Framing SDIA’s work on a rights basis is logical and easy to do, given that SDIA members throughout the world are striving to ensure human rights are being respected. Here are some examples:
- Albadi, Lemba Imbu and Nkembo schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo are defending the right to education for all by providing primary and secondary education for children from underprivileged backgrounds. Albadi also provides vocational training and caters specifically for children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS.
- Asociación Vivir in Ecuador empowers people to take control of their health, well-being and nutrition, and promotes health from a more human and integral perspective. Its success has been endorsed by the government, and its educational programmes have been replicated in more than eighteen provinces in Ecuador. Vivir has been elected by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of fifteen Health Promotion models globally.
- Puppeteers Without Borders, based in France but working internationally, uses puppets as an educative and awareness-raising tool around potentially sensitive issues such as HIV/AIDS and domestic violence. Taking into account the specific background of the target audience, its members help plan and prepare performances and train teachers, health professionals and social workers in the use of puppets. It has implemented projects in Australia, Israel, Mexico and Serbia.
- Sun for Life in Madagascar works for the prevention of deforestation and supports sustainable agriculture. To do this, the project encourages the use of solar energy to replace wood fuel or kerosene and replants deforested areas with a plant that is adapted to arid conditions and is also highly nutritious.
- ICDP (International Child Development Programme) is a worldwide programme – working in fifteen countries in Africa, Europe and Latin America—with UNICEF and WHO (World Health Organisation) endorsement. It works to educate and empower children’s care-givers in at-risk populations, including in areas of conflict. This programme is particularly interesting from a rights perspective as it not only contributes to the development of the capacities of ‘rights-holders’ to claim their rights, but also to the capacities of ‘duty-bearers’ (in this case the care-givers) to meet their obligations.
- Mithra Foundation in the slums of Bangalore, India, is working in the field of education and also carrying out human rights education. Its aim is to empower the most vulnerable people and facilitate their struggle against poverty, injustices and exploitation, focusing on migrants settled in the slums. Among these slum dwellers, women and the children are given priority. Mithra’s many activities include children’s programmes: for example, a preschool programme in the slums, education for child workers and support to girls and Dalit children. It also carries out Human Rights Education in schools in Karnataka, and has developed its own human rights training manual. Children are thus encouraged to explore social issues they face in their daily lives and the rights implications they carry, and to explore the respect and esteem they have for themselves and for others.