Consolidating civil society for human rights promotion in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine

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17.03.2017

On 16-17th of March over 40 human rights defenders and civil society activists came together at Human Rights Activism Conference to exchange experiences and share best practices of civil society joining forces to promote crucial human rights agenda in three countries of the region. 

A 2-day conference offered a range of networking opportunities for the civil society organisations from Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine to share approaches to stimulating activism under different circumstances, for various groups, with various tools. Through several panel discussions and presentations, it considered human rights activism work in various environments (closed society, conflict-affected and post-conflict areas, shrinking democratic space) and by using different tools (online outreach, building web-networks, building regional networks and cross-country coalitions, mobilizing in communities, youth outreach, outreach in professional environments, advocacy). The report on major discussion points from the conference is being developed and will be made available soon. 

Is it possible to consolidate civil society for the promotion of human rights agenda? 

The participants discussed that common goal is one of the major pledges for consolidation of the civil society for human rights agenda. It was also acknowledged by all, that the strength of the civil society is in its diversity and creativity, so one shouldn’t try to join forces just for the sake of consolidation, when its artificial – it may be even destructive.  

The Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and the UN international human rights bodies are the examples of frameworks which can easily motivate the civil society to work together for promotion of the human rights agenda. Ukraine’s recent reporting under CEDAW, Human Rights Agenda platform, establishment of the Justice for Peace in Donbas Coalition of 17 CSOs, Alliance of Organizations for People with Disabilities from Moldova, active work of the Belarusian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and International Consortium EUROBELARUS were discussed as a few effective cases of civil society consolidation in the three countries.

Human rights based approach: what’s in it for the civil society organisations? 

During the conference, a unique study was presented devoted to the “The Human-Rights-Based Approach in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine: regional study and practical guidance on the application of HRBA by Civil Society Organisations”. The human rights-based approach is about empowering people to know and claim their rights and increasing the ability and accountability of individuals and institutions that are responsible for respecting, protecting and fulfilling rights. 

While presenting the study, we tried to focus on the depth of real understanding of HRBA by civil society in these three countries, understand whether there are any differences in this understanding between organisations of different types or with different mandates, and recommend what they can do to better apply the approach in their everyday work regardless of the sector they are active in. To find out answers to these questions, please read the study in English, Russian or Ukrainian. 

After the presentation, experts from three countries shared their experiences on what works and what not in process of applying the approach. To share experiences on practical application of the approach, the Belarusian Khelsinki Committee talked about integrating the approach in the internal work of the organisation, Ukrainian NGO MART briefed on transferring the knowledge on HRBA to over 160 civic activists in 8 regions of Ukraine and the University Legal Clinic from Moldova presented its policy level work to advocate for better addressing the human rights in the country. 

The human rights activists also discussed tips for development of the effective strategies for civic education, innovative communication tools and strategies for rights activism, and many other important issues in the context of the human rights promotion. 

The analytical trend-based study on civic literacy in the three countries prepared based on the results of the national representative opinion polls was also launched during the Conference  (read more in the article). 

The conference was held in the framework of the UNDP project “Democratisation, Human Rights and Civil Society Development” funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.