HREA Electronic Resource Centre for Human Rights Education:
The Bells of Freedom

Respect for Human Dignity and the Need for Fair Rules

MORAL VALUE 1. RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY

Overview: The norms for this exercise are human dignity expressed by affirmation of oneself (thinking positively about yourself) and others. The issue on which to focus is disrespect for others based on a failure to appreciate that in our human dignity we are all alike This exercise should initiate participants to an awareness of humans as self-conscious, reflective beings, able to communicate and decide, and whose shared human dignity deserves respect, as stated by the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Objectives: Participants should:
- become aware of their humanity
- see themselves as related to other people
- formulate notions of human dignity
- understand the language of the Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Procedures: Use an icebreaker method, such as the wordwheel to get started. The first two activities in this introductory session should take about ten minutes. The other steps twenty minutes or more. More time is needed for step 5. If the group is small enough, organize a "talking circle," sitting on the floor or in chairs arranged so everyone can see the face of everyone else.

Materials: (1) A plant or some living thing within view of all. (2) Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Sequence: Step 1. Use the wordwheel method (see Definitions) of getting every participant to meet every other participant on an individual basis.

Step 2. Form a "talking circle," (see Definitions) explaining that this is a way to have discussions about important things. Even though individual introductions were made in Step 1, go around the circle and have everyone state his or her name loudly and firmly so that the person is introducing herself or himself to the entire group. Speaking strongly and positively in this way is known as affirmation. Usually, shyness will become evident, so make clear that we will go around the circle stating our name loudly and this time with a strong gesture, such as an uplifted hand, a thumping of the fist, or a clapping for attention. Go around the circle several times until all are speaking clearly and positively. Have one last "go-around" using the expectation setting method (see Sample Methods section).

Step 3. Ask each participant to think quietly for a minute and decide on the one quality about herself/himself they think is their best quality and name it with just one or a very few words: being generous, a loving parent, hard-working, sharing with those who have less, etc. Note that we all have good qualities. Ask the participants if the quality they have identified for themselves is one they respect in others. What does it mean to say you respect yourself and you respect others. If others have different good qualities than yours, do those others still deserve respect? Does every human being deserve respect? Why?

Step 4. Ask participants if they can recall some time when they felt hurt because someone did not seem to respect them. These include things people have said about us to make us feel a fool or stupid or silly, such as "It's no use talking to him, he's too busy dreaming." Try and remember one or two such hurtful statements. Why do people put each other down? Is it because the things they say are true or because they do not respect one another, both or neither? Is your dignity hurt when others do not respect you? How does it feel to you? What do you mean by dignity?

Step 5. Tell the participants that everyone present is a human being, and ask if they can name other living creatures. Ask how human beings differ from other such creatures. In groups with adherents of particular religions or philosophies, the discussion could include the ethical and spiritual considerations about human beings that are integral to their respective beliefs. The facilitator should review the differences noted and should emphasize that human beings communicate to others with words, not just a few sounds, as with various animals. Second, we make choices. We can decide a lot more about our lives than various animals can. What does that mean in our daily lives? Ask if participants agree that this view of human beings means we have to learn how to use words well and how to make good choices.

Step 6. If we use words carefully, and if we say that all human beings deserve respect because they all have human dignity, then what do we mean? Explain that in 1948, after a terrible war --the global suffering in World War II, all the countries in the world agreed on some words that said that it would be a more peaceful world if every human being respected the dignity of every other human being. Explain that today, like other countries, Ethiopia has agreed to these same words. What do the words [of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights] mean when they say: "...recognition of the inherent dignity ... of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." Share the language of the Preamble of the Universal Declaration. Using a "go-around" method, ask if participants can think of one example whereby life in their community would be more peaceful if greater respect were shown among people towards each other?

Appendix to Exercise 1. The Preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

(1948)

Overview: It is important to link basic human needs with human rights in order for the concept of human rights to gain acceptance and understanding. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) should initially be introduced in accessible language. Raising elementary questions about the range of human needs and showing participants that there is a right matching every need generally gets quick acceptance for the notion that human rights are important and can be useful.

Objectives: The participant should gain an understanding that:
- basic human needs are universal
- every identifiable human need is connected to a human right according the UDHR
- the UDHR represents a "hoped for world" supplying the goals as the basis for judging our own society
- our society, like others, comes up short by international standards where needs are not met and where human rights are violated.

Procedures: Introduce the subject of this exercise and use the expectation setting method (see Sample Methods). Use an icebreaker method, such as the wordwheel to get started (see Definitions section.) The first activity in this introductory session should take about ten minutes. The other steps twenty minutes or more. Two sessions may be needed if the group is ready to go beyond step 5.

Materials: The "Simplified Version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (Appendix)

Sequence: Step 1. Ask the participants to help you make a list of all the basic needs that are inherent in being a human being. This discussion can build on the previous exercise in which human beings were distinguished by their characteristics from various animals and other living things.

Step 2. Use the buzz group method or break up participants into groups, one for each need, reporting back whether they think the one need on which they focused is, in fact, met in our society. Characterize our society as to whether it allows individuals to meet their needs, use their potentialities and helps them develop their qualities as human beings?

Step 3. Ask each group to envision and characterize the goals of a society which they think will allow them to use and meet their basic needs and to develop their potentialities as human beings.

Step 4. Ask each group to report back its discussion through a few words. Listening to these presentations, the facilitator should construct a chart divided into three columns: (1) characteristic basic needs of a human being; (2) characteristics of the present society and whether the identified needs are met for most people; and, (3) characteristics of the desired goals for society.

1. NEEDS 2. FACTS 3. GOALS 4. RIGHTS

-                 -                 -                 -

-                 -                 -                 -

Step 5. Constructing a new column (4), the facilitator shows the different human rights needed to enjoy, to protect and to enhance one's dignity. Explain that for every basic need there is a corresponding human right, first introduced in the previous exercise. Draw upon the relevant human right by using the Article number and simplified version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights identified in the appendix for this exercise.

Step. 6. Open a discussion about column 2, where human rights violations may be identified, and column 3, which gives a glimpse of what lies ahead if and when human rights are finally respected, protected and promoted. Ask members of each group previously formed to look at needs, what could be done in our society to meet basic human needs and protect human rights?

Appendix to Exercise 2 A Simplified Version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

1. All human beings are born free and equal . We are all the same in dignity and rights and have the same rights     as anyone else. This is because we are all born with the ability to think and to know right from wrong, and so we  should act toward others in a spirit of friendliness.

2. Everyone should have the same rights and freedoms, no matter what race, sex, or color he or she may be. It       shouldn't matter where we were born, what language we speak or what religion or political opinions we have, or whether we are rich or poor.

3. Everyone has the right to live, to be free and to feel safe.

4. The buying and selling of people is wrong and slavery should be prevented at all times.

5. No one should be put through torture, or any other treatment or punishment that is cruel or makes the person feel less than human.

6. Everyone has the right to be accepted everywhere as a person , according to law.

7. You are entitled to be treated equally by the law, and to have equal protection of the laws.

8. If your rights under the law are violated, you should have the right to have fair judges who will see that justice is done.

9. You should not be arrested, held in jail or thrown out of your own country for no good reason .

10. In case you have to go to court, you have the same rights as anyone else to a fair and public hearing by courts that are open-minded and free to make their own decisions.

11. If you are blamed for a crime, you should be thought of as innocent until you are proven guilty. You shouldn't be punished for something you did which was not illegal when it happened.

12. No one should butt into your privacy, family, home or mail, or attack your honesty and self-respect for no good reason.

13. Within any country you have the right to go and live where you want. You have the right to leave any country, including your own, and return to when you want.

14. You have the right to seek shelter from harassment in another country.

15. No one should take away your right to the country where you're from .

16. Grown men and women have a right to marry and start a family, without anyone trying to stop them because of their race, country or religion. Both have to agree to marriage and both have equal rights in getting married, during the marriage, and if and when they decide to end it.

17. Everyone has the right to have belongings that they can keep alone or share with other people, and no one should take your things away for no good reason.

18. You may believe what you want to believe, have ideas about right and wrong, and believe in any religion you want, and you may change your religion if you want without interference.

19. You have the right to tell people how you feel about things without being told to keep quiet. You may read the newspapers or listen to the radio , and you have the right to print your opinions and send them anywhere without having someone try to stop you.

20. You have the right to gather peacefully with people , and to be with anyone you want, but no one can force you to join or belong to any group.

MORAL VALUE 2: LEARNING RULES

EXERCISE 3, "RULES FOR PROTECTION"

Overview: The concept of law as a social mechanism for assuring justice and protecting human rights should be introduced early in developing notions about human rights because respect and protection for human rights ultimately rest on rule of law. Rules are an essential part of all organized society and, in part, are needed to protect people from harm. Nevertheless, the facilitator must be careful not to insinuate approval for blind obedience to authority. Rules are (1) for protection, and (2) rules are for fairness (as explored in the exercise after this one).

Objectives: Participants will reflect on three notions connecting rules and protection:
(1) the need for and the function of rules to guide social behavior and to help shelter people from harm;
(2) the needs of children, the duties of those who care for them, and
(3) corresponding rights of children.

Procedures: Use the brainstorming techniques and buzz-group methods (for groups of more than 20) to elicit ideas and compare participant lists of the needs of children with the List of Children's Rights derived from the 1959 Declaration on the Rights of the Child..

Materials: (1) List of Ten Principles of Children's Rights (1959 UN Declaration)

Sequence: Step 1. Organize a brainstorming session, asking participants to think about the need for and purpose for rules, whether the rules are for the family, for the community, or for use in games. "Buzz-group procedures" may be helpful for a large group. The facilitator lists the responses, clustering them under the headings of "protection" and "fairness."

Step 2. Explain to the participants that all the things they said relate to two big ideas. These ideas are protection and fairness. We have rules for games so that the games are fair to all the players, and to help prevent people from being hurt in games. Rules at home can help us to keep our places neat, sanitary and in good order, thereby protecting the health of the family.
Rules can help us learn in school, keep our neighborhoods and streets safe, and help protect people from harm. Explain that good rules help us get along with other people and to take responsibilities and duties seriously. Ask for some examples of rules that are supposed to protect people from harm.

Step 3. Ask the participants to think about the rules parents use in the family. How are these rules designed to protect children? Encourage the participants to reflect on the needs of children in relation to the rules families make up to protect the child. Ask the participants to imagine that they are invited to celebrate the birth of a new baby. Everyone who comes to the celebration is asked to bring a gift that will represent something the baby will need: blankets, clothes, some food, and whatever they think the baby should have for a healthy and happy childhood, etc. Use a "talking circle" procedure to identify the gifts and to link them with the needs they are designed to meet. The facilitator makes a list of the needs of the child based on discussion of the gifts and which ones are necessary for the baby's health, safety, happiness, future development, etc.

Step. 4 Facilitator input: Tell the participants about the Declaration on the Rights of the Child and that the people from all over the world who wrote it in 1959 were involved in making a list of wishes for a better world to protect children. Look at the ten items on the list of children's rights. How does this list relate to the list of needs developed by the participants in step 3.

Step 5. Review the list of "Needs of the Child" and "Rights of the Child." Explain that rights are rules that say that peoples' needs should be met, honored and protected. The facilitator should observe that many children are without these things. Ask if children they know have the things we think they have a right to have? Conclude the discussion by asking participants to think about their List of Wishes for a better world for children. Would it include rights that are not in the "Declaration on the Rights of the Child."

Step 6. Ask participants to share ways they know of where individuals, groups of individuals or nations have tried to help deal with some of the rights of children, especially when their needs have not been protected. Ask what the participants could do to help? What will they do?

Appendix to Exercise 3: Ten Principles from the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child (1959)

1. The right to equality, regardless or race, color, sex, religion, or national or social origin
2. The right to develop physically and mentally in a healthy manner
3. The right to a name and nationality
4. The right to adequate nutrition, housing, and medical services
5. The right to special care if physically or mentally challenged
6. The right to love, understanding and protection
7. The right to free education and to play and recreation
8. The right to be among the first to receive relief in time of disaster
9. The right to protection against all forms of neglect, cruelty, and exploitation.
10. The right to be brought up in a spirit of tolerance and peace and as a member of the universal human family.

EXERCISE 4, "MAKING OUR OWN RULES"

Overview: People readily grasp an understanding of the need for social limits set by rules and laws. As attitudes mature and values become more sophisticated, people come to expect not only fair and protective rules, but rules they have participated in formulating. The standards of human rights are generally found in constitutions, charters, conventions and covenants. These are rules that have been developed through the participation of people coming to agree on the standards that apply to them; as such, they reflect a "social contract."

Objectives: Participants will:
- be introduced to a process of cooperative learning (they have input on the rules relating to their learning sessions
- reflect on the need for and the function of rules to guide social behavior
- develop a "social contract" for their own human rights education sessions, a pledge, by people who are dependent upon one another, to uphold the common welfare.

Procedures: The facilitator will guide the group through the process of developing their own rules and will be bound by them under terms of their agreement. The connection between promises and obligations will be made, followed by introduction of provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which Ethiopia has agreed to and thereby promised to implement.

Materials: (1) A set of rules for fair and orderly sessions initially drawn up by the facilitator. (2) Article 32 and 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Sequence. Step 1 The facilitator reports a proposed list of rules for the group, for example drawing upon the "Guidelines for Facilitators," in this handbook. These might include a statement on: (1) our sessions will last _____ (time), and they will not go overtime; (2) we will not get into arguments but try to let everyone's views be considered; (3) we will treat everyone respectfully, even if we do not agree with them; (4) we will not interrupt others when they are speaking; (5) we will change the rules if we think they are unfair; etc. Read the proposed rules to the participants and ask them to decide which one they think is especially important.

Step 2. Group the participants according to the rules they have selected. Try to have one group per rule. The groups should first talk among themselves about why they think the rule is important. A facilitator might act as a"floater" among the groups. A spokesperson is chosen by each group for "reporting back." Allow for participants to develop rules of their own which will be put to a vote.

Step 3. Once all the rules have been identified and accepted, tell the students that rules are also a kind of promise that everyone in the learning group makes to be fair and polite to show their respect for each other. Tell them that such promises are sometimes called compacts, conventions, or covenants. Explain that when nations make promises about the rights they will respect, they are making a promise to follow a rule they will honor and enforce.

Step 4. Facilitator input: Explain that most countries in the world, including Ethiopia, have agreed to the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is a long list of promises with 54 Articles or sections applying to young people under the age of 18. For example Article 32 promises to promote and abide by: "The right of the child to protection against harmful forms of work and against exploitation." Article 34 promises: "Protection of the child from sexual exploitation including prostitution and the use of children in pornographic materials." These are all promises made to follow rules designed to protect children.

Step 5. Acknowledge that promises made are not always promises kept. Ask the group to engage in "brainstorming" to come up with a list of ways (in their own community) in which Article 32 is violated, and the national promise is not kept. Break up into groups with each group focusing on one violation of the promise to protect children. The group should discuss what conditions explain unprotected child labor, who is to blame; and identify one thing that could be done to remedy the wrong. Repeat the process for Article 34 if time permits, except instead of discussing explanations for the violations of rights, use the problem solving technique described in the "Methods" section of this book.

Step 6. The facilitator concludes by summing things up. Review the idea that good rules serve the purpose of protecting people such as children, that rules are better when people have a chance to help make them; and that we all have some responsibility to see that rules are followed. Ask if anyone wants to dissent from the summing up or to add something left out.

Appendix for Exercise 4: Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

MORAL VALUE 3: FAIRNESS

EXERCISE 5, "THE PEN GAME"

Overview: Citizens must participate at all levels of decision-making in matters that affect their lives. This is, however, more observed in rhetoric than in practice. Similarly, laws ought to be made for and by the people, not just for the few and by elites. The purpose of this exercise is to show how laws issued without taking all the people into account could lead to arbitrary and unfair decisions and to injustice as a result.
Moreover, rules that are applied arbitrarily breed cynical attitudes toward rules in general, undermine the consensual basis of good rules and make coercive enforcement more likely. These are circumstances that erode the legitimacy of the rule-makers.

Objectives: By the end of this exercise the participants should be able to:
- distinguish between good rules and bad rules on the basis of whether they are fair or arbitrary
- recognize that rules of a game are very much like laws which are more just if they come about through the approval of the people
- appreciate that, because ignorance of the law is no excuse for violating the law, therefore the law must be accessible
- identify factors that need to be taken into account in the drafting of laws, such as accommodating felt needs, clarity of language and message, objectivity, etc.

Materials: A pen or pencil or similar item

Procedures: Participants should be seated in a circle or in some other way that they can see one another. They will only be told that they are going to play "The Pen Game." But the rules of the game will not be explained to them. Step 1 may not need more than 5 minutes, Steps 2 and 3 however, require at least 15 minutes each. Step 4 should be given ample time for full critical discussion and reaction.

Sequence: Step 1. Randomly select someone (we will call, "the initiator") from the middle and ask him/her to begin the game by passing a pen to the person seated next to the initiator. The facilitator must watch closely how, to whom and in which direction the initiator passes the pen. The facilitator suddenly announces that the initiator has made a mistake. The mistake identified by the facilitator can possibly be the initiator's using the left hand instead of the right or passing it to the person on the initiator's right instead of the left; or passing the pen with its cap off , or whatever oddities the facilitator has observed. Again, with no explanation, the facilitator should ask the person to whom the pen has been passed to continue the game. After the second or third pass, the facilitator will likewise announce another mistake: perhaps passing the pen to a person of the opposite sex, or to a person wearing a ring, or to someone with grey hair; and so on. This way the game can be continued until finally the pen reaches back to the initiator. In the process, many persons have been found at fault.

Step 2. After the game is completed in the manner described above, the facilitator should ask:
- the participants to identify mistakes announced to have been committed by the defaulting persons
- the alleged defaulters if they will accept their fault and why?
- the participants to speak whatever they feel is amiss, wrong, strange and unfair about the game.
- the participants should rule on who is to blame for the alleged faults --the facilitator or the declared defaulters, and why?

Step 3. Ask the participants what remedial measures should be taken to make the game fair and just?

Step 4. The facilitator reads this selection from Chinua Achebe, who wrote Anthills of the Savannah (page 45):

Worshiping a dictator is such a pain in the ass. It would not be so bad if it was merely a matter of dancing upside down on your head. With practice anyone could learn to do that. The real problem is having no way of knowing from one day to another, from one minute to the next, just what is up and what is down.

EXERCISE 6, "WANGARI'S CASE"

Overview: Every society has human rights heros and heroines. In this case, a Kenyan woman devoted to national development and preservation of the environment encountered unfair social and political obstacles in the way of her good cause. Nevertheless, by linking with others, she pressed on in ways that benefit us all, asserting her human rights even under the most difficult circumstances. The Greenbelt Movement, an environmental women's network which she started, has spread worldwide, despite harsh opposition from powerful elites.

Objectives: The participants learn from this exercise:
- an appreciation for the need for people to work for the common good of all
- an understanding that asserting your rights may result in resistance, but it is important to keep trying
- an understanding that gender stereotyping is unfair, and that unfair rules are found in social as well as political action
- a resolve to link human rights learning with action for good causes such as preservation of the environment and a commitment to democracy

Procedures: Elicit from the participants their own experience with problems of the unfair application of social rules and/ or legal rules. Ask for examples of unfair gender stereotyping, social pressure to discourage doing what you think is the right thing in helping others, as well as unfair police action.

Sequence: Step 1. Tell the participants they are going to hear a true case study about a human rights heroine in Kenya. Have a good quality tape recording of the case, preferably read slowly and clearly by a woman reader. Alternatively the facilitator can read "Wangari's Case" set out in the next step.

Step. 2. Read or play a tape recording of Wangari's Case:

Step 3. Explain that the case study is all about people trying to do good things even when the rules are unfair. Note that this is the history of a real person in Kenya who is continuing her work today.

Step 4. Open up a discussion of the case, asking the participants to help the facilitator to make a list of all the unfair things that happened to Wangari. How do these unfair things show the misuse of rules? Are they connected to human rights violations? What are some of the human rights violations involved in Wangari's case?

Step 5. Ask the participants how they would like the case study to end? Is it possible for these same kinds of things to happen in our country? If Wangari were Ethiopian, and these things happened here, what are some of the things you could do about them. Use a "go-around" method to wrap up this discussion.

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HREA Electronic Resource Centre for Human Rights Education:
The Bells of Freedom