Transcript Gender & ICT policy

Human Rights and ICT Policy
By the end of this session you
should:
• Be aware of the body of international human rights
law and the key principles and concepts of Human
Rights instruments
• Understand the difference between social, economic,
cultural, civil and political rights
• Understand the concept of ‘communication rights’
and how existing human rights can be interpreted as
guaranteeing ‘communication rights’ in the
‘information society’
By the end of this session you
should:
• Understand which rights are key to promoting
fundamental economic, social and cultural rights
(including affordable access to infrastructure, access
to education and health services etc) in ‘the
‘information society’
• Appreciate the importance of approaching ICT policy
from a human rights perspective
Incorporating a human rights
perspective into ICT Policy work
• Centrality of certain Human Rights to the WSIS
Process
• Marginilisation of Economic, Social, Cultural, Civil
and Political Rights
• Opportunities in ICT Policy work at the national level
Human rights conventions
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948)
• The International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (1966)
• The International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (1966)
• The African Charter on Peoples and Human
Rights (1981)
Together with additional protocols comprise the ‘International Bill
of Human Rights’
Human rights basic concepts
• Universality
• Individual protection (individual – collective
rights)
• Not absolute (modifications, interferences,
margin of appreciation)
• Complexity (negative obligation, positive
obligation)
• Indivisible, interdependent and interrelated
• Respect, protect, fulfil
‘Generations’ of Rights
Human Rights
The rights people are entitled to simply
because they are human beings, irrespective
of their citizenship, nationality, race, ethnicity,
language, gender, sexuality, or abilities;
human rights become enforceable when they
are Codified as Conventions, Covenants, or
Treaties, or as they become recognized as
Customary International Law.
‘Generations’ of Rights
Civil and Political Rights – first generation
The rights of citizens to liberty and equality;
sometimes referred to as first generation
rights.
Civil rights include freedom to worship, to
think and express oneself, to vote, to take
part in political life of their communities and
societies, and to have access to information.
‘Generations’ of Rights
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights –
second generation
Rights that concern the production,
development, and management of material
for the necessities of life. The right to
preserve and develop one’s cultural identity.
Rights that give people social and economic
security, sometimes referred to as securityoriented or second generation rights.
Examples are the right to food, shelter, and
health care.
Internet/communication rights
Human rights is based on the ‘understanding
that everyone in society should be free to
participate fully in social and political activities
and to be protected from attempts to restrict
the exercise of this right to citizenship.
That in ‘various countries it has been extended
further, to include cultural and socioeconomic rights (such as the right to health
care, housing and clean environment), also
known as second and third generation rights.
Internet/communication rights
The ability to share information and
communicate freely using ICTs is vital to the
realisation of human rights as enshrined in
the UDHR (1948) and the International
Covenants on Civil and Political (1976) and
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976)
Internet/communication rights
…. we urge government delegates to retain reference
to the international bill of human rights as a whole
and in particular to rights that make possible new
platforms for real community-based and peoplecentered communications.
These should be called communication rights and are of
immediate and direct concern to the development of
inclusive information and knowledge societies.”
Communication Rights in the
Information Society
.. a means to enhance human rights and to
strengthen the social, economic and cultural
lives of people and communities.
Crucial to this is that civil society and other
stake-holders come together to help build an
information society based on principles of
transparency, diversity, participation and
social and economic justice, and inspired by
equitable gender, cultural and regional
perspectives.
Securing equitable and affordable
access
(CRIS Campaign)
The majority of the world’s people lack access to the
infrastructure and tools needed to produce and
communicate information and knowledge in the
information society.
Many initiatives, including the WSIS, aim to address
this. They usually rest on assumptions that universal
access to ICTs will be achieved through market
driven solutions and that more widespread access
will necessarily contribute to poverty alleviation and
the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
We question these assumptions.
Securing equitable and affordable
access
Goals:
- To lobby for equitable and affordable access to ICTs
for all people, specifically the marginalized such as
women, the disabled, indigenous people and the
urban and rural poor
- To promote access as a fundamental right to be
realised in the public domain and not dependent on
the market forces and profitability
- To secure access to information and knowledge as
tools for empowerment
- To outline and pursue the conditions for securing
access not just to ICTs but to information societies as
a whole, in a way that is financially, culturally, and
ecologically sustainable.
ICTs and the realisation of economic,
social and cultural rights
Ensuring affordable access to critical public
infrastructure, information, communication tools and
services is a fundamental first step in securing
economic rights (for example, the right to work),
social rights (for example, the right to an adequate
standard of living, including food, clothing and
housing) and
cultural rights (for example, the right to education and
the right to enjoy benefits of scientific progress).
Human Rights and ICT Policy
Approaching ICT policy from a human rights
perspective will contribute to creating a policy
environment that will enable all to benefit
equally from subsequent activities and
actions.
Exercise
The exercise accompanying this session will allow
participants to explore these issues further through:
- Identifying ICT policies, or elements of policies, which
impact on people’s access to the realisation of
economic, social and cultural rights
- Assessing these policies from a human rights
perspective using existing human rights instruments
- Make recommendations for creating a ‘human rights
enabled’ policy framework which is consistent with
economic, social and cultural human rights principles