Advocacy means actively supporting the work of a particular cause or interest. Advocacy groups can challenge and reduce systematic discrimination of minority groups by working with these groups to offer new perspectives to governments on their policies.
To adapt to a different culture on fairly equal terms. During this process, individuals or groups adopt certain aspects of another culture in respectful, unforced ways. This term is different from assimilation, which is forced and one–sided.
A person who intentionally acts to bring about civic, cultural, economic, political, or social change. This person’s actions support or oppose one side of a controversial argument. Activism may refer to a variety of actions, including protest, writing letters to newspapers or politicians, participating in rallies and street marches, and many other tactics to bring about change that promotes and protects human rights.
Action taken by a government or private institution to make up for past discrimination in education, work, or promotion on the basis of age, birth, color, creed, disability, ethnic origin, familial status, gender, language, marital status, political or other opinion, public assistance, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.
To be structurally and/or culturally absorbed by a dominant group. During this process, an individual or a group is largely forced to shed its own culture and take on the culture of the dominant group. Assimilation may not be done on equal terms and thus is one–sided.
A protest in which the public is asked not to buy certain products or services until workers’ demands are met.
An association or bond of solidarity between persons. Brothers and sisters are an integral part of a family, although people need not be blood–related siblings to be a part of a brotherhood and a sisterhood. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood [and sisterhood].”
To participate in public life, encourage other people to participate in public life, and join in common work that promotes the well–being of everyone.
Civil and Political Rights
The rights to liberty and equality. Such rights include freedom to worship, to express oneself, to vote, to take part in political life, and to have access to information.
The extension of a nation’s sovereignty over territory and people outside its own boundaries in order to facilitate domination over natural resources, labor, and markets. The term also refers to a set of beliefs used to legitimize or promote this system, especially the belief that the mores of the colonizer are superior to those of the colonized.
A group of people who identify with each other, have common interests, or are viewed as forming a distinct segment of society. The word community can also mean a society as a whole. A Human Rights Communityis a community based on human rights, where respect for the fundamental dignity of each individual is recognized as essential to society.
Service that is designed to assist in addressing community problems such as housing, poverty, government, recreation, employment, youth opportunities, transportation, health, and land use.
The rights of individuals and communities to preserve and enjoy cultural identity and development.
Community organizing is a long-term approach where the people affected by an issue are supported in identifying problems and taking action to achieve solutions.
Reconciling opposing perspectives, stories, or experiences and deciding on a response that promotes and protects the human rights of all parties concerned.
Analyzing and contemplating past and present experiences, as well as future possibilities, by taking into account multiple perspectives on a story or narrative..
Critically Analyzing History
Analyzing a historical event or era from different cultural perspectives, including birth, gender, language, national or social origin, political or other opinion, property, or other status..
A system of government in which people’s views are reflected and the right of political participation is guaranteed. Such a form of government involves the principles of promoting and protecting human rights, social equality, and respect for the individual within a community.
Those tactics that can be undertaken by people themselves, without the help of government agencies, lawyers, or other institutions. Examples include picketing, work slowdowns, strikes, occupation of buildings, and marches.
Discrimination (Opposite: Non–Discrimination)
Distinction between individuals not based on legitimate terms; arbitrary bias for or against an individual or a group that fails to take true account of their characteristics or treat an individual or a group in a just and equitable manner. Discrimination can be based on age, birth, color, creed, disability, ethnic origin, familial status, gender, language, marital status, political or other opinion, public assistance, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.
The representation of multiple groups within a larger group, community, or area, such as a school or a workplace.
The continuing integration of markets through global trade by way of trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), trade organizations, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), and regional economic blocs, such as the European Union (EU). Economic Globalization is the subject of heated debate: Supporters argue that globalization generates wealth, increases trade, and spurs development, while critics argue that globalization leads to environmental degradation, exploitation of the poor by powerful states and companies, and does not support sustainable development.
Fairness and equity in economic affairs, by establishing laws, governments, and institutions that treat people equally and avoid favoring particular individuals or groups while providing opportunities to those living in poverty.
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
Rights that concern the production, development, and management of material for the necessities of life. These rights also include the right to preserve and develop one’s cultural identity, as well as rights that give people social and economic security, sometimes referred to as security-oriented rights. Examples of such rights include the rights to adequate education, food, shelter, and health care.
This human rights principle mandates the same treatment of persons. The notion of fairness and respect for the inherent dignity of all human beings, as specified in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
A practice of consciously or unconsciously privileging one’s own ethnic group over others that involves judging other groups by the values of one’s own group.
Political independence, liberty.
A crime defined in international law as acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group of human beings.
Gender equality means that women and men, girls and boys have the same opportunities and are treated identically/without discrimination.
The act or process of governing, especially the decision-making and implementation of public policy in a political unit. The authority, leadership, or agent responsible for promoting and protecting human rights.
The rights people have simply because they are human beings, regardless of their ability, citizenship, ethnicity, gender, language, nationality, race, or sexuality; human rights become enforceable when they are codified as conventions, covenants, or treaties, as they become recognized as customary international law, or as they are accepted in national or local law.
The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.
Illiteracy (Opposite: Literacy)
The inability to read or write. Illiteracy can also refer to the ignorance of a set of terms or ideas that describe a concept. For example, human rights illiteracy is a lack of knowledge regarding human rights principles and norms.
The act of moving to a country where one is not a native. Immigrants are people who come to a country where they intend to settle permanently and many of them obtain citizenship. A legal immigrant is a person who comes to settle in a country with the legal permission of its government. An undocumented immigrant is a person residing in a country without the legal permission of its government.
A person who moves to a new country.
Word that describes something that cannot be taken or given away. Human rights that individuals have cannot be taken away, surrendered, or transferred.
A termreferring to what one is allowed to do and what can be done to an individual; the rights possessed by individuals.
Injustice (Opposite: Justice)
Denying fair, moral, and impartial treatment of the human rights of all persons.
Fairness, equity, and morality in action or attitude in order to promote and protect human rights and responsibilities. In most societies, people work for justice by organizing through different categories of rights, such as civil, political, economic, social, and cultural.
Caring for or showing empathy for others.
The systematic exploitation of one societal group by another for its own benefit. The phenomenon involves institutional control, ideological domination, and the imposition of the dominant group’s culture on the oppressed.
Violation of the rights of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are ethnic, racial, and religious persecution. These types of persecution overlap to some degree, as religion is commonly an aspect of culture and ethnic identities are often intertwined with racial identities. The most common persecution scenario is a majority group mistreating a minority group.
The denial of the right of people to participate in the political life of their communities and society. For example, denial of the right to vote or run for office.
Condition of being unable to achieve an adequate standard of living. Today, standards of living vary greatly among and within nations. Nonetheless, the effects of poverty remain constant: hunger, homelessness, lack of education, and lack of resources to fulfill basic human needs. For example, one of the main causes of hunger is poverty. Most people who are starving do not have the means to obtain the food that they need..
An attitude, opinion, or feeling formed without adequate prior knowledge, thought, or reason. Prejudice can be prejudgment for or against any individual, group, or object. Any individual or group can hold prejudice(s) towards another individual, group, or object.
An ideology of racial superiority and hierarchy based on discrimination.
Sharing one’s thoughts, beliefs, feelings, ideas or personality, through verbal or non-verbal means, including dance, essays, music, painting, photography, poetry, spoken word, sculpture, etc.
Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote stereotyping and oppression based on sex and gender; discrimination based on sex or gender.
Refers to progress resulting from acts of advocacy for the cause of enacting positive change in society. Social change movements are generally organized in response to particular oppressions based on race, gender, ability, sexual orientation, religion, and age.
Social justice refers to justice that is concerned with protecting human rights and ensuring that all members of society are subject to the same laws.
Stakeholders include all individuals, interest groups or organisations who are affected by, or can affect a development project
When workers refuse to work until improved working conditions and/or salary demands are met.
Process of enacting large-scale change while moving beyond thinking about individual organizations, single problems, and single solutions. Systemic change is a cyclical process in which the impact of change on all parts of the whole and their relationships to one another are taken into consideration. For example, the term entails thinking about many types of systems, such as educational systems, information systems, policy systems, social service systems, and technology systems.
Individuals or groups coming together for a single purpose.
A workers’ rights group.
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