MODULE 5: HUMAN RIGHTS
Human Rights- refers to basic standards or
fundamental freedoms and liberties inherent
or inalienable to all human beings-whatever
their race, sex, gender, social class, age,
disability, religion, political affiliation,
creed, or other characteristic of background
or group membership (UN 2009, 1998).
Core Characteristics or Principles of
Human Rights
 Universal and nondiscriminatory-
human rights apply equally to all
people because everyone is born free
and equal in dignity and rights.
 Inalienable- human rights are innate
to all human beings and cannot be
traded something else or be taken
away.
 Interconnected and indivisible-
each human right is realized in the
fulfillment of other rights; thus, the
violation of one affects the other.
Major Categories of Human Rights
CIVIL RIGHTS
 include the right to life, liberty, and
personal security; the right to be
equal before the law; the right to
be protected from arbitrary arrest;
the right to the due process of law;
the right to a fair trial; and the
right to practice religious freedom
and worship. These rights also
establish the right of every child to
be registered and to have a name
and a nationality.
POLITICAL RIGHTS
 guarantee an individual’s
involvement in public affairs, which
include the right to speech and
expression; the right to assembly
and association, and the right vote
and participate in political affairs.
ECONOMIC RIGHTS
 include the right to work and fair
remuneration; the right to form
trade unions and free associations;
and the right to social security,
including social insurance.
[guarantee protection to everyone,
particularly the most vulnerable members of
society, in the event of unemployment,
maternity, accident, illness, disability, old
age or other such life circumstances.]
SOCIAL RIGHTS
 include the right to a family; the
right to education; the right to
health and well-being; the right to
leisure time; and the right to enjoy
the widest possible protection and
assistance for the family, especially
for mothers, children, and young
persons.
CULTURAL RIGHTS
 include the right to the benefits of
culture; the right to indigenous
land, rituals, and shared cultural
practices; the right to speak one’s
own language; and the right to
“mother tongue” education.
The International Bill of Human Rights
(IBHR)

The UDHR, ICESCR, and the ICCPR are

collectively referred to as the International
Bill of Human Rights (IBHR) and they
contain a broad and ample list of human
rights that signatory governments are
obliged to respect, protect, and fulfill.
The Abbreviated 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human rights by the Unite
Nations
  Protect- private sectors must be
prevented form violating the rights
of others
 Fulfill- positive actions must be
taken in order to facilitate the
enjoyment of basic human rights
Restrictions, Limitations, and
Suspensions of Human Rights
There are instances when the exercise of
certain rights (such as freedom of speech
and expression, right to assembly, right to
freedom of movement, and respect for one’s
private and family life) may be restricted,
limited or suspended. However, these
constraints cannot be arbitrarily imposed
without lawfully complying with the
following minimum requirements (UNHCR
2006, 35-36):
International Bill of Human Rights  It shall be defined by law.
(IBHR)- gives people the liberty to choose
their way of life, express themselves, and  It must be imposed for one or more
choose kind of government they want, specific legitimate purposes, such
among many others. that its objectives are consistent with
the letter and the spirit of the
- It also guarantees the necessary international human rights
means through which the people framework. Such suspension or
could meet their basic needs, live a restriction may also be justified by
life with dignity, and take full the protection of a strictly limited set
advantage of the opportunities that of well-defined public interests,
life has to offer. which usually includes one or more
- It also protects people against abuse of the following grounds: national
by the powerful. security, state of emergency, public
safety, public order, protection of
Human Rights Obligations of health or morals, and protection of
Governments the rights and freedom of others.
 Respect- people must not be  It must be suitable and necessary
deprived or interfered in exercising (i.e., there must be a rational
their rights connection between the measure
taken and the objective pursued).
The measure must be capable to
achieve the set objective, and there
 must be a pressing social need to
take such measure to be assessed on
a case-by-case basis.
 It must be the least intrusive
measure to effectively achieve the
legitimate purpose.
 It must be in accordance with the
principle of proportionality, such
that the public interest or the rights
of the individual must outweigh the
harm that the measure will bring.
 It must be interpreted strictly in the
light and context of a particular right,
without jeopardizing the essence of
the right concerned.
There are certain human rights that cannot
be suspended at any cost, and these are:
 The right to life
 The right not to be held in slavery
 The recognition as a person before
the law
There are certain human rights that cannot
be suspended at any cost, and these are:
 The right not to be subject to
torture; cruel, inhuman, or
degrading treatment; or
punishment
 The right to freedom of thought,
conscience, and religion
 The right not to be taken hostage,
abducted, or subjected to
incommunicado detention
MODULE 6: EMPOWERMENT AND
PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT
Empowerment – usually equated to;
(1) having the ability to make one’s own
decisions, control and gain further control,
fight for one’s rights, and say something and
be listened to;
(2) to being free, independent, and
recognized and accepted as equal citizens,
who can make a difference (WHO 2010).
Empowerment as a process- defines as
“enhancing the capacity of the individual or
group to make purposive and to transform
those choices into desired actions and
outcomes” (Alsop, Bertelsen, and Holland
2006)
Empowerment as a state- defines as “an
individual or group having the capacity both
to make purposive choices and to transform
those choices into desired actions and
outcomes” (Alsop, Bertelsen, and Holland
2006)
Types of Empowerment
According to Eyben, Kabber, and Cornwall
(2008), these desired changes are anchored
on the three major types of empowerment:
social, economic, and political.
1. Social empowerment- refers to the
capacity of an individual to make effective
choices so that his or her own place in
society will be respected and recognized in
terms of what he or she wants to live by, and
not on what others dictate.
2. Economic empowerment- refers to one’s
capacity to make effective choices so that he
or she can contribute to economic growth
(through labor or the production of goods
and services), and benefit from a fairer
distribution of the advantages of such
economic growth (through access to private
services)
3. Political empowerment- refers to the
individual’s capacity to make effective
choices in order to increase equity in
political institutions and for him or her to be
engaged in the democratic process.
Based on its three different types and the
desired changes it wants to achieve,
empowerment can be considered as;
 Intrinsic value- basic human right
and development principle
 Instrumental value- correlates with
achievements in other development
outcomes, including economic
growth, poverty alleviation, and the
realization of human rights
3. State- includes the realm of justice,
politics, and public service. Here, a person
or group is considered a civic actor.
Levels of Empowerment
 Local- refers to the immediate
neighborhood or community.
 Intermediary- refers to the larger
community in which person or group
is not engaged on a daily basis. It
tends to fall between the residential
and national levels.
 Macro- refers to a large context in
which a person operates. This is
generally considered the national
level.
 Supra-macro- refers to the
international or global community.
Relationship Matrix of Types, Domains,

Domains of Empowerment Types of Empowerment Domain of Empowerment Level of Empowerment

Local
According to Alsop, Bertelsen, and Holland Social Society
Intermediary
Macro

(2006), theses three domains are the Supra-macro

Local

following;
Intermediary
Economic Market
Macro
Supra-macro
Local
 Society Political State
Intermediary
Macro
Supra-macro

 Market
 State
1. Society- includes intra-household
relationship and intra-community
relationships. Here, a person or group is
considered a social actor.
2. Market- includes labor, goods, and
private services. Here, a person or group is
considered an economic actor.
and Levels of Empowerment
Empowerment Components
It is important to empower people so they
can become independent from the charity
services of others. Usually, people who need
the most empowerment are those who have
the least amount of power, wealth, and
prestige. They are the ones considered poor,
vulnerable, and marginalized. To genuinely
help people achieve empowerment, the
following empowerment components, as
laid down by the World Health
Organization Community-Based
Rehabilitation Empowerment Guidelines
(WHO 2010), are highly recommended:
 Self-advocacy and communication-
these refer to working with
vulnerable people to improve their
ability to speak up for themselves,
communicate and engage with
others, and increase their ability to
self-advocate.
1. self-advocacy- is about people
having a voice of their own, knowing
about their rights and
responsibilities, speaking up for their
rights, and being able to make
choices and decisions.
 Community mobilization- this
refers to working with vulnerable
people to bring them together and
raise their awareness so that they can
address social inequalities in wealth,
power, and prestige.
 Political participation- these refer
to working with vulnerable people so
that they can participate in a broad
range of activities where they can
develop and express their opinions in
the society and how it is governed.
 Self-help groups- these refer to
working with vulnerable people so
they can form and participate in
groups, in order to resolve problems,
enhance their individual strengths,
and improve their quality of life.
 People’s organization- this refers to
working with vulnerable people so
that they can establish a registered
people’s organization, gain legal
personality, and formally work
together to ensure that social,
economic, and political
empowerment can be collectively
achieved.
Participatory Development
Participatory development- means
eliciting the involvement of a local
population (especially the poor, the
vulnerable, and the marginalized) in creating
policies and in planning, implementing,
monitoring, and evaluating development
programs and projects that are designed to
empower and help them make effective
choices (Tekman et al. 2021).
Participatory Development
 It uses local decision-making and
capacities to steer and define the
nature of a development intervention
(Jennings 2000)
 It also includes the involvement of
people in studying their own
situation and in deciding on the
distribution of resources to ensure
equitable sharing.
 It can be summed up as: “No
development program, however
grand, can succeed unless the local
people are willing to accept it and
make an effort to participate”
(Makumbe 1996).
Most of the time, people are not willing to
participate when there is little or no sense of
community, when there is an overall feeling
that the external agent should provide for
everything, and if the external agent treats
people as helpless.
In order to avoid these barriers to
participation, the following strategies are
recommended to encourage people’s
participation (Mathbor 2008; Samah and
Aref 2009):
1. Conscientization- this helps people
understand the underlying causes of
their situation by having them think
about and reflect on the problems
and the environment in which they
live. This will allow them to
comprehend and explain the
problems that affect their social,
economic, and political lives.
2. Needs identification and goal
determination- these help people
identify their (1) needs, (2) the
strategies to meet those needs, and
(3) the necessary resources required
to implement the various strategies.
3. Developing and enhancing
confidence, skills, and knowledge-
this helps people to learn by doing,
giving them trainings based on needs
assessment, sharing vital
information, and facilitating access
to information.
4. Consultation, dialogue, and
involvement on decision-making-
these involve inviting the people
(especially the poor, vulnerable, and
marginalized) to express their views
on proposed actions for change and
engage them in a dialogue so that
they may have a voice in future
undertakings.
5. Delegation of tasks and being
accountable- these require assigning
tasks, through informed consent, to
people involved in decision-making
so that they can have a chance to be
involved in the actual management
and implementation of development
programs and projects.
6. Ownership and control of
resources- these allow people to
manage their own affairs, have a
deeper involvement in the process of
organizing community projects, and
help them maximize the use of their
local resources in sustaining
development interventions.
7. Sharing benefits of the
development process and
outcomes- the benefits of
development and the redistribution
of goods and services must be
distributed equitably. This must be
done especially to the marginalized
so they may be able to get a fairer
share of the community’s wealth and
participate fully in the development
process.
8. Involvement of women in the
development process- women must
be given a chance to work with other
women and help them address—
alongside with men—their biological
needs, and the pervasive issues of
discrimination, exploitation,
marginalization, oppression, and
subordination.
9. Establishing partnerships and
conducting self-evaluation- people
must be treated as partners of
development or co-journeyers in the
development process. They should
not be considered as mere program
beneficiaries, but as agents that can
also actualize change among
themselves in their communities.
10. Environmental protection- people
should be aware of their economic
 and spiritual connection with the Level of Participation
environment so they can take
The actual involvement of people at
necessary actions for its protection
different stages of development
and care. People must realize that
interventions also determines their level of
without the environment, there can
participation. One of the most well-known
be no genuine development and the
levels of participation in various stages of
outcomes of development
development intervention is Sherry
intervention cannot be sustained.
Arnstein’s work titled “A Ladder of
Stages and Levels of Participation People’s Participation.” Arnstein (1969)
explains that her ladder of participation is
According to Harvey, Baghri, and Reed
necessary to unveil the professionals and
(2002), the stages of development
policyholder’s manipulation of people in the
intervention where people can participate in
garb of participation.
are the following:
A Ladder of Citizen Participation (Arnstein
a. Needs assessment- involves
1969)
expressing opinions about desirable
improvements, prioritizing goals,
and negotiating with agencies or
external organizations.
b. Planning- concerns the formulation
of objectives, the formulation of
goals, and the assessment of plans.
c. Mobilizing- involves raising
awareness in the community about
needs, and establishing or supporting
organizational structures within the
community.
d. Training- entails the participation in
formal and informal training
activities that will enhance
communication, construction,
maintenance, and financial
management skills.
e. Implementing- concerns the These eight levels of participation are
engagement in management explained by Tekman et al. (2012) as thus:
activities; direct contribution to 1. Manipulation and Therapy- are
construction, operation, and “nonparticipative,” whose aim is to cure or
maintenance with labor and educate participants. The proposed plan is
materials; contribution of cash best and the job of participation is to achieve
towards costs; and payment of public support for a project designed by a
services and membership fees of third party, expert, aid, agency, authority,
community organizations. and the like.
2. Informing- is an important first step to
legitimate participation. Without a free flow
of information, people will be deprived of
making “informed choices,” which makes
civil participation (or even democracy)
meaningless.
3. Consultation- is a legitimate step where
people asked about what they think should
be done to address their problems. The
answers from the people concerned are
given importance, but the final decision still
remains in the hands of project designers.
3. Consultation- is a legitimate step where
people asked about what they think should
be done to address their problems. The
answers from the people concerned are
given importance, but the final decision still
remains in the hands of project designers.
4. Placation- includes the co-option of
handpicked “worthies” onto committees.
The selected people in the communities are
allowed to create community development
plans, but the implementation of the plan
still remains in the hands of power holders.
5. Partnership- allows power to be shared
between citizens and power holders.
Planning, implementation, monitoring, and
evaluation of projects are shared through
joint committees.
6. Delegated power- allows community
members to be given the power to make
decisions regarding the community
development projects that are to be
implemented in their area.
7. Citizen control- allows people to design,
implement, and evaluate community
development projects on their own, without
external help or with very minimal support.
MODULE 7: ADVOCACY
Advocacy- can be defined as “the act of
pleading or arguing in favor of something”
(American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language
2011).
Advocate- is “a
person who leads in
another’s behalf, or
is an intercessor”
(American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language 2011).
This is especially important for individuals
or groups who face social problems or crisis
situations wherein they are discriminated,
excluded, marginalized, oppressed, or
subordinated (DEMOS).
“Having an advocate can give such people
hope.”
The main element that distinguishes
advocacy from other cause-oriented
activities is that its sole target audience are
people in power.
TYPES OF ADVOCACY
1. Systems advocacy- focuses on
efforts that shall change policies and
practices at the local, national, or
international levels so that lasting
changes will be brought to the lives
of groups or individuals who share
similar problems.
2. Individual advocacy- focuses on
efforts that will change the situation
of an individual and protect his or
her rights.
3. Self-advocacy- focuses on
strengthening an individual’s ability
to communicate with other people,
and at the same time persuading and
 convincing the individual to address
his or her own needs and rights.
Aside from human beings, it is also possible
to have an advocacy on other beings such as
plants and animals, especially when their
existence is endangered or threatened by
human acts.
METHODS OF DOING ADVOCACY
WORK
It may take different forms (e.g., written,
spoken, sung, or acted); it may vary in the
time span (e.g., from an hour to several
years); or it can be done by an individual,
or more effectively through collective
action.
Doing advocacy work can either be reactive
or proactive
(Alliance 2003).
1. Reactive advocacy- the problem or
issue is already there and the
advocacy is being used to reduce the
problem.
Example: an advocacy for the suspension
of a major construction project that can
potentially destroy the environment and
threaten the livelihood of the surrounding
communities
2. Proactive advocacy- is more
focused on planning for the future, in
which an agenda is set in creating a
policy that will prevent a problem
before it happens.
Example: an advocacy for making existing
buildings resilient against earthquakes so
as to prevent or lessen the impact of a
major catastrophe
According to Alliance (2003), these methods
are the following:
1. Analyzing and influencing
legislation or policies- this involves
analyzing draft policies, new
policies, long-established policies, or
even traditional laws and customs
created and communicated without
being written down.
2. Producing a position paper- a
position paper is a document that is
intended to be read by a target group
or an external audience. It clearly
states the opinion of an organization
(or a coalition of organizations)
about a particular issue, the message
of the document is: “This is what we
think about this topic, and this is
what we recommend.”
3. Producing a briefing note- a brief
note is a document written to help an
ally speak publicly in support of
one’s advocacy. It is usually written
to assist an ally in supporting the
advocacy objective at a high-level
meeting. It is also used to summarize
the agreed advocacy objectives and
messages of a coalition in order to
ensure that all members of the
coalition give a consistent message.
3. Holding a face-to-face meeting
with the decision-maker- this
involves successfully setting up a
meeting with a targeted decision-
maker using a formal letter, a direct
face-to-face approach when the
chance occurs, or through a common
friend.
4. Writing and delivering a
presentation- a presentation is a
formal way of delivering a message
in front of a target audience. It can
be in a form of a small group
discussion or a formal presentation
in a forum or conference. When
 delivering a presentation, one must
make sure that facts and opinions are
offered, the audience is directly
addressed and spoken to, visuals are
used to stress a point, and a written
copy of the presentation is given to
the audience.
5. Persuading through drama- drama
is an effective advocacy platform
because it brings issues to life,
making the advocacy more
emotionally powerful to the target
audience.
Example: discussions can be held with the
audience after performance (called forum
theater) so that whatever has been portrayed
can be deepened.
6. Writing and using a press release-
a press release, also known as media
release or news release, is a
statement or news story prepared and
distributed to the press. The aim of a
press release may be any one or a
combination of the following:
(a) convey an organization’s response to an
event/action or provide background
information on an issue/event or action; (b)
draw attention to an issue or announce new
campaigns; or (c) give an advance notice of
an event or circulate speeches beforehand.
7. Carrying out a media interview- a
media interview is a one-on-one
conversation between a journalist
and a person who has an interesting
story to tell, which can be used as the
basis for publication or broadcast.
Reactive media interview- is when a
journalist is the one who approaches a
person or an organization, especially when
there is a large public interest in the issue in
which the person or organization is
involved.
Proactive media interview- when a person
or organization approaches a journalist
regarding an issue, which they think could
be of great interest to the public and the
media.
8. Organizing a press conference- a
press conference is a meeting
organized for the purpose of sharing
or distributing information to the
public and media and for answering
questions from reporters. The aim of
a press conference is to gain
publicity for the advocacy by using
media coverage.
TECHNIQUES OR SKILSS IN
ADVOCACY WORK
 Conscientizing- to make the target
audience more aware and become
more sensitive to a certain issue.
 Mobilizing- to bring together
advocacy stakeholders (beneficiaries,
allies and partners) into a course of
action so that decision-makers or
policy makers will be pressured to
address an advocacy issue
 Debating- to be able to engage in an
argument and discuss opposing
points to adversaries of the advocacy
cause
 Lobbying- to be able to influence
the legislators or government
officials to enact or modify
legislations, policies, and programs
that would benefit the interests of the
lobbying groups.
 Dialoguing- to be able to discuss
positions with decision-makers in
order to resolve a disagreement
  Negotiating- to be able to come to 4. Identifying the level of advocacy if it is
terms with decision-makers in in the local, regional, national, or
reaching an argument international arena.
 Petitioning- to be able to write a
5. Identifying target people or groups that
formal document requesting a right
have the power to do something to make
or benefit from a person in power or
changes the advocacy is aiming for.
a group in authority
6. Developing advocacy messages that
PLANNING AN ADVOCACY
contain convincing arguments and
CAMPAIGN
delivering them in a presentation style that
1. Advocacy campaign- is a series of captures and sustains the attention of target
long-term strategic activities groups.
undertaken together by alliances, in
7. Identifying allies that can provide
order to persuade a target decision-
support or assist in achieving the advocacy
maker, policymaker, or a group in
aims and objectives.
authority to change the status quo
and bring about positive changes in 8. Identifying available resources (such as
people’s lives. people, money, skills, and information) that
can be used to sustain the advocacy effort
It requires careful planning that follows a
over a long period of time.
cyclical procedure. This means that the
advocacy process never ends since there is 9. Creating an action plan by selecting
always something to fight for. appropriate methods of advocacy work with
a time line shows persons or groups
Doing an advocacy campaign goes through a
responsible for implementing the selected
cycle of activities. These activities are the
method and when it should be implemented.
following
10. Monitoring and evaluating advocacy
(AIPP 2013, Alliance 2013, Sharma 2010,
workf during and after its implementation.
WACC 2014):
Being an effective advocate requires
1. Identifying a priority problem that continuous monitoring and feedback.
needs to be addressed in the short, medium,
and long term.
2. Gathering information to serve as basis
in analyzing issues surrounding the problem.
3. Developing achievable aims and
objectives of advocacy work that can bring
groups together in a powerful coalition.
Basically, this step answers the question,
“What changes do you want to see?”