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What's Being Done On . . . Human Rights Networking ?
A Human Rights House is a collaborative project of NGOs that work together to promote human rights in their country and abroad. A Human Rights House is also a physical structure that houses a community of member organizations. The purpose of a human rights house is to:
Since 1989, when the first Human Rights House opened in Oslo, Norway, Human Rights Houses have been established in Warsaw, Moscow, Sarajevo, Bergen, and London. New Human Rights Houses are emerging in Zagreb, Minsk, Baku, Kampala, Nairobi, and Istanbul. The Human Rights House Network is a forum of cooperation between the established and emerging Human Rights Houses. Each Human Rights House maintains its network, and each year representatives from all the Houses attend the Human Rights House Network Meeting. Web links to each established and emerging House are available at: www.humanrightshouse.org The Human Rights House Foundation The Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) was formed to assist the establishment of new Human Rights Houses internationally, as well as to establish the Human Rights House Network, for which it serves as the Secretariat. The Foundation is located at the Oslo Human Rights House. For detailed information on the Human Rights House Network, go to: www.humanrightshouse.org/ - The Manual for Establishing a Human Rights House is a comprehensive resource that provides more details about what a Human Rights House is, as well as how to establish one: www.humanrightshouse.org/assets/1000manual_2004.pdf. -For information on how Human Rights Houses improve sustainability of member NGOs, please see this article: www.humanrightshouse.org/assets/1000manual_2004.pdf. Interview: We would like to thank Maria Dahle , Executive Director of the Human Rights House Foundation, which serves as the Secretariat for the Human Rights House Network, for answering the following interview questions. The HRHF is a participating organization in the World Movement for Democracy. 1. A Human Rights House is a very innovative idea for increasing cooperation among human rights organizations and improving their sustainability. How did this concept emerge? How has it been embraced by the human rights community around the world? It started in Oslo in the late 1980's, when three Norwegian philanthropists came together with the vision of creating a meeting place to strengthen human rights activities. The three businessmen were committed to promoting democracy and human rights, and luckily had the money and organizational skills necessary to set up a Human Rights House in Oslo. Several independent organizations moved in together with us, including: The Norwegian PEN, Amnesty International, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the Tibet Committee, as well as NGOs working with human rights in Poland, Romania, the Soviet Union, and Afghanistan. The official opening of the Norwegian Human Rights House was in October 1989, which coincided with historic events in Eastern Europe. Human rights organizations in a number of countries - many of whom had previously worked underground - soon expressed an interest in the Human Rights House concept as a way to reduce costs and strengthen security and cooperation. Hence, the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF) was established to support fragile, emerging democracies. We assisted local NGOs in establishing Human Rights Houses in Moscow and Warsaw, and later in Sarajevo after the war had ended. New Houses were established in the years that followed, and we continue to work to establish many more, as well as to strengthen the network of these independent human rights houses (both established and emerging) and its organizations. Last year, after 15 years together in an old, charming little house in the east end of Oslo, all the organizations at the Norwegian Human Rights House, along with other human rights NGOs protecting the rights of the Kurdish and Burmese populations, moved to a new facility to create a broader and stronger human rights community. It has become a vital nexus, a meeting place where more NGOs and activities are included. 2. Please provide some examples of how increased networking within and among Houses resulted in success? In 1998, we supported a Norwegian film documentary about the massacres in Srebrenica. Assisted by the Human Rights House in Sarajevo, the documentary was shown in Bosnia, and as a result the three remaining Bosnian prisoners of war were released from Serbian prisons. Results are usually not that easy to measure, but with the sharing of common resources and the communal nature of the Human Rights House, greater cooperation and collaboration is experienced among the participating organizations. By joining forces, human rights activities are strengthened particularly in the four core areas that we support: human rights education, monitoring (of elections, media, laws, children's rights, etc.), free legal aid, and networking/coalition building. For example, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Human Rights House of Sarajevo coordinated joint election activities that included over 100 local NGOs. Thousands of individuals - refugees, families of young soldiers killed by their superiors, and others - received free legal assistance at the Human Rights Houses in Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Polish defenders have strengthened human rights education, not only in Poland but also in rural areas of Central Asia and elsewhere. Broader NGO coalitions, initiated by Human Rights Houses, have been established in many of these countries. Along with other activities, they prepare shadow reports and make joint recommendations and appeals to their governments. Needless to say, one does not know what the scale of activities would have been if the organizations were not located in Human Rights Houses, but being part of a Human Rights House helps bring NGOs closer together, which in itself tends to make cooperation and sharing easier. Furthermore, with a group of human rights organizations co-located in a central location, accessibility improves. This benefits the users of the organizations, their clients, researchers, and others who take an interest in human rights. The 70 organizations that are members of the network also get increased access to media, decision makers, and others through the Human Rights House Network's joint campaigns, newsletters, Web site, press releases, letters to governments, and so on. Together, we have had campaigns focusing on the gross violations in Chechnya and North Korea and on attacks against human rights defenders and independent journalists in Belarus, Azerbaijan, and elsewhere. 3. It is common for most human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Houses, to cluster in large metropolitan areas, usually capital cities. One of the remaining challenges might be how to reach out to more distant rural communities. How do Human Rights Houses reach out to grassroots groups in distant rural areas while housing the community of human right organizations in one place? This is a very important question. We are now considering the establishment of a Human Rights and Peace House in Colombia, where activists (especially in rural areas) risk their lives. Indeed, we often see that the most serious violations take place in rural areas, where people often don't enjoy protective media exposure, or attention from embassies, observers, or lawyers. However, many of the organizations in our network also operate in the districts, through their sub-offices and/or representatives, or through missions of different sorts. Both at emerging and established Human Rights Houses, our strategy is to encourage and support projects that reach out to distant communities, within the four core areas that I mentioned. In Russia, for instance, one of the first projects we supported at the new Human Rights House was the training of human rights defenders in distant, poor regions. Our partners in Moscow armed them with pens, paper, equipment and knowledge of human rights so that they can effectively assist or protest on behalf of people that come to them because they have been abused. We are cooperating with local NGOs in setting up a project in Gulu, Northern Uganda, a district at the heart of an 18-year conflict, which is one of the world's most neglected tragedies. Imagine the challenges in a region where 90 percent of the population is displaced, and children - many of them kidnapped - make up 80 percent of the northern Ugandan rebel group, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). In addition to our project in Gulu, we are considering establishing a Human Rights House there as a base to support peaceful initiatives in the area. 4. What are some of the difficulties that you face in trying to establish a new House? How difficult is it to establish and operate a House in more restrictive political environments? There are a number of challenges. Actually, the greatest challenge is usually fundraising. Unfortunately, donors and governments often fail to coordinate with each other, because they want to put their own flag on projects. Donors often prefer to support short-term projects where results are easily measured, rather than supporting long-term projects to strengthen the sustainability of NGOs. Establishing Human Rights Houses is about building institutions to provide a meeting place to strengthen human rights work in a very concrete manner. Unfortunately, some donors tend to see it only as buying bricks and stones. Further, the process of establishing a Human Rights House can be tedious and complicated, and the participants must invest considerable time and effort in the project. NGOs usually have their main focus on their own activities. They work hard, often with limited resources, to support and protect vulnerable groups -- battered women, neglected children, refugees etc. Some tend to compete for attention and funds, and are not ready to cooperate extensively. In the long term, being part of a human rights house helps them to conduct their work in a more efficient way. However, it often takes time and energy to get there. Apart from the participants themselves, the project may involve legal and technical experts, donor agencies, individual members of organizations, partner organizations, and government officials. Because so many people and organizations are involved, careful planning and coordination is called for. In some countries, challenges are related to the political and/or legal system. Too often, human rights activists find themselves in danger, being subject to intimidation and threats from authorities or political "activists" with opposing views. We have all heard of human rights defenders who have been persecuted, detained without trial, killed, or just disappeared, but human rights defenders also face problems such as break-ins resulting in office equipment stolen or destroyed, sabotage, confiscation of funds, and violence. Organizations that receive money from abroad are commonly accused of engaging in hostile activities undermining the regime. In some restrictive regimes, such as Belarus, establishing a physical house is legally and/or politically impossible. However, demonstrating solidarity is not impossible. What we sometimes do is to help build networks to offer these pressured activists space and support, and we help distribute information about violations. We facilitate and encourage cooperation among NGOs. This may help prepare the ground for a future human rights house. 5. On your Web site you mention that by bringing organizations together in the same location, you are able to provide better security for the organizations in the House and reduce the cost of security services by sharing expenses. However, in difficult political environments, does having several organizations in one location possibly make them more vulnerable to the state security forces? Yes, and this is something that we consider carefully when we start planning the establishment of a new human rights house. Exposing violations does not always make you popular, especially not with those you've exposed. Of course, one can imagine that by gathering human rights defenders in one place, it is easier to get rid of them all at the same time. However, the feedback that we get from our members suggests that the opposite is the case. By joining forces and gaining access to a network, they actually become stronger and also more visible, both nationally and internationally. Hence, the political cost of attacking them is higher, and the safety of the activists is enhanced. We discussed the security aspect recently with the Iranian human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi, who wants to establish a Human Rights House in Iran to strengthen the work of protecting and promoting the rights of women and children. She said: "They know where we are anyway, so if they want to take us, they can do it today." She added: "If you want to swim, you must expect to get wet." About "What's Being Done On . . . " For three months at a time, we highlight the activities of various organizations in different global regions, and links to important resources, that are focused on a particular theme or area of democracy work. Each new theme is announced via DemocracyNews, and the information from the previous installment is placed in the archives below. We hope to receive and post information about the work you or others may be doing that is focused on these issues. Send information via e-mail to the or by fax to (202) 378-9889. |
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