Today is International Human Rights day, when we celebrate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on this day in 1948. I’ve always found inspiration in that document, in particular the recognition that “… all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights … endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood…” And in its stirring recognition of “the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.”
Of course, the UDHR represents a vision, an aspiration, not yet, nor perhaps ever, a full reality. We will keep trying!
As CEO here at Kuja Kuja, I see a strong link between the noble aspirations agreed by the nations of the world in 1948 and our work. Because, for all the incredible work of humanitarian agencies around the world, it is clear that we are not yet fully living up to the dream of dignity and rights. Our work with refugees and displaced people has become mechanized and systematic, and as an unintended result we have often come to view these human beings as victims, statistics in our monitoring and evaluation systems.
Luckily, there are commitments to change this situation. For example, the “Core Humanitarian Standard” requires humanitarian agencies to “encourage and facilitate communities and people affected by crisis to provide feedback on their level of satisfaction with the quality and effectiveness of the assistance received…”
When we live up to that concrete commitment, we will be taking a huge step towards the call of the UDHR.
That’s what Kuja Kuja does. We provide the tool for humanitarian agencies to understand how displaced human beings view the assistance they are receiving (their satisfaction) and, what is more, we interpret those data to help agencies take action to improve those services. A tool for our agencies to deeply listen to the voices of displaced people.
It’s fitting that this year’s UN theme for Human Rights Day is “Recover Better.” Of course, this is mainly a reference to the COVID-19 crisis. But let’s take it as a call to action to restore human dignity, human voice, in all our work.