Effective human rights program needed

MANILA, Philippines – Commission on Human Rights chairperson Leila M. de Lima encourages all cause-oriented groups, non-government organizations, peo-ple’s organizations, the academe and other sectoral organizations to support the creation of a new and effective Human Rights program.

Human rights issues are not generically everyone’s concern, or worse, just the government’s concern, but it is a personal concern of every citizen. It all begins with admitting that extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, armed conflict, internal displacement, women and children’s rights, indigenous peo-ple’s rights, suffrage, poverty, nutrition, education and a litany of other issues, are our own concerns, this is the message of Commission on Human Rights chairperson De Lima on the launching of the 2009 Search for Innovative Philippine Human Rights Initiatives last Oct. 13, 2009, in Balay Kalinaw, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

KaSaMa or Karapatan sa Malikhaing Paraan is a project that invites human rights advocates from various parts of the country to craft and submit exceptional proposals on a wide range of human rights issues, civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. The Australian Embassy, British Embassy, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, European Commission, New Zealand Embassy, Spanish Embassy, The Asia Foundation, and the United Nations Develop-ment Program have joined efforts to organize this pilot round of KaSaMa and have pledged resources to fund selected innovative proposals.

The goal of the KaSaMa Project is not merely a search for new solutions, but ultimately and at its very core, a search for meaningful outcomes and results in human rights endeavors.

Crimes of impunity are only at the tip of the spear. Many other issues remain without any recent improvement. Informal settlements and housing, internal dis-placement and the peace process, poverty alleviation and education, just to name a few, are dealt with the same solutions, many of which are without much result… While there are some sectors that are willing to wrangle with waiting for long-term results and flagging political will to sustain current interventions, there is a need to farm out new ideas, De Lima explained.

“The solutions must be our own, driven by an unshakable will to deliver the promise of freedom and human rights for every person. They must be brave, bold and very importantly, they must have measurable parameters of success. They must be in the realm of the unthinkable, as we may very well be at the edge of conventional solutions already. And to paraphrase JFK, the change we seek must be fueled by human dignity as our purpose, the human heart as our com-passionate response, and the human mind as the source of our limitless power to innovate for the sole purpose of uplifting of our people,” said the Commission on Human Rights chairperson.

For more information, visit www.kasama-ph.com for details on the 2009 Search for Philippine Innovative Human Rights Initiatives were up to P1 million will be granted for successful proposals. — ROMMEL RAGASA, Proj. 8, Quezon City