‘Bread and butter’ human rights: NGOs in Fiji

Abstract

While ‘rights-based’ approaches to development – those in which development and poverty alleviation are viewed through the lens of human rights – have become the language of choice among the international development community, less is known about how human rights are used for development at the local level. Using a case study of Fiji, this research investigates how local NGOs understand and use human rights for development. It demonstrates some of the tensions involved in translating broad and supposedly universal approaches to human rights into local contexts.

Droits de l'homme sur lesquels on peut compter : ONG à Fidji

Bien que les approches du développement « basées sur les droits » – les approches dans le cadre desquelles le développement et la réduction de la pauvreté sont abordés dans une optique de droits de l'homme – soient devenues le langage de prédilection au sein de la communauté internationale du développement, on en sait moins sur la manière dont les droits de l'homme sont utilisés pour le développement au niveau local. En se basant sur une étude de cas de Fidji, les auteurs de ces recherches examinent la manière dont les ONG locales comprennent et utilisent les droits de l'homme aux fins du développement et mettent en évidence certaines des tensions présentes au moment de traduire des approches larges et soi-disant universelles liées aux droits de l'homme dans les contextes locaux.

Direitos humanos de ‘pão com manteiga’: ONGs em Fiji

Embora as abordagens de desenvolvimento ‘baseadas em direitos’ – aquelas em que o desenvolvimento e o alívio da pobreza são vistos através de uma lente de direitos humanos – têm se tornado a linguagem de escolha entre a comunidade de desenvolvimento internacional, menos se sabe sobre como os direitos humanos são utilizados para o desenvolvimento no âmbito local. Utilizando um estudo de caso de Fiji, esta pesquisa investiga como ONGs locais compreendem e utilizam direitos humanos para desenvolvimento e demonstra algumas das tensões envolvidas em transformar abordagens gerais e supostamente universais em direitos humanos nos contextos locais.

Derechos humanos elementales: ONG en las Islas Fidji

Aunque el desarrollo basado en los derechos (una metodología mediante la cual el desarrollo y la reducción de la pobreza se abordan bajo el enfoque de los derechos humanos) predomina actualmente entre la comunidad internacional, se conoce poco sobre cómo los derechos humanos pueden aplicarse en el desarrollo a nivel local. En base a un estudio de caso en Fidji, este ensayo plantea cómo las ONG locales entienden y se valen de los derechos humanos para promover el desarrollo, y revela cómo a la hora de aplicar en contextos locales algunos conceptos de derechos humanos teóricamente universales se producen tensiones.

Keywords:

• Civil society
• Rights
• Oceania

Notes

Descendants of indentured labourers from India, brought to Fiji to work in the sugar-cane plantations, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries comprised a population that became roughly equivalent in size to the indigenous Melanesian Fijian population.

Although, as mentioned above, pre-colonial Fijian society was by no means homogeneous, and there was in reality a variety of different social systems, some of which tolerated more dissent than others (Lawson, 1990).

The Social Justice chapter requires the government to provide education, housing and opportunities within commerce, the public service, the military, and the police force for disadvantaged members from any community.

Quotes from interviews conducted in 2007 with representatives from the seven case-study NGOs are cited in the text with reference to their respective organisations (WAC, CCF, PCDF, SCF, ECREA, RRRT, and FWRM).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mary Llewellyn-Fowler

Mary Llewellyn-Fowler completed research in Fiji in 2007 and is currently a Policy Analyst for the New Zealand Treasury. <[email protected]>

John Overton

John David Overton (corresponding author) is Professor of Development Studies at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He has conducted research in Fiji over the past 20 years, with a particular interest in rural change and land tenure.