Governance, Human Rights, and responsibility

’And I openly pledged my heart to the grave and suffering land, and often in the consecrated night, I promised to love her faithfully until death, unafraid, with her heavy burden of fatality, and never to despise a single one of her enigmas. Thus did I join myself to her with a mortal cord.’ Houlderlin, The Death of Empedocles The image is Tibet but the story is universal. The story is of (...)

The South European Team of the Charter supports the initiative for the organization of an "Assembly of the Citizens of the Mediterranean", whose objectives are based – among others – on the value of responsibility, as a core value. Here follows a short presentation of the initiative: The process of putting together the Assembly of the Citizens of the Mediterranean is a regional dynamic which (...)

Children execution that is organized by the sentence of the court of justice, under the pretext of justice, is the biggest crime by itself. Children execution and retaliation in this country, is like ignoring the disappointing realities and terrible conditions in our society and humanity will never forgive us because of our silence We, as the members of NGO for protecting children’s rights, (...)

Each passing day increases the feeling dramatically that a system of world governance is vitally needed, which respects all human beings, all that is living, and the planet as a whole. To act, we have to think, we have to make viable, applicable proposals, now. More than ever, we need to facilitate the convergence of all the thinking and the emergence of the proposals drawn from all cultures. (...)

A video (in French) on immigration, its motivation, risks,... There are certain slogans you are likely to have heard the young people of Senegal using over the last three years: “barsa mba barsaq” (Barcelona or death), “mbëkkmi” (break down the borders), “dem walla de” (leave or die). They try to reach Europe via the Atlantic Ocean in their thousands, risking their lives in the most basic of small (...)

It is both a challenging and eye-opening experience to penetrate into a legal profession and Judiciary space with the CHR. The ethical practices of advocates and judiciaries have been in question in the present Indian context, where the poor and marginalized sections remain victims of injustice and corruption. As a result of networking with the initiative of Mr. Ramjan Darga, one of the (...)

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, there are some who believe that the future of architecture of global politics will require setting up a global-governance system. The global-governance issue is characterized by the shift from a scenario where the power of the states is regulated to avoid disequilibrium and maintain the status quo, to one where international law and the role of (...)

Video made by partners from the NGO ’Traversées’, during the preparatory Citizens Assembly of the South Cone, last April, in Antofagasta, Chile.

The pictures give a local scene, prior to a meeting in Auckland with Maria and Te Kawehau for our Charter plans. Here re a couple of recent photos at the Lake, and one of Maria and Qiujing, a film maker, with whom we are discussing making a film of the Pacific ‘Across Oceania’ project. In New Zealand, we are continuing to liaise with groups in New Zealand, Australia and Pacific countries, (...)

The US Social Forum took place in Atlanta, Georgia from June 27 through July 1, 2007. This was the first Social Forum to be held in the US. The WSF International Coordinating Council approached Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) in June 2003 to develop a planning process for a US Social Forum. After several years of investigating how a USSF could be organized, GGJ launched the USSF Planning (...)

The Charter of Human responsibilities committee in New Zealand is hosting a series of public seminars in partnership with the Human Rights Commission. The Human Rights Commission supports public forums and has an extensive network for citizen participation and discussion in matters of public interest. The forums we have co-hosted were in Wellington, they are to encourage public information (...)

Taking human rights seriously implies, at a basic level, guaranteeing every human being the means to live a life worthy of a human being. In the face of today’s phenomena of mass pauperization, it seems essential to recognize the urgent need to combat poverty, all the more so when we realize that "mass poverty" is not just a feature of many countries: it is a feature of our whole world, the (...)

Share knowledge, creating networks, promoting good practices, linking the notion of human rights with the one of responsibilities

A municipal-administration and citizens’ commitment. The result of a working process with a group of citizens coordinated by the social organization Foro por Colombia, Valle Chapter, and supported by the CINEP, the Citizens’ Pact to Strengthen Public Management and Active Citizenship is a symbol for the community of Puerto Tejada. For three months (January-March 2006), a group of thirty (...)

Dr Humphries worked closely with the Board of a significant government agency whose task it is to work with other government agencies, community and private sector organisations to enhance the working lives of New Zealanders. Among the priorities set for this organisation is the urgent need to work with Maori and Pacific Peoples to see how the resources of this organisation can be better (...)

Lille, December 2001: the text of a Charter for Human responsibilities is presented to 400 citizens from 120 countries and 25 social and professional backgrounds during the closing ceremony of the World Assembly organised by the Alliance for a Plural, Responsible and United World. Ethics, individual and collective responsibility, dignity, sustainable peace and common good are at the root of (...)

Speech by Qin Hui in the closing session of the Lille Assembly, December 10th 2001 Author : Hui Qin (The whole document only exists in the French version of this article.)