Philippine Constitution: Human Rights

• The Philippine Constitution aims to build a just and humane society, establish a government that embodies national ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve national patrimony, and secure independence, democracy, truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace.

Human Rights

• Human rights are legal rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other legal documents.
• Designed to protect the inherent dignity of human beings by providing essential values, principles and standards

Fundamental Principles of Human Rights

• Universal: Everyone is entitled to enjoy human rights without discrimination.
• Inalienable: Human rights cannot be taken away except in specific situations and according to due process.
• Interdependent and Indivisible: Human rights, whether civil, political, economic, social, or cultural rights, are indivisible, interrelated, and interdependent.
• Inviolable: Human rights are irreducible elements of one's humanity that cannot be abrogated or violated.
• Rights and Obligations: States have obligations under international law to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights, and individuals should respect the human rights of others.

Human Rights According to UDHR

• Article 1: Right to Equality
• Article 2: Freedom from Discrimination
• Article 3: Right to Life, Liberty, and Personal Security
• Article 4: Freedom from Slavery
• Article 5: Freedom from Torture and Degrading Treatment
• Article 6: Right to Recognition as a Person Before the Law
• Article 7: Right to Equality Before the Law
• Article 8: Right to Remedy Competent Tribunal
• Article 9: Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest and Exile
• Article 10: Right to Fair Public Hearing
• Article 11: Right to be Considered Innocent Until Proven Guilty
• Article 12: Freedom from Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, and Correspondence
• Article 13: Right to Free Movement in and out of the Country
• Article 14: Right to Asylum in other Countries from Persecution
• Article 15: Right to a Nationality and the Freedom to Change it
• Article 16: Right to Marriage and Family
• Article 17: Right to Own Property
• Article 18: Freedom of Belief and Religion
• Article 19: Freedom of Opinion and Information
• Article 20: Right to Peaceful Assembly and Association
• Article 21: Right to Participate in Government and in Free Elections
• Article 22: Right to Social Security
• Article 23: Right to Desirable Work and to Join Trade Unions
• Article 24: Right to Rest and Leisure
• Article 25: Right to Adequate Living Standard
• Article 26: Right to Education
• Article 27: Right to Participate in the Cultural Life of Community
• Article 28: Right to a Social Order that Articulates this Document
• Article 29: Right to Community Duties Essential to Free and Full Development
• Article 30: Freedom from State or Personal Interference in the above Rights
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948.

Classification of Human Rights

• Natural Rights: Fundamental rights believed to be inherent to all individuals, often associated with human dignity and moral principles.
• Civil Rights: Fundamental rights and freedoms granted to individuals by a government and protected by law.
• Political Rights: Rights related to an individual's ability to participate in the civil and political life of society and state without fear of discrimination or repression.

Social Equity/ Social Justice

• Social equity concerns justice and fairness of social policy.
• Involves public administrators ensuring social services are delivered equitably, taking into account historical and current inequalities.
• The Congress should prioritize measures to protect human dignity, reduce inequalities, and remove cultural inequities, regulating property acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition.
• Social justice is not communism, despotism, atomism, or anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces.

Empowerment and Advocacy

• Empowerment is giving someone more control over their own life or the power to do something.
• Advocacy is support, advice, and help given to people who are unable to speak for themselves.
• People empowerment is the process that increases community autonomy and individual self-determination.

Strategies of Empowerment and Advocacy

• Secure Strong Leadership: Involves engaging strong leaders within the community.
• Establish Formal Structure: A formal structure must be created to effectively lead community change efforts.
• Engage the Stakeholders: Engage people, groups, or institutions that may be affected by or are important to the achievement of the stated purpose of a project.
• Conduct a Needs Assessment: Determining the most important needs of that group or community.
• Create a Strategic Plan: Develop a strategic plan that lays out the goals and objectives.

Gender Equality

• Gender stratification: A structure based on sex and gender that permits or limits access to power, property, and prestige
• Sex: Biological characteristics that distinguish males and females.
• Gender: A social characteristic that varies from one society to another and refers to what the group considers proper for its males and females.
• Gender equality refers to the equal valuing of the roles of women and men and requires equal enjoyment by women and men of socially valued goods, opportunities, resources, and rewards.

Sociological Theories of Gender Inequality

• Structural-Functionalist Perspective: Pre-industrial society required a division of labor based on gender.
• Conflict Perspective: Shaped by relationships men and women have to the production process.
• Symbolic Interactionist Perspective: Gender assignments begin at birth (labeling).

International and Local Statutes Related to Gender Equality

• International:
  • Convention on the Elimination of All forms of discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
  • Beijjing Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World Conference on Women
  • Millennium Development Goals, 2015 - 2000
• Local:
  • Republic Act 9262: Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004
  • Republic Act 10354: The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act
  • Republic Act 9710: Magna Carta of Women
  • Republic Act 8505: Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998
  • Republic Act 7877: Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995

Partnership Building with Local Groups

• Partnerships are intended for joint solving of problems, resource exchange, cooperation, coordination, and coalition building.
• Partnerships can be formed to help organizations accomplish a variety of shared goals related to advocacy, promotion, and program development.
• Types of partnership: Networks, Coordination, Collaboration

Principles of Partnership

• Trust: The most important if the partnership crosses many boundaries
• Mutuality: The partnership relations are open to dialogue and exchange of views.
• Solidarity: Sensitivity and commitment to the problems, efforts, and constraints of other partners.
• Accountability: Involves rights and obligations.

Requirements of Effective Partnership

• Government must be open, receptive, sensitive, and responsive.
• Local people must develop skills in negotiation and claim-making.
• NGOs must be open to collaboration with the government, share risks, and be creative.

Sources of Conflicts in a Partnership

• Value disagreements, Personality conflicts, Communication misunderstandings, Doubts about priority need for partnership, Confusion over differing degrees of members' autonomy, Different power interests

Conflict Management

• Encourages open communication and ways of negotiating expressed differences to meet at least some of the needs of all partners.
• Steps include choosing a neutral process observer, selecting a specific conflict, having partners state their positions, paraphrasing each other's explanations, starting an open dialogue, and summarizing each party's position.

Community Profiling and Needs Assessment

• Community profiling involves building up a picture of the nature, needs, and resources of a community with the active participation of that community.
• Community or stakeholder profiles are a useful way of developing an understanding of the people in a geographical area or a specific community of interest.
• A community needs assessment identifies the strengths and resources available in the community to meet the needs of children, youth, and families.
• Strategic planning that confirms, transforms, or develops a new mission and vision; characterizes the nature of the business
• Government of the Philippines through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has been preparing the ground

Purposes of Needs Assessment

• Learn more about what a group or community needs.
• Get a more honest and objective description of needs
• To become aware of possible needs
• Document your needs
• Make sure any actions is in line with needs that are expressed by the community
• Get community Support

Community Profiling Strengths

• Gather information about the diversity of a community and the potential stakeholders
• Highlight gaps in our understanding of a community
• Encourage broader thinking about ‘who' a community is and 'who' is involved in a project and ‘how'
• Help determine who is likely to be influenced by change or affected by a project

Social Action and Social Action Evaluation

• Social action is about people coming together to help improve their lives and solve the problems that are important in their communities.
• Types of Social Action (Max Weber): Rational-purposeful Action, Value-rational Action, Affective Action, Traditional Action

Steps in Social Action Evaluation

• Step One: Framing the evaluation
• Step two: Designing the evaluation
• Step three: Doing the evaluation