Solidarity Visit and Mutual Learning Workshop together with the Movement of Landless Workers (MST) and Terra de Direitos from the 8th to the 13th of November 2010 at the Escola Nacional Florestan Fernandes. For more information on this and other ESCR-Net activities and programmes please click here>>>

Source: ESCR-Net

*** GCAP Invites Communities to Take Action - GCAP is organising a gathering of representatives of communities on the eve of COP16 in Mexico to recognise the key role played by communities who are living with the effects of climate change in providing genuine and sustainable solutions to tackle climate change and end poverty.

The event will take place on November 29th, and is part of the activities of the Coalition of Communities Affected by Climate Change which came together spontaneously in Copenhagen during COP15 and has continued to grow, having been officially launched at the People’s Conference on Climate Change in Cochabamba, Bolivia in April of this year. For more information about this event, click here>>>

Source: GCAP

*** New Book: Learning from Latin American Social Movements - From dynamite-wielding miners in Bolivia to the struggles of landless farmers in Brazil and Paraguay, the new book “Dancing with Dynamite ” discusses the relationship between movements and states in seven different Latin American countries. Each chapter in the book focuses on this contemporary relationship in a specific country. To read more about the book click here>>>

Source: Upside Down World

*** African Women Writing of Resistance - Confronting entrenched social inequality and inadequate access to resources, women across Africa are working with determination and imagination to improve their material conditions and to blaze a clear path for their daughters and granddaughters. The thirty-one African-born contributors to this book move beyond the linked dichotomies of victim/oppressor and victim/heroine to present their experiences of resistance in full complexity: they are at the forward edge of the tide of women's empowerment that, at the start of the twenty-first century, is moving across the African continent. To read more and order this book click here>>>

Source: Pambazuka

This is a monthly electronic news bulletin of 'Dignity International: All Human Rights for All'. Dignity International does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by members to this news bulletin. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the originator.

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