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Network Approaches

What makes the Rights & Democracy Network unique?

The Network is unique because of its approaches focusing on:

KNOWLEDGE CAPACITY

KNOWLEDGE

  • International human rights and democracy


    All Network activities must be compatible with Rights & Democracy’s mandate to uphold the International Bill of Rights. Therefore, all projects undertaken by the Delegations have to be relevant to international human rights and democratic development.

    (The International Bill of Human Rights is composed of 5 major human rights instruments: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty)

  • Equality and diversity


    The Rights & Democracy Network promotes the participation of everyone without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion, age, disability, sexual orientation, national or social origin, or economic status.
    The Network focuses in particular on the issues of women’s rights, indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities.

  • Ethics


    In the model structure proposed for each of the Delegations, we have included an Ethical, Equality, and Diversity Advisor. The roles of the individual in this position are to ensure that the Delegation’s operations are consistent with the objectives and guidelines of the Rights & Democracy Network; to promote activities related to the human rights of members of marginalized groups, such as women, people with disabilities and indigenous people; to define the means by which democratic values will be reflected in the Delegation's activities; and to develop strategies to facilitate the participation of students who are members of marginalized groups.

CAPACITY

  • Education and career


    Whenever possible, our aim is to make the involvement of the students in the Network a meaningful learning experience that they can relate to their studies.
    Through the Network, students come to us to express how important it is to them to feel that the path they have chosen in line with their professional interests can also accord with their fundamental values and the fact that they care for the billions of human beings in the world whose dignity, life and security is threatened.
    To that end, we are developing resources on the linkages between human rights and various fields of study: statistics, law, political science, arts, communication, education, management, engineering, social work, etc.
    In addition, with the intellectual and financial support of the Rights & Democracy Network, a number of students and professors have undertaken to relate human rights education and action to curricula and course work:

    At the Université de Sherbrooke:
    •  
      • A professor assigned her undergraduate international relations students to projects on trafficking in human beings in Southeast Asia, on globalization and human rights, and on children’s rights (Winter 2004);
    •  
      • Students received marks for organizing the Student Forum of the 2nd World Congress Against the Death Penalty, Montreal (October 2004);
    •  
      • With the aim of initiating the twinning of the Rights & Democracy Delegation at the Université de Sherbrooke with students in Morocco, a course of applied political studies was developed through a participatory approach involving the professors and the students themselves (2005-2006 academic year).

    At UBC:
    • Students from various Canadian faculties of medicine gathered for a workshop on the need to integrate human rights issues into the health sciences curricula.
    At McGill:
    • The project Let's Teach Human Rights! was a collaboration between education students and teachers intended to promote the integration of human rights education into the teaching program. (January 2005).
    At Université Laval:
    • Within a project management course, graduate students conducted an initiative entitled Sur la piste des réfugiés: a three day event which included the experience of a refugee camp on campus, (2004-2005 and 2005-2006)

  • Multidisciplinarity


    We encourage students from all disciplines and the teachers who support them to work together to develop a shared human rights culture. The Rights & Democracy Network believes that a broad coalition of informed and engaged citizens is required to “put the world to rights.”

    In two years, we have seen students from more than 40 different programs of study take part in various Network activities. A multidisciplinary approach allows us to forge ties with students from every field of study and demonstrate to them that their global concerns are valid and worthwhile and that their efforts and ideas are necessary to build a more just world.

    “… when I got in touch with the Rights & Democracy Network last year […] I was extremely pleased to find an organization willing to reach out to students in faculties often forgotten and reassured to be supported in my idealistic vision of education. It seems essential to keep on reaching out to students in various fields, bring them together so they feel a support when they want to make a change in their environment.”

    Caroline Bouchard
    Faculty of Education, McGill University

  • Innovation


    The Network supports projects that demonstrate innovation in terms of the issues addressed, the type of activities involved or through their eventual outcomes.
    Project Fund support for ordinary presentations and round-table discussions, for example, is limited. To be considered, they must:
    • address a new or under-reported issue or propose to take a new perspective on an issue
    • be a component of a broader undertaking;
    • represent a preliminary, intermediary or final stage within the development or follow-up of a project.

  • Interconnectivity


    The Network promotes the use of internet and multimedia technologies in the activities of the Delegations in order to facilitate the sharing of information and ideas throughout a dynamic and interactive Network. Members are strongly encouraged to make use of:
    • The Network website
    • The dedicated pages for each Delegation
    • The discussion forum for Network members

  • Reflection, action and outreach


    The Network promotes reflection and action-oriented projects that have a strong community outreach and communications component.
    All projects supported by the Network must have an outreach strategy. We are particularly interested in students engaging other groups on their campus and in their communities, as well as developing “products” that can be shared with other Delegations across Canada.

  • Ripple effect


    The Network team focuses on mechanisms that help Delegations share their expertise, experience and best practices with respect to project development and implementation. For example:
    • In March 2005, during a round-table discussion on corporate social responsibility, we brought together the participants of two of the projects we supported last year: the University of Ottawa’s “Corporate Social Responsibility, Mediation and Human Rights” project and Concordia University’s “WalTown,” a Canada-wide consumer awareness initiative. This meeting of legal scholars, academics and activists proved to be an enriching experience that helped foster increased understanding and synergy among those involved.
    • With our support, the members of the “GLOBALIA” project team at Université Laval trained their Network colleagues on this simulation game dealing with governance and social issues related to globalization so that they might have the opportunity of using “GLOBALIA” as part of their own activities. Students and professors belonging to seven Delegations from the Québec City, Montreal, Sherbrooke and Ottawa areas participated in these training sessions.
    • The “Sur la piste des réfugiés 2005” project, an initiative of the Université Laval Delegation (Québec City), is in many regards a model project for the Network. This experience has been documented in order to share best practices and the lessons learned with other Delegations throughout Canada. The Université de Sherbrooke Delegation replicated the project in 2006.