UN mechanisms for improving the realization of human rights can be divided into two groups: conventional and non-conventional mechanisms, i.e. treaty bodies which monitor the implementation of UN conventions, and special procedures such as rapporteurs. While the non-conventional mechanisms seem more attractive, they are more of a onetime event and therefore luck sustainability, which is a factor that places conventional mechanisms at a higher potential for long lasting impact achievement.
Working Assumption
- Duty bearers at national level will implement binding codified human rights laws and the nationally developed National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan NAPWA.
- Recurrent review of state periodic reports on implementation can ensure sustained efforts for improvement of women’s human rights conditions in the long run.
The journey of the realization of human rights must not end before reaching the enforcement stage. Enforcement should rather be treated as a cross cutting stage and be merged with the processes of norm sitting and monitoring, so that the entire existence of the first two stages would be irrelevant without the third stage.[1]
Most cases of discrimination and violence against women take place in rural areas, where access to education is limited. But there are also reports that suggest towards presence of suffocating norms and conditions that force educated women to commit suicide.[2] Let us take the example of ever increasing cases of self-immolation of women in western provinces of Afghanistan. I wonder at times about how would the lives of those women be different if they were connected to the world through a Facebook account and could share what they felt, and found others who felt the same; if they had a space for expression and the opportunity to say who they were, what they wanted in life and why? And how would their lives been different if they knew that they had a world full of supporters of their rights, and that there are laws that describe the conditions they face and defend their stance against those conditions?
A logical consequence of this imagined situation would be bottom-up accountability through empowered men and women with access to the medium that connects them to the entire world in seconds. Can any government or duty bearer escape such a population? They may, but first it will be very difficult to hide facts, and second, they will definitely not get re-elected.
It is in the light of this flow of information that review of state periodic reports on the implementation of women’s human rights will find a practical meaning. The CEDAW Committee will always have the ability to cross check state reports against widely blogged and published community reports.
Strategies
The first short term strategy for the promotion of UN human rights mechanisms will focus on Educating teachers, students and elected members of local and national councils. Teachers are the architects of tomorrow, students are the tomorrow. Elected members of local and national councils are the Government officials with closest ties to every nook and corner of the country. They are local and therefore represent those localities. Yet they are part of the government and therefore have a say in decision making. They are the bridge between the people and the government, in particular in centralized forms of government. This strategy will help focus on today’s population and will introduce them to the UN human rights values.
The second short term strategy for the promotion of UN human rights mechanisms will target youth, and emphasize on Connecting everyone through access to internet and information technology, and develop community reporting mechanism. Currently access to internet in Afghanistan is limited to less than 5% of the population. But this has to change in accordance with changing times. Media has increasingly become more social and human expressive ability has increased to an unprecedented level in the history of mankind. Thanks to the internet and social media, today, in most parts of the world, every consumer of information can also be a producer of information. This ability to connect not only helps men and women realize, at a much faster rate, that they are together in their struggle for human rights, but it also helps the flow of information, sharing and spreading of words and stories, building networks, and as a result supporting each other. Access to internet and social media can ensure that everyone and not just urbanized elite, transform from scattered many into an interconnected strong whole.
The long term strategy for the promotion of UN human rights mechanism will focus on Revising Educational Curricula. To ensure that every new member of society grows with and alongside the human rights values, there is need for a revision of educational curricula at all levels. This strategy focuses on the future population.
Strengths
- Focus on youth who make 70% of the population.
- Focus on Education, which ensures sustainability.
- As a consequence of the above two, the government information provision mechanisms will also improve, thus resulting in public’s better access to government documents, laws, rules of procedures, as well as projects and their implementation, which empowers the population to be in a better position to hold government accountable.
- Paves the way for most other human rights and democratic values.
- Community reporting mechanisms will fill in the gaps that are caused by the limitations of review of state periodic reports.
Weaknesses
- It may be considered to be too broad and lack direct connection to the cause.
- It is not going to happen overnight, while donors like to see immediate results.
- Resistance of reactionary elements of society may be inspired by a particular interpretation of religion, which is hard to argue against.