Why a Human Rights Foundation?

Background

In August 1999 a small group met for the first time at Vaughan Park in Auckland, to discuss the formation of an independent institution to progress human rights issues in Aotearoa New Zealand. The meeting crystallised on-going discussion over a number of years. A Steering Group was established at the beginning of 2001 and on 16 October the Inaugural Meeting was held when the Foundation’s Constitution was agreed. The Foundation was formally launched by the Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, on 18 December 2001.

Why a Human Rights Foundation?

At the turn of the century there is a growing though as yet insufficient commitment to re-proclaim the rhetoric of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to make substantive moves towards the realisation of human rights.

The formally-agreed rhetoric of human rights acknowledges that human rights

• are inalienable, universal and indivisible
• express the legitimate aspirations of human beings
• are inextricably linked to issues of personal and collective stability, security and prosperity
• must be central to governmental and intergovernmental policy
• must be promoted by "every organ of society"

The challenge is and always has been to live up to the rhetoric.

The New Zealand Government of the day (the late 1940s) participated to an extent far beyond its small size in the development of the human rights ideals which lay behind the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its successor declarations and instruments. The limited social research available suggests that human rights values are a conscious part of New Zealanders' national aspirations. But there is a lack of coherent exploration of human rights and their implementation.

As an independent body, the Human Rights Foundation complements the official Human Rights Commission established under the Human Rights Commission Act 1993. The Commission and the Foundation may often be working on the same issues, but in different ways. There are things which can be done by an official organisation with its access to state institutions which are not possible for an NGO and equally which can be done by an NGO which are not financially or politically possible for a state-funded body, however theoretically independent. In modern civil society, both are needed. Ideally a partnership would develop, of benefit to both organisations.

The Foundation also provides a hub for independent human rights consultants to exchange ideas, process research and training contracts and provide a needed focus for supporting less popular initiatives (such as advocacy for refugees) and for broader education and debate on human rights issues.

New Zealand is ideally placed to make a stronger contribution to the promotion of human rights for a number of reasons. It is a small country where social change initiatives can be achieved; we are not faced with major conflict on rights issues, though we have learned that human rights can be quickly eroded as society changes. Since 1990, in particular, we have seen a significant number of issues and groups in New Zealand where progress has not been made and where, in any case, we fall far short of international standards. So, there is much to be done in a context of the changing role of the State and NGOs both nationally and within international society.

There are other organisations concerned with human rights and with these the Foundation is developing links in various ways. But there remains a gap that they do not and cannot fill. Some are constrained by being part of Government or wholly or partly funded by Government or supported by Government subsidy. Others are issue or area specific and there are real advantages in making practical and theoretical links across human rights issues.

There is also a need to understand the nature of cultural and indigenous rights and how to give effect to them within New Zealand's institutions.

An obvious question is how far to take the appropriate collaboration with any similar non-governmental bodies in Pacific countries. It is however important to keep the proposal focused on New Zealand at the outset. Some exploratory work is being done on the Pacific dimension and can be taken further when seeding money is available.

Purposes

The purposes for which the Foundation is established are:

1. Promoting through education an understanding of the importance of internationally recognised human rights;
2. Promoting respect for human rights principles and their widespread application;
3. Promoting the relevance of human rights principles to economic, social, cultural, environmental and technological developments;
4. Making knowledge about human rights widely accessible.

Objects

The Foundation's objects are:

1. To promote human rights including by education, training and advocacy and to provide educational opportunities in the field of human rights;
2. To initiate and conduct human rights research and to publish the results of human rights research;
3. To establish and maintain links with other organisations and individuals working to promote respect for and observance of human rights.

The Foundation's objects are to be carried out principally within Aotearoa New Zealand.

Values

The values on which the Foundation is based are:

1. A broad concept of rights which encompasses a web of individual and collective rights;
2. The Treaty of Waitangi;
3. The realisation of individual human potential;
4. The search for common ground on the common good;
5. The creation of opportunities for hearing and articulating diverse voices.

Activities

1.Research

• Survey the current state of human rights research in New Zealand
• Identify gaps in the knowledge revealed by that survey
• Raise awareness of the need for research
• Tender to carry out research work for the public and private sectors
• Assemble a list of associates capable of undertaking research work
• Arrange for senior students to undertake research

2.Publication

• Publish occasional papers on-line and possibly in journal form
• Arrange public lectures, seminars and workshops
• Arrange publication of feature articles in the media
• Establish web pages

3.Education and training

• Establish a comprehensive website
• Tender for human rights modules in secondary and tertiary institutions
• Provide training courses for human rights advocates
• Provide knowledgeable speakers
• Involve young people in the Foundation's work
• Initiate public discussion
• Involve community television
• Initiate videos and documentaries with human interest appeal

4.Advocacy

• Organise briefings for MPs, local government representatives, business leaders and other special interest groups
• Initiate and contribute to legislative and policy development

5.Linkages

• Conduct joint forums
• Tender jointly for research projects where appropriate
• Establish user-friendly website linkages
• Establish and maintain links with national and international bodies (both governmental and non-governmental) and with similar institutions in other jurisdictions

Areas of Interest

1.General work on human rights, social justice and civil society, e.g. the international standards, UN mechanisms, the effects of globalisation, the role of NGOs in international civil society.

2.Issue and group specific matters, including

• Access to education
• Employment
• Disability
• Mental health
• Access to health care
• Housing policy
• Poverty
• Rights of older people
• Social security
• Accident insurance
• Public broadcasting
• Access to arts and culture
• Prison conditions
• Privacy
• Race relations
• Constitutional reform
• Women's rights
• Indigenous and cultural rights
• The Treaty of Waitangi
• Children
• Sexual orientation
• Refugees and asylum seekers
• Biotechnology
• Citizenship
• Information technology