Background
 

Regional and international protection of human rights have been developing steadily over the last decades. It has proven necessary and effective in the past, in several cases of egregious human rights violations, and it contributed to bringing about significant improvements, as in the struggle against the apartheid regime in South Africa and the military dictatorships in Latin America. Several challenges remain, however, to its effectiveness and reach.

Two of the most important challenges are:

1) Reduced direct participation from civil society organizations, particularly those from the Global South, in regional and international human rights systems and little monitoring of the implementation of their decisions and recommendations.

NGOs must overcome a number of challenges, such as (a) little experience and knowledge on how to develop advocacy strategies related to international human rights issues; (b) lack of access to UN and regional organizations’ official data as well as to unofficial and back-channel information, often made more difficult because of language barriers; (c) partial or insufficient knowledge of the functioning and operation mechanisms of the international and regional human rights international systems; and (d) High financial costs and scarcity of personnel to engage with the mechanisms and participate in the sessions of the UN human rights organs in Geneva and New York and regional organs.

• Since 2005, Conectas has gained experience in promoting civil society participation in the Brazilian foreign policy, and has achieved significant results by fostering access to information, checks and balances mechanisms, working with the media and building advocacy coalitions

2) Greater role of southern countries, particularly key emerging democratic powers, in international affairs, which can be more committed and engaged with the regional and international protection of human rights.

Some emerging democratic powers – such as Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa - have increased their influence on the global stage. However, the contributions of these countries to the advance of human rights worldwide could be much more significant than it is today. They have traditionally been targets of international human rights recommendations, and although they have been often the home grounds for human rights violations, these emerging democratic powers should be more vocal and responsible in the larger international debate on human rights, including country specific situations worldwide. In most of these countries, there is a vibrant civil society that could engage with foreign policy if there were adequate access to information, capacity building, share of experience and collaborative initiative with NGOs in order countries.

• To promote access by NGOs to the UN and regional human rights systems, Conectas organizes training courses, provides technical support, produces action-oriented materials, develops advocacy activities, fosters the creation of networks and carries out trans-regional campaigns.