Connect, reflect and act – take aways from European civil society
The Fundamental Rights Forum happens every 3 years. No doubt the FRA team will breathe a sigh of relief on Friday knowing that it’s not an annual event. With 3 very full days of workshops, panel debates and keynotes, preceded by a Hackathon and topped up by evening side events – the Forum did not lack ambition!
Participants were challenged to connect, reflect and act, with the emphasis being very much on the ACT. The event was carefully pitched to reflect the size and complexity of the human rights challenges in Europe today. There were the ‘disruptors’: James Hathaway (University of Michigan) and Benjamin Barber (founder of the Global Project for Mayors project) who swept up the audience with such conviction I couldn’t help but wonder why on earth we hadn’t managed to convince EU leaders that there’s a much more simple, cost-effective and humane way to address the migration crisis, and yes of course nation states have outlived their usefulness and democracy (and therefore human rights) are much better served by cities!
Few Europeans can compete with the upbeat, slick delivery of our US colleagues, but there were some gems: “Each of us has a personal voice”, said Mary Lawlor founder and director of Frontline Defenders, “nothing is lost, it germinates over the fullness of time…”
The FRA stands as a beacon for human rights in Europe. It can call on inspirational leaders such as Nils Muiznieks Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights and Kate Gilmore Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights whose interventions bring such extraordinary wisdom and clarity. On day 3, participants will have the privilege to hear Hauwa Ibrahim Nigerian human rights lawyer and winner of the Sakharov prize speak, as well as Mary Robinson former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It therefore felt a bit of a disappointment for me that there weren’t more Social Platform members and members of members present. Of course several of our European members of ENAR and ILGA were there and the Youth Forum, AGE Platform and the Disability Forum were represented. Three members of the management committee took part – Allan and I contributed to workshops, Eszther attended as European Parents Association. And Annica is doing a sterling job capturing the key learnings in her daily blog – which all our members should read.
But I can’t help but wonder if we can’t harness the partnership with FRA more effectively. Valeriu Nicolae, human rights activist now serving Romania as its Secretary of State in the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection refused to be drawn into defining ‘rights-based governance’ – “I just don’t understand what it means!”. What he said was that as a public servant he’s committed to using public money in the best possible way to make the maximum positive difference to people’s lives.
FRA is one of the smaller of the 34 ‘decentralised bodies’ dependent on EU money. With its 100 or so staff it pales into insignificance against the likes of Europol (900 staff); European Chemicals Agency (600) or the Food Safety Authority (435 staff). With its limited resources FRA does some pretty useful research and organizes impressive conferences!
Today my compatriots are voting whether the UK will remain or leave the EU. Whenever I’m home I’m almost apologetic in explaining what it is I do and why it’s so important to coordinate a network of civil society in Europe. The ‘EU gravy train’ is a subject of much scorn – and not only on the #leave side. Very few people have either the time or the interest to discern between the good and the bad.
The nature of the challenges today – migration, inequality, climate change … – demand that we continuously reflect on how to make the best use of resources. I hope that as we think ahead to the 2019 Fundamental Rights Forum we can be creative in how we capitalize on the unique and precious resource of the FRA to revitalize, invigorate and build capacity in the civil society sector. With 48 civil society networks in membership, and an incredible outreach to grassroots organisations, Social Platform can and should be magnifying FRA’s impact and influence to bring about the positive change our societies so desperately need.
Read also Annica’s blog posts about the Fundamental Rights Forum:
