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191. The Power of Staying Put: Nonviolent Resistance Against Armed Groups in Colombia

Author:
Juan Masullo
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
Confronted with civil war, local civilians typically either collaborate with the strongest actor in town or flee the area. Yet civilians are not stuck only with these choices. Collectively defying armed groups by engaging in organized nonviolent forms of noncooperation, self-organization and disruption is another option. This monograph explores this option through sustained and organized civil resistance led by ordinary peasants against state and non-state repressive actors in Colombia’s longstanding civil war: the case of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó.
Topic:
Human Rights
Political Geography:
Global Focus

192. State-Sponsored Homophobia (2015)

Author:
Aengus Carroll and Lucas Paoli Itaborahy
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
ILGA World (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association)
Abstract:
Every year, ILGA World publishes its State-Sponsored Homophobia report, a world survey of sexual orientation laws. Since its first edition, back in 2006, ILGA World’s State-Sponsored Homophobia has been a fundamental resource for those interested in accessing the core information on legislation affecting people on the basis of their sexual orientation. Not only human rights defenders, but also civil society organisations, governmental and United Nations agencies, allies and media worldwide value the publication as one of the main sources of information on the issue. The publication is accompanied by a series of maps and charts illustrating where criminalisation, protection and recognition laws exist.
Topic:
Human Rights, Law, LGBT+, and Homophobia
Political Geography:
Global Focus

193. Human Rights Due Diligence through Stakeholder Engagement?

Author:
Brigitte Hamm and Anne Schax
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Development and Peace
Abstract:
The report examines to what extent stakeholder engagement as a form of private governance can contribute to a corporation’s human rights due diligence performance. It takes as the basis for investigation a case study of a stakeholder engagement program implemented by the oper- ating company SMI for a planned copper-gold mine in the Philippines during the project’s pre- operational phase. The analysis examines criteria for good stakeholder engagement set out by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and uses the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights as the conceptual framework. For the case investigated here, it is established that SMI’s stakeholder engagement program as well as the IFC’s guidelines evince several shortcomings from a human rights perspective, which in turn negatively affect other due dili- gence processes.
Topic:
Human Rights, United Nations, Governance, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Philippines, Asia-Pacific, and Global Focus

194. Women and Climate Change: Impact and Agency in Human Rights, Security, and Economic Development

Author:
Mayesha Alam, Rukmani Bhatia, and Briana Mawby
Publication Date:
01-2015
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS)
Abstract:
Climate change is a global challenge that burdens all of humanity, but not equally. The world’s poor, the majority of whom are women, are encumbered disproportionately. The distinct impacts of climate change on men and women are exacerbated in settings that are also affected by violent conflict, political instability, and economic strife. As the world struggles to grapple with rapid onset disasters as well as respond to slower degradation caused by climate change, it is critical to ensure that the plight of women is firmly on the agenda of concerns, and that women – from different backgrounds – are able to lead in negotiations and participate in the design and implementation of programs. This report comes at an important time of international observance when new commitments to action will be made, coinciding not only with the fifteenth anniversaries of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) and the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, but also in anticipation of the Conference of Parties (COP) 21 conference in Paris in late 2015. In an effort to remedy the dearth of existing literature on women and climate change, this report makes an important contribution by covering a wide variety of issues; highlighting both impact and agency; mapping examples of solutions that have proven to be successful; and holding relevance to policy- makers, practitioners, scholars, and students. The findings of the report are based on and buttressed by a thorough examination of international conventions and protocols; national action plans; journal articles and other scholarly publications; reports by government and multilateral agencies; policy briefs and guidance notes, as well as civil society reports. The analysis is also informed by and draws upon a series of consultations with experts from around the world in research, advocacy, program design and implementation, and global leadership positions. As a result, the study represents an interdisciplinary endeavor with far-reaching practical applicability.
Topic:
Security, Climate Change, Human Rights, Women, and Economic Development
Political Geography:
Global Focus

195. Primer: Support Technologies for Human Rights Lawyers

Publication Date:
02-2014
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
This study looks at the place that technologies may have in helping human rights lawyers work most effectively. It looks at three classes of technologies: 1. Case and practice management tools, for managing the day­to­day flow of information around a case, such as the exchange of documents, task management and dates. 2. E­Discovery tools for digitizing, organizing and reviewing collections of documents, data or other material that could be evidence in a case. 3. Investigation and case building tools for organizing and analyzing the facts of a case or group of cases, providing visual overviews on maps, network charts and timelines. The goal is to provide an understanding of the problems that the available tools target, a framework for thinking about how these technologies may fit into to your work, and a good understanding of the costs involved.
Topic:
Human Rights, Science and Technology, Law, Digital Policy, and Legal Sector
Political Geography:
Global Focus

196. License to Be Yourself

Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Open Society Foundations
Abstract:
When trans people’s passports, driver licenses, and national ID cards, do not reflect their gender identity, it can exclude them from fundamental aspects of daily life—like receiving health care, schooling, housing, or a bank account. And it can prevent trans people from exercising basic liberties like the right to vote or freedom of movement. The vast majority of trans people around the world cannot obtain official documents under their appropriate name and sex that match their gender identity. Where this is possible, trans people often face highly restrictive laws or regulations for changing name and sex that violate human rights obligations. These restrictions may involve excluding trans people who are married or have children, or require compulsory medical diagnoses or proceedures, including those that result in sterilization. License to Be Yourself documents some of the world’s most progressive and rights-based laws and policies that enable trans people to change their gender identity on official documents. It shares strategies that activists have successfully used in a variety of global and legal contexts, and features case studies from Argentina, Australia, Hong Kong, Kenya, Ukraine, and the United States. This report is a resource for activists working on human rights issues for trans people, local communities examining best laws and policies, and policymakers seeking to uphold the rights of trans people.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Human Rights, LGBT+, Sexuality, Identity, Legal Sector, and Transgender
Political Geography:
Global Focus

197. State-Sponsored Homophobia (2014)

Author:
Lucas Paoli Itaborahy and Jingsu Zhu
Publication Date:
05-2014
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
ILGA World (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association)
Abstract:
Every year, ILGA World publishes its State-Sponsored Homophobia report, a world survey of sexual orientation laws. Since its first edition, back in 2006, ILGA World’s State-Sponsored Homophobia has been a fundamental resource for those interested in accessing the core information on legislation affecting people on the basis of their sexual orientation. Not only human rights defenders, but also civil society organisations, governmental and United Nations agencies, allies and media worldwide value the publication as one of the main sources of information on the issue. The publication is accompanied by a series of maps and charts illustrating where criminalisation, protection and recognition laws exist.
Topic:
Human Rights, Law, LGBT+, and Homophobia
Political Geography:
Global Focus

198. Around 1948: Human Rights and Global Transformation

Author:
Rashid Khalidi, Lydia H. Liu, Samuel Moyn, Deborah Nelson, and Eurgenia Lean
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Abstract:
Footage from the October 8, 2014 panel discussion "Around 1948: Human Rights and Global Transformation" at Columbia University about the issues surrounding the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Featuring Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies, Columbia University; Lydia H. Liu, Wun Tsun Tam Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University; Samuel Moyn, Professor of Law and History, Harvard University; and Deborah Nelson, Associate Professor of English, University of Chicago. Moderated by Eugenia Lean, Associate Professor of Chinese History and Director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University. Co-sponsored by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Center for International History, Critical Inquiry, the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, the Department of History, the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, and the Middle East Institute.
Topic:
Human Rights, History, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Middle East, East Asia, Asia, and Global Focus

199. Human security twenty years on

Author:
Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh
Publication Date:
06-2014
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution
Abstract:
The concept of human security, which made its international debut in the 1994 UNDP Human Development Report, adds a people-centered dimension to the traditional security, development and human rights frameworks while locating itself in the area where they converge. Ever since, a number of countries have used the concept for their foreign and aid policies. Although it became the subject of a 2012 General Assembly Resolution, the concept still courts controversy and rejection twenty years after its introduction. Politically, its close association with the notion of the Responsibility to Protect in debates about international interventions has alienated Southern countries that are sceptical about violations of state sovereignty and new conditionalities for receiving aid. No country has adopted it as a goal at the national level, raising scepticism about its utility for domestic policymaking. Yet the concept represents a malleable tool for analysing the root causes of threats and their multidimensional consequences for different types of insecurities. It can be operationalised through applying specific principles to policymaking and can be used as an evaluative tool for gauging the impact of interventions on the dynamics of other fields. The article suggests that Norway not only pursues the goals of human security at the global level, but that it also leads in adopting it as a national goal by scrutinising the country’s domestic policies using this approach.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Human Rights, Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and Human Security
Political Geography:
Norway and Global Focus

200. State-Sponsored Homophobia (2013)

Author:
Lucas Paoli Itaborahy and Jingsu Zhu
Publication Date:
05-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
ILGA World (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association)
Abstract:
Every year, ILGA World publishes its State-Sponsored Homophobia report, a world survey of sexual orientation laws. Since its first edition, back in 2006, ILGA World’s State-Sponsored Homophobia has been a fundamental resource for those interested in accessing the core information on legislation affecting people on the basis of their sexual orientation. Not only human rights defenders, but also civil society organisations, governmental and United Nations agencies, allies and media worldwide value the publication as one of the main sources of information on the issue. The publication is accompanied by a series of maps and charts illustrating where criminalisation, protection and recognition laws exist.
Topic:
Human Rights, Law, LGBT+, and Homophobia
Political Geography:
Global Focus