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Diakonia and Human Dignity

Paulina Parhiala and Gorden Simango

Paulina Parhiala is the Director and Chief Operating Officer at the ACT Alliance secretariat in
Geneva, Switzerland.

Gorden Simango is the Senior Programme Officer for Southern Africa and Development at the
ACT Alliance secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland.

A Human Rights Perspective

All human beings are equal in dignity and rights, and this dignity is inherent. Human
dignity is the core of fundamental rights in international human rights law. It is invio-
lable, and it must be respected and protected even where these rights are restricted.
The United Nations Charter affirms the dignity and worth of the human person and
the equal rights of men and women without distinction of any kind, such as race,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin,
property, birth, or other status. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
advances the spirit of the inherent dignity, the equal and inalienable rights of all
members of the human family, and acknowledges human dignity as the foundation of
freedom, justice and peace in the world. Though the UDHR does not directly create
legally binding duties and obligations on states, at least some of its fundamental
clauses can be considered to be part of customary international law.1 Human rights
are universal and indivisible, applicable with no distinction on the basis of the politi-
cal, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person
belongs. They are fundamental rights which all human beings hold in equal measure.
Dignity is not a status ascribed but something we are born with. It is an intrinsic
quality, present from birth. To deny protection and respect for human rights to a
person amounts to discrimination and exclusion from the full membership of the
human family.2

1
Connie de la Vega, Dictionary of International Human Rights Law (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2013).
2
Catarina Krause and Martin Scheinin, eds., International Protection of Human Rights: A Text Book, 2d rev. ed.
(Turku/Abo: Abo Akademi University – Institute for Human Rights, 2012), 5.
DOI: 10.1111/erev.12115
330 Copyright © (2014) World Council of Churches. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Paulina Parhiala and Gorden Simango Diakonia and Human Dignity

Human rights serve as a practical common reference point that human beings share,
and they mark out our common humanity. It is the duty of states to protect and to
ensure that human dignity is respected in law and practice. The need for respect for
human dignity applies at all times when states act for the general good, but this need
applies even more strongly when governments derogate from their human rights
obligations.

ACT Alliance is at the forefront of fighting for civil and political rights, as well as
economic, social and cultural rights, as demonstrated by its work on issues of gender,
the environment, migration and development, environmental and climate justice, and
the right to food, among others.

The image of God: A call for transformational development

While the application of human dignity in international politics is rather recent, roots of
that thinking are deep in Western tradition. Both Judeo-Christian tradition and the
Greek-Roman tradition placed the human being in a central place in the universe. While
dignity was not distributed equally in the Roman times, it was considered that all persons
having “right reason” would be equal in the ontological sense. In the work of the
Church Fathers, such as St Leo the Great and St Augustine, dignity is seen as an
ontological provision. Christian theology knows the concept of dignity. All are born in
dignity, each as an image of God. In Jesus, God became human and therefore all
humans have dignity.

For St Thomas Aquinas, dignity was not an ontological but rather an ethical category.
This dignity is firmly rooted in nature, and only sin made human being lose this dignity.
This approach opened the door to Renaissance thinking, which glorified human beings
as superior to other nature. As later thinkers advanced non-theological arguments, the
empiricism of David Hume suggested other bases for affirming human dignity.3 The
Enlightenment further opened the room for reflection on human dignity, and
Immanuel Kant suggested that human beings are always ends, not means. This line of
thinking grounds key categories on which the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
of 1948 is based. It concluded that all human beings have equal moral status.4

The ecumenical movement has endeavoured throughout its existence to promote

human dignity by addressing human rights from an ethical and theological perspec-
tive. Churches have acted in their own contexts when human dignity has been at
3
David Hume, Essays: Moral, Political and Literary, ed. Eugene F Miller (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1985), 80–86.
4
J. Malpass and N. Lickiss, eds., Perspectives on Human Dignity: A Conversation (New York: Springer, 2007).

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The Ecumenical Review Volume 66 • Number 3 • October 2014

stake. The actors in the ecumenical movement, including the World Council of
Churches and its member churches and related organizations, have engaged in
advancing civil and political rights as well as economic, cultural, and social rights in an
integrated way.

Promoting human rights and addressing human, rights violations are, from the per-
spective of ACT Alliance, crucial to development. ACT Alliance’s understanding of
transformational development draws from the theological affirmation that all persons are
created in the image of God with the right and potential to live just, humane, and
dignified lives in sustainable communities. Profession of faith requires rejection of
conditions, structures, and systems that perpetuate poverty, injustice, the abuse of
human rights, and the destruction of the environment. Transformational development
is about taking action so that all peoples’ human and God-given rights are upheld.
Therefore, ACT members support the empowerment of communities most affected by
oppressive structures to claim their rights.5 It is in this bold vision of dignity and justice
that the new strategy of ACT Alliance for 2015–2018 is based.

Current Trends Challenging Human Dignity

Enabling environment for civil society organizations

Civil society organizations (CSOs) are important for a functioning democracy, especially
when it comes to CSOs’ watchdog role for transparency and accountability. Yet the
possibility of their functioning independently is shrinking daily. CIVICUS – the world
alliance for citizen participation reports that 57 percent of the world’s population lives
in countries where basic civil liberties and political freedoms are curtailed.6 Threats are
increasing, putting the lives of human rights defenders and community leaders at even
higher risk. Cases of detention, torture, and extra-judicial killing are on the rise. Minor-
ities, indigenous peoples, and those advancing fundamental rights enshrined in the
international bill of human rights, among others, are facing restrictions. Freedom of
association and assembly, timely access to information, and the right to privacy, among
others, are becoming more and more challenged. Staff of civil society organizations
sometimes live in fear, with the risks even much higher for those working in the rural
and remotest parts of a country, where they can easily be “disappeared.” Much of these
restrictions are enforced through draconian legislation or amendments to legal and

5
Our Understanding of Development (Geneva: ACT Alliance, 2013).
6
State of Civil Society 2013: Creating and Enabling Environment (Report of Civicus, 2013) at: http://socs.civicus.org/
wp-content/uploads/2013/04/2013StateofCivilSocietyReport_full.pdf

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Paulina Parhiala and Gorden Simango Diakonia and Human Dignity

policy instruments. The judiciary systems in some countries are also becoming more
and more partisan and lack timely punitive measures for those guilty of violations.

The ACT Alliance programme on “human rights in development” and some of its
members are working to protect the space for CSOs, the dignity of human rights
defenders, communities, and ordinary persons. This is hard work, but ACT’s advocacy
work and publications have made a huge contribution to creating awareness of the
situation and providing platforms among ACT members to discuss the challenges
together. Both research projects produced to date have been important in the
advocacy work of the ACT Alliance in the UN Human Rights Council and also in the
Global Partnership for Development Effectiveness, among many regional and national
platforms. The 2014 ACT policy brief “Time to ACT: Protect Civil Society Space”
recommends:

for the UN to:

– Clarify further the normative content of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly
and association.
– Monitor and assess the impact of the aid effectiveness agenda on the right to
participate, including the freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

for international donors to:

– Enhance the protection of CSOs and human rights defenders (HRDs) who face
everyday security risks and support them to protect themselves and their organi-
zations and to manage the accompanying stress.
– Monitor the aid/development effectiveness agenda to determine the degree to
which it either provides leverage for meaningful CSO participation in development
processes or limits the role of an independent civil society.

for CSOs, including faith-based organizations, to:

– Build alliances between CSOs and faith-based organizations to protect civil society
space.
– Bridge the gap between those who work on “development” and those who work
on human rights and social justice.
– Work together to strengthen security and protection mechanisms for CSO leaders
and human rights defenders at risk, including those advocating for the rights of
women, sexual minorities, and indigenous groups.

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Migrant workers and development

In 2014, the ACT Alliance secretariat approved the request by ACT members to form
a “community of practice.” In Bangladesh, members provide services and support to
Bangladeshis working abroad. Migration has long been an important livelihood strategy
for the people of Bangladesh. According to the government of Bangladesh, almost
nine million Bangladeshis work abroad, primarily in the Gulf, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Most of these workers are unaware of their rights, and they lack education and knowl-
edge about the destination country. This puts them in a very vulnerable situation with
a large risk of being exploited or abused.7

Women are especially vulnerable because of their gender and their low levels of
education and knowledge. One ACT member project works closely with WARBE
Development Foundation and the Bangladesh Women Migrant Association (BOMSA).
The project is successfully informing workers seeking jobs overseas about their rights
and increasing access to services, including justice. The project is also successfully
building the capacities of related institutions and local government representatives to
offer support to migrant workers, including those in civil society organizations. Non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) are empowered to advocate and lobby for pro-
tection of the rights of migrant workers and their families.

Patterns of migration have changed from classical temporary, single-destination migra-

tion into more complex mobility schemes. Migrants increasingly tend to migrate tem-
porarily, commuting or choosing several destinations during the migration process.8
The number of international migrants who are contributing to their countries of
destination and countries of origin is about 232 million.9 This is through providing the
much-needed labour and remittances they send back home. Nevertheless, many live
miserable lives. They lack access to basic services and fundamental rights. Most of them
are vulnerable to marginalization, discrimination, xenophobia, extortion, violence, and
so forth.

The causes and effects of migration and its complex relationship with development
need to be understood.
7
“Promoting Safe Migrations and Local Development in Bangladesh,” DanChurchAid, at: http://
www.danchurchaid.org/projects/list-of-projects/previous-projects/promoting-safe-migration-and-local
-development-in-bangladesh
8
“The Changing Development Paradigm: An ACT Alliance Discussion Paper,” (ACT Alliance, January 2013), 16.
9
“Reject Xenophobia, Embrace Migration as Key Development Enabler, Secretary General Says in Message on
International Migrants Day,” (Media Release, United Nations, 17 December 2013), at: (http://www.un.org/
News/Press/docs//2013/sgsm15547.doc.htm).

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Paulina Parhiala and Gorden Simango Diakonia and Human Dignity

Business and human rights

Some of today’s concerns regarding businesses that violate human dignity and human
rights relate to unchecked carbon emissions; illicit financial flows from host country
to home countries and tax havens; tax evasion; transparency and lack of access to
information (since most development agreements are between host countries and
multinationals); weak and outdated legislation; judiciary systems with lack of capacity;
weak protection of affected communities by states; and lack of respect of policies
and the voices of people.

Since June 2013, ACT Alliance has been working to bring human rights accountability
to business. Some ACT members have been on this journey long before. Working
with the ACT forum in Bangladesh, ACT made a submission to the “Working
Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other
Business Enterprises” of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR) during its fifth session, from 17 to 21 June 2013, whose
focus was “The Bangladesh Rana Plaza disaster.” Besides calling for an independent
investigation, ACT Alliance called for host governments of those in the supply
chain to:

– Pass legislation that holds companies accountable extra-territorially by ensuring

companies domiciled in their jurisdiction respect labour standards and other
human rights obligations throughout their supply chains.
– Use bilateral, multilateral and diplomatic relations to motivate the government of
Bangladesh to fulfill its duty to ensure a safe working environment in the
garment industry, protect the rights of their garment workers and ensure access
to remedy, including compensation.
– Introduce binding obligations to disclose non-financial information, including
social audits, and impact of business activity, on workers’ rights.

For the Second Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights of the OHCHR, held
on 2–4 December 2013, ACT Alliance, the Lutheran World Federation, together with
the office of the Franciscans International in Geneva organized two awareness
events, one at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva and another one at the offices of
Franciscans International, which were highly attended. The main event that was a side
event on the official programme also included two other human rights organizations,
Al Haq in Palestine and the Kenya Human Rights Commission. Following the side
event a number of recommendations were submitted to the working group, some of
which were:

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– The need to adopt an internationally legally binding instrument to hold corporations

accountable for their behaviour, especially in relation to human rights and access to
and control of natural resources;
– The need for the working group to provide guidance and clarification on the use of
the Guiding Principles in situations of occupation such as in Palestine, especially in
relation to domestic legislation;
– The need of the working group to provide guidance to Third States on how to
ensure that their corporations are not involved in violations of international law,
including guidance to corporations on their due diligence processes to ensure
rigorous assessment of their operations, so that they do not contribute to viola-
tions of the rights of the occupied population;
– The need for the establishment of an international tribunal to receive, investigate and
judge accusations against TNCs and sanction TNCs with legally binding indict-
ment, in the broader context of the Human Rights framework.

In 2014, the ACT Alliance together with other ACT members joined The Treaty
Alliance, a CSO movement campaigning for a legally binding instrument for business
and human rights. ACT Alliance lobbied a number of countries who are members of
the UN Human Rights Council in May and June to vote for a draft resolution which was
tabled by South Africa, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela, proposing the “elaboration of
an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other
business enterprises with respect to human rights,” which was adopted on 26 June
2014.

Further work with the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, and
Franciscans International is already being planned for the December 2014, OHCHR’s
third Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights.

Rights and dignity of indigenous peoples and minorities

Some of the most difficult human rights challenges for indigenous peoples stem from
pressures on their lands, territories, and resources as a result of activities associated with
development and extraction of their resources. Their cultures continue to be threat-
ened, and the protection and promotion of their rights resisted. For many indigenous
peoples, their relationship to their lands, territories, and resources is a defining feature.

Some of the ACT members and forums in Latin America and the Caribbean are
addressing issues of social justice through engaging in, among other things, defending
the rights of indigenous communities and their right to land, including environmental
rights.

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Paulina Parhiala and Gorden Simango Diakonia and Human Dignity

Their right to be informed and to be consulted, for example, through the international
principle of Free Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) is often violated.

Gender and discrimination against women

God created male and female in God’s own image. The responsibility given to humanity
as stewards and custodians is set on the perspective of a creation declared by God as
“very good”; free from exploitation and an oppressive culture. It is one where the
potentialities of God’s people, whether male or female, are given room to flourish.

The promotion and achievement of gender equality is vital to meeting the needs of the
world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Women represent a disproportionate
number of the poor. They are more likely to face discrimination in many circles of life,
such as in education, employment, law and public administration policies, health care,
and politics.

ACT Alliance is advocating for gender equality and women’s empowerment in a

number of ways, including advocacy towards the post 2015 development agenda,
bringing stories from the ground and changing perceptions and social status of women
in various communities around the world.

The ACT Alliance community of practice on “gender equality and justice” has made
considerable progress in facilitating the sharing of stories of change through its gender
report of 2012, with 15 studies of good practice of the work of ACT members from
around the world. ACT General Secretary John Nduna, in the executive summary of the
gender report, advances that “gender equality and women’s empowerment are at the
heart of the ACT Alliance’s vision for a better and more just world; and that gender
influences all aspects of the alliance’s work from humanitarian relief to long term
development and advocacy.”10

The ACT Alliance community of practice on “rights in development” has produced a

“gender-inclusive rights-based development training curriculum,” which is accessible to
ACT members and other organizations. The curriculum helps organizations to close the
operational rift between gender equality programmes and rights-based development
programmes and provides clarification on their common roots, common conceptual
framework, and common strategies. Training requests can be accessed through
members of the community of practice. The training has been developed over a period
of three years and is a result of research, assessment, analysis, design, piloting, peer

10
Clapping with Both Hands: 15 Studies of Good Practice Promoting Gender Equality (Geneva: ACT Alliance, 2012).

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review, and revision. Elements of it have been piloted in Juba, South Sudan; Kampala,
Uganda; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; Denpasar, Indonesia; and
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with staff from various ACT Alliance member organizations.

Disability-inclusive development
Disability and poverty cause and compound one another. ACT Alliance through its
community of practice on “disability inclusive development” promotes understanding
of disability as a human rights issue, advocates for the rights of people with disabilities,
and supports members to implement disability-inclusive programmes. Networking and
sharing of experience within and beyond boarders are fundamental. With members in
most countries, ACT Alliance is functioning as a multilateral knowledge-sharing plat-
form which can help us achieve our vision of a truly inclusive society. With the UN
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons
with Disabilities, inclusion is no longer a mere desirable and ideal situation but a
requirement of international law. Development and humanitarian organizations must
ensure that the needs and aspirations of people with disabilities are included in their
work.

Protection of children
According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), “A child means
every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to
the child, majority is attained earlier.”11 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
proclaimed that “childhood is entitled to special care and assistance.”12

A number of children suffer neglect worldwide. In conflict situations children continue

to be recruited into insurgence operations, and many have lost their parents and have
turned up at refugee camps or third countries unaccompanied. Children are trafficked in
global syndicates, and used for pornographic materials and sexual activity. Child labour is
still a global problem and still a reality in many supply chains of global brands in
agricultural, mining, textile, and other sectors. Their right to education is denied, and the
girl child suffers the most. Child mortality due to preventable diseases is still a huge
challenge in many other countries, which lack even basic neo-natal care facilities for all
mothers.

The ACT Alliance community of practice on “child protection” is working to protect

children and raise awareness of the rights of children. They are in 2014 developing an
11
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 1 (1990), at: http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/
pages/crc.aspx
12
UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), at: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

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Paulina Parhiala and Gorden Simango Diakonia and Human Dignity

ACT Alliance Child Safeguarding Policy stating the commitments of ACT to keep safe
the children it works with or comes into contact with, providing a holistic approach to
preventing children from experiencing all forms of harm. As the most vulnerable
group, especially in situations of poverty, humanitarian crisis, or conflict, children
deserve higher standards of protection. The ACT Alliance policy will include a Code of
Conduct for Children, Framework for Reporting, and Staff Screening and Recruitment
Guidelines.

Restoring human dignity through humanitarian response

Since its formation, the ACT Alliance has responded to many humanitarian crises
across the globe, where its members work even in the remotest, hard to reach areas. Its
presence is longlasting and sometimes permanent, long after the bigger humanitarian
organizations have left. An ACT Alliance emergency response is a cooperative effort
between ACT members, forums, and the secretariat to financially support and imple-
ment coordinated emergency response to meet the highest standards of quality and
accountability. Emergencies are all different, and ACT responds to the particular cir-
cumstances of any emergency in relation to ACT members, their capacity, and the
capacity of the whole alliance. Lessons continue to be learned and ploughed back into
future humanitarian responses, so that the ACT response continues to stand out as a
model of an integrated and holistic response based on clear principles of human dignity
and respect for people. The ACT response is rooted in humanitarian principles of
humanity, humanitarian imperative, impartiality, and independence.

Psychosocial support and well-being

Emergencies create a wide range of problems at the individual, family, community, and
societal levels. At every level, emergencies erode the normal protective support, increase
the risks of diverse problems, and tend to amplify pre-existing problems of social
injustice and inequality. The psychological and social impacts of emergencies may be
acute in the short term, but they can also undermine the long-term mental health and
psychosocial well-being of the affected population.

Through its community of practice on “psychosocial support,” ACT has developed

psychosocial materials, supports training, and deploys rapid support for psychosocial
support implementation. ACT’s community-based approaches to psychosocial support
aims at assisting affected individuals and communities to attain a stable life and inte-
grated functioning, to restore hope, dignity, mental and social wellbeing and a sense of
normality. Awareness and knowledge of psychosocial support should be present at all
levels of aid work, including donor organizations, implementers, local partners, and
field staff.

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ACT Alliance contributes to wider global debates on psychosocial issues and in par-
ticular the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Reference Group on Mental
Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), currently co-chaired by ACT Alliance and
UNICEF.

Future Work

In its global strategy of 2015–2018, ACT Alliance commits to upholding people as

agents of change in their own lives and places human dignity at the core of our work
by promoting human rights, addressing inequalities, ensuring accountability, and over-
coming discrimination, stigma, and exclusion. ACT will actively address unequal rela-
tionships and recognize the need to empower women and girls and actively involve men
and boys in working toward gender equality. It will equally help to bring people’s voices
into power structures for the sake of present and future generations. It will continue to
strongly oppose repression of civil society and limitations to its space to work for social
justice, human rights, and participation, and it will foster an enabling environment for
development through active inclusion of civil society. There is no human dignity for any
of us while great inequalities and ongoing need and suffering proliferate in a world of
plenty.13

13
ACT Alliance, “ACT Alliance Global Strategy 2015–2018: Full Life and Dignity for All.”

340 Copyright © (2014) World Council of Churches

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