Non-governmental Organizations - the Challenge of Partnership

Address by
Mary Robinson UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
to a seminar organized by
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations and The International Human Rights Law Association (Japan)

28 January 1998, Tokyo


When I accepted the role of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights I did so at a time when the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, was identifying that:

?Civil Society constitutes a major and increasingly important force in international life. In recent years the United Nations has found that much of its work, particularly at the country level, involves intimately the diverse and dedicated contributions of non-governmental organizations and groups...?.

I firmly believe this. Think of the huge contribution NGOs have made to world conferences in the past decade, including on human rights in Vienna and on women?s rights as human rights in Beijing. Think of the role they are now playing world wide in the follow up to commitments and platforms of action, such as the review of the Vienna Declaration and Platform for Action this year. Think of the role a small NGO played in promoting the recent landmine convention signed in Ottawa. The NGO community in our global village has become a key component in civil society. It is for this reason that I determined from the beginning to develop a strong partnership between my office and NGOs. During my first week as High Commissioner I met representatives of NGOs based in Geneva, a week later I met their colleagues in New York at the beginning of the General Assembly session. On each country visit I have made since my appointment I have welcomed the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of NGOs - including last week in Cambodia, this week here in Tokyo; I have always found the meetings to be personally enriching and professionally informative and it is a practice I will continue.

I have chosen to speak to you today on the topic of the challenges of partnership for NGOs working in the field of human rights. This is because I am aware of the developing contexts of partnership that I face myself, and that I believe all committed to the promotion and protection of human rights face, on a daily basis. When I refer to partnership I simply mean working together to achieve a common goal. In the field of human rights if we are going to achieve significant progress in as short a period as possible we have to develop creative partnerships. I have a broad mandate as High Commissioner for Human Rights - but no monopoly. I can only implement my mandate in partnership with a variety of actors including those within the UN organization itself, Governments, Regional Organisations, academic communities, individuals and of course the NGO community. I am confident that NGOs will find that they can best implement their own, self designed, mandates by adopting a similar approach.

A recent publication by the Carter Center entitled ?Human Rights, The United Nations and Non-governmental Organizations? focused on the links between the NGO community and the UN. The main themes addressed were: that NGOs should be given timely access to information, should be allowed consistent access to UN deliberations to increase transparency and that this should be extended not just to ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies such as the Commission on Human Rights but also to the General Assembly and its committees and the Bretton Woods Institutions. Undoubtedly this debate will continue, as certain Governments are looking for stricter criteria for existing accreditation and access by NGOs. The underlying issue of principle was stated as follows by President Jimmy Carter:

?... for a majority of the world?s peoples, the United Nations represents hope. Sometimes, people even see it as the only buffer between themselves and irresponsible or repressive governments or as the only place where their voices can be heard and can make a difference. The earlier human rights problems are brought to light, the better the opportunities for NGOs and governments to prevent them from continuing unchecked and resulting in violent conflict.?

For NGOs to enter into effective partnership requires a degree of self confidence, together with maturity and responsibility. Some NGOs have expressed the concern that it may effect their independence and somehow undermine their integrity in that they would have to compromise. While partnership will necessarily mean accommodation of the other to some appropriate extent, I do not accept that partnership means compromising on principles - for example an NGO can be in partnership with their Government in working to alleviate humanitarian distress in a famine stricken area and at the same time be in serious conflict with the Government over its policy on refugees. Partnership is a sign of strength - not of weakness; there is much to be gained from strategic partnership and no reason for loss.

We must remember that irrespective of with whom the NGO establishes a partnership, be it with Government, international organisation, donor or another NGO, there is always the presence, frequently silent, of the community it serves - the focus of the activity of the NGO. The community may be represented by just one person at a time, for example an NGO offering free legal aid services, or by millions, for example, a project for the vaccination of children. It is the members of that community and their well being that must be at the core of the work of the partnership which is developed.

Equally the size of the NGO is not relevant. I am as pleased as High Commissioner to be associated with the work of a small, single issue organization, such as the Cambodian Women?s Crisis Centre whose shelter I visited last week in Phnom Penh, as with the excellent initiative of Amnesty International who have determined to secure the commitment of over 6 million people worldwide to pledge themselves to the UDHR during this year, and the inauguration of which I was pleased to attend during my visit to South Africa for Human Rights Day on 10 December last.

Laurel B. Francis, a former member of the Human Rights Committee, remarked that ?NGOs are the eyes and ears of the Committee?. I believe that responsible NGOs can perform a very valuable role as additional eyes and ears for the wider UN community - and be recognized as true partners by the UN community. To do so they require the independence that allows them build credibility and therefore acceptance as valued partners. However NGOs in a number of countries do not have sufficient independence - and I would suggest that some may not know their rights under international law, which should be respected by their Governments. Traditionally the rights of NGOs have been viewed mainly in terms of the rights of their individual members - free speech, security of the person, privacy - and not extended to the right to freedom of association which attaches to the organization itself. Development of freedom of association has taken place almost exclusively in the context of workers rights, with too little done to interpret what freedom of association means for the rights of other NGOs, outside the labour area, and what activities it protects. As a result many NGOs cannot articulate and assert their organisational rights and so may not be able to establish and maintain their independence.

With the increasingly easy access to technology I believe well organized and informed NGOs should consider whether they have a responsibility to colleagues who are less free in their functioning, and so cannot be involved in dissemination of information, advocacy and protection in the effective way they should be. A ?lessons learned? strategy with a sharing of experience, and perhaps a monitoring system within the worldwide community of NGOs, could be addressed. A benefit which could emerge from such partnerships is the compilation of reports detailing examples of best practice, which would be of major benefit not only to NGOs but to all involved in human rights work.

Our hosts at this seminar today, The Japan Federation of Bar Associations and the International Human Rights Law Association (Japan) are NGOs with particular expertise in law, and are therefore very well equipped to focus on issues at the core of human rights law, treaties, mechanisms and institutions. They, together with other human rights NGOs here in Japan and elsewhere in this region, such as Forum Asia and the Asian Human Rights Commission, have a key role to play in avoiding any dilution in existing international standards and in countering the argument that ?cultural relativism? justifies any divergence from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its implementing treaties. The best strategy is to promote increasing use and application of international human rights treaties and mechanisms, both through the presentation of ?counter reports? and briefings to the treaty bodies, and in their domestic work. This calls for a particular role - and opportunity - for NGOs with a legal orientation, and for lawyers? organizations. In recent years the international community has witnessed a dramatic expansion in the role of NGOs with respect to UN treaty bodies. Today, NGOs are increasingly perceived as important actors in the process of assessing the implementation of international human rights on the domestic level. The treaty bodies, made up of a small number of experts from around the world, have neither adequate expertise on each state party?s legal system nor a comprehensive picture of the human rights practices in each state. NGOs are uniquely positioned to provide the treaty bodies with analysis of the compatibility of national laws with treaty standards, and with reports on human rights violations. One of the most serious challenges faced by treaty bodies is their lack of capacity to follow up on the concluding comments. NGOs have an instrumental role to play in ensuring that the outcome of the dialogue between a state and a treaty body is carried back home, and that the recommendations to the state are implemented in practice through changes in laws or procedures.

I am aware that Japanese NGOs have been a particularly fruitful source of information to the Human Rights Committee. At its 1993 meeting on Japan?s third report, frail and not so frail Committee members staggered under the weight of Japanese NGO materials, and I know you are preparing actively for the next committee session on the fourth report. In this context, it would be interesting for me to know what links the International Human Rights Law Association and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations have with other equivalent groups in the region, and how far the Japanese NGOs could share their experience in using international human rights law with other countries in the region.

It is clear from my comments that I believe in the importance of NGOs working together and sharing experiences - and indeed on occasion sharing personnel and other resources. It is true of NGOs whether they are working locally, nationally, regionally or internationally. They should have a fundamental predisposition to co-operating with colleague organizations and not be driven by a feeling of competition. I have been prepared to be critical of poor co-ordination among UN agencies in crisis situations such as the Great Lakes area of Africa and I would be equally critical of some NGOs in similar situations. I can understand and sympathize with the need for clear identity of individual organizations as being important in attracting voluntary funds. However when it mitigates against the best possible help reaching those in greatest need it is morally wrong and must be avoided. An agreed common purpose and overall strategy, identified by good co-operation on an ongoing basis, is the best guarantee of effective and sustainable action.

NGOs can give leadership in other areas - for example I believe they could have a significant role to play in the current crucially important debate and in the forthcoming conference on the International Criminal Court to be held in Rome next June. They are in a position to lead the argument on such issues as the need for an effective and independent Prosecutor and for the court to have inherent jurisdiction over the three core crimes, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, which already fall under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Your organizations, in partnership with the Government of Japan, could give leadership with your Asian neighbours in the drive to ensure that the International Criminal Court, which will be the last international institution to be created this century, is one we can all be proud of, which will fulfill its dual purpose of prosecuting international crime and deterring future atrocities.

Finally, let me encourage you to join in a partnership with NGOs worldwide in campaigning for the adoption of the draft Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. After all, thirteen years have passed since the Commission on Human Rights decided to establish an open-ended working group to draft a declaration on ?human rights defenders?. It is difficult to explain to those concerned, and to the outside world, that after all these years the work has not been completed on the draft, particularly because the rights involved will not be contained in a legally binding treaty, but in a declaration that aims at clarifying and reinforcing rights which are already recognized in existing international instruments.

The World Conference on Human Rights recommended the speedy completion and adoption of the draft declaration. This was followed in 1997 by a resolution of the Commission on Human Rights calling on the working group to finalize its work with a view to enabling the Commission to adopt the draft this year. The 54th Commission on Human Rights opens in Geneva in just over a month?s time. As it is taking place during the 50th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights there will be many activities to mark the vision of the drafters whose remarkable text has stood the test of time. Perhaps the most appropriate way for the Commission to commemorate this vision, and to recognize the enormous contribution of so many human rights defenders, is to adopt that which could then be adopted by the General Assembly before the end of 1998, and help ensure that the theme for the year ?All Human Rights for All? is fulfilled.