Regions and Cohesion

This article examines the extent to which National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in Ghana and Uganda contribute to the strengthening of democracy and sustainable development in those countries. A human rights-based approach is used to investigate human rights violations, marginalization, exclusions, and discrimination against vulnerable groups in society. This article examines whether NHRIs are proactive in adopting preventive measures to protect and promote human rights within the African context. The study utilized a qualitative methodology and a case study design. It found that the legal environment on which NHRIs are located and their operations largely determine their effectiveness, as well as whether good governance and sustainable development are achievable.

El presente artículo tiene como propósito aportar a la comprensión de los procesos que han permitido la configuración de las ciudadanías indígenas en Colombia con relación al orden global. Se fundamenta en la revisión de normativas y políticas de reconocimiento de la diversidad y en el análisis de la forma en que se amplió el espectro de derechos demandados por estos colectivos. Específicamente para Colombia se describe la forma en que dichas políticas y normativas fueron implementadas y lo que ello significó en la relación del Estado con los movimientos indígenas. Termina con la identificación de los aportes y elementos que las luchas indígenas han incorporado a la configuración de ciudadanías en la sociedad contemporánea colombiana.

The indigenous people of Venezuela, long excluded from political participation, registered a whole set of rights within the new constitution in 1999. However, the proclamation of these rights did not ensure their full implementation and, a fortiori, their purpose to protect the survival of indigenous peoples. This article presents an analysis of the processes through which indigenous rights have been allocated but poorly implemented and even substantially withdrawn. In many Latin American states, the rights that promote autonomy and self-government are actively abandoned notwithstanding cultural, political, and economic contexts be they progressive or conservative. Through this analysis, this article proposes the concept of “proclamation-denial”. While this concept is relevant for numerous Latin American countries, this article highlights the specificities of the Venezuelan case.

Thailand is a popular destination for irregular labor migration from Myanmar. Among some three million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, more than half are undocumented. Undocumented migrant workers rely on brokers to smuggle them into Thailand. Some undocumented migrant workers are lured, tricked, and forced to work but they are not rewarded with a reasonable wage. A conceptual framework of the shadow sector of labor migration is formulated in this study, which attempts to explain why ethnic minorities in Myanmar are socially categorized by the level of their deprived citizenship. Those low in the hierarchy of categorization are likely to fall into the shadow sector of the labor migration process. Ethnic minorities from areas of insurgency are exposed to a high risk of human trafficking.

Entrevista a las coordinadoras del proyecto DeMano, quienes trabajan multidisciplinariamente temas de inseguridad alimentaria en familias milperas de Ocotepec, México. Platicamos sobre logros y retos en sus programas de desarrollo de habilidades para la crianza y empoderamiento de mujeres; producción sostenible en milpas y huertos; y ecología humana y salud materno-infantil. El gran reto de Ocotepec y otras comunidades rurales en México es superar la situación de inestabilidad productiva, social y económica para revalorar y cuidar los recursos naturales y capital humano, transitando hacia una visión autosuficiente y autogestiva. DeMano realiza ciencia en continua retroalimentación con la problemática del campo, promoviendo un sentido más amplio de comunidad y de responsabilidad colectiva de los recursos bióticos que dan de comer a las familias de México.