Hey human, do you know your rights?

Have you ever read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

If yes, how about refreshing your memory?

If not,  how about going for a first time experience? It doesn’t take long. It is composed of

30 short articles and you can read it in 370 different languages.

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Dra

fted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all

regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.” (UDHR)

If you wish to explore a bit more, check the videos of the commemoration of Human Rights day in 2008 and 2009.

The Milennium Goals and the world’s countries

PAISES is an online tool build by the The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics or IBGE (Portuguese: Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica) which allows you to explore the geography and the main facts of most countries in the world. It also includes flags and some photos.

In addition, it presents the performance of those countries in achieving the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

To access the online map, click here. Enjoy learning!

Photography as a tool for social change? How?

PhotoVoice is an organisation that encourages “the use of documentary photography by enabling those that have traditionally been the subject of such work to become its creator – to have control over how they are perceived by the rest of the world, while simultaneously learning a new skill which can enhance their lives.” (PhotoVoice’s website)

Take a look at the PhotoVoice film and galleries.

How does PhotoVoice projects bring positive social change ?????

- Promoting SELF-DEVELOPMENT through:

• “Providing a unique means for expression and creativity;
• Enabling vulnerable groups to work through difficulties or trauma that they may have experienced, in a safe and secure workshop environment;
• Encouraging participants to gain confidence in their capabilities and their role in civil society.”

- Promoting ADVOCACY through:

• “Enabling those who are traditionally the subjects of photography to become its creator;
• Giving a voice to those who are too often ignored or silenced;
• Enabling participants to become advocates for change;
• Enabling participants to inform and affect policy on local and international levels.”

- Promoting A BETTER STANDARD OF LIVING for PhotoVoice participants through:

• “Providing training in vocational photography and media skills;
• Supporting particularly talented individuals in pursuing further studies in photography;
• Setting up apprenticeship schemes and work placements in conjunction with other media and training bodies in the project countries;
• Selling and marketing images produced by PhotoVoice participants on their behalf.”

PhotoVoice’s projects have been running “since 1999 [...] working in over 12 different countries with over 1000 beneficiaries, pioneering the use of photography with refugee groups, street children, orphans, the homeless, HIV/ AIDS sufferers and special need groups. Countries that PhotoVoice has worked in include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and the United Kingdom.”

PhotoVoice changing communities:

PhotoVoice: childrem in Toronto capturing their environment:

PhotoVoice in Kenya:

PhotoVoice in the lives of participants with spinal cord injury:

Other videos:

- PhotoVoice process

- PhotoVoice at the Youth Action Institute

Picture in this post: www.freedigitalphotos.net

Corruption around the world

“Corruption not only affects business relationships but poses a considerable risk inside an enterprise. This report documents many cases of managers, majority shareholders and other actors inside corporations who abuse their entrusted powers for personal gain, to the detriment of owners, investors, employees and society at large. Executives, for example, may focus opportunistically on securing generous payouts to themselves, rather than on long-term profi tability and sustainability – a phenomenon that has been identifi ed as an important factor in the current fi nancial crisis. Majority owners may try to leverage their infl uence on corporate strategy to expropriate smaller shareholders through ’self-dealing’ and similar practices. The benefits of majority control are estimated to exceed 30 per cent of equity value in countries such as Austria, Italy, Mexico and Turkey. They amount to as much as 60 per cent or so of equity value in the Czech Republic and Brazil, raising serious concerns about checks on the powers of these actors.”

(Global Corruption Report 2009, p.17)

“Countries such as Brazil, China and India already boast some of the world’s largest markets, and their companies play an increasingly active and important role in global business. As this report documents, encouraging efforts are under way to update many aspects of regulatory and governance standards in these countries. Nevertheless, these efforts need to be deepened and extended beyond the ‘first in class’ companies. Firms from India, China and Brazil are regarded by their peers as among the most corrupt when doing business abroad.“

(Global Corruption Report 2009, p.29)

Would you like to increase your awareness about corruption in the world ? Access Transparency International – the global coalition against corruption.

Check out the Integrity Awards Winners from past years.

Read the Global Corruption Barometer 2009.

If you know other interesting sources about this topic, please leave a comment sharing it.

Playing for Change – Peace though music

Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world.

“We can do a lot more for this world if we work together, than we ever can apart.”

Did you like it? Check out the website for more information and songs!

The differences within countries

The United Nations Development Programme has a tool that presents some statistics and comparisons regarding many development indicators.

If you are interested, take a look at the website: Human Development Trends 2005

The presentation number 6 – Differences shows that the income difference WITHIN Namibia is like BETWEEN the richest and the poorest countries of the world. Curiously I decided to compare Namibia to my country: Brazil. Bellow you can see this comparison. Even though Brazil has a higher child survival percentage, the difference between the 20% richer and 20% poorer is very big, almost like Namibia.

Are you curious about your country ? Go to the website, watch it, and make your comparisons.