Online course inspires participation in decision-making and the promotion of the right to development

Srruthi is a 21-year-old activist who grew up facing economic hardship in Puducherry, a small union territory in India. Motivated by concerns about injustice and human rights violations and a desire to foster social change, she decided to get involved in shaping the decisions impacting her city and came across the e-learning module, “Operationalizing the right to development in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Jamila, a young British Palestinian woman who lives in East Jerusalem with her husband and three kids, lost her job at the UNRWA Field Legal Office due to political tensions. She was the primary breadwinner and could not find other work. As her family’s financial difficulties continued, she enrolled in the same e-learning module.

The module was developed by UN Human Rights, in partnership with the University for Peace (UPEACE) in Costa Rica and the UN University’s International Institute for Global Health in Malaysia and was launched in 2018. It is based on the contributions of 10 experts from around the world with a shared commitment to advancing the right to development by providing information in an understandable format, using case studies and concrete examples of how to implement this right. 

“I understood what a participatory process was, how to create one and why it was so important for sustainable development…I also realized there was a gap in that respect in my own city,” said Srruthi. “This module provided interesting case studies and knowledge that I could use in my own projects.”

“What captured my attention was a case study from Afghanistan where students were taught negotiation and conflict resolution skills and how that helped their community to share development resources,” said Jamila. “I was facing similar problems and conflicts where I was living and I thought that I could replicate some of the success stories I learned about,” she added.

Both women founded organizations to help realize the right to development and build the capacity of their communities to claim and defend their rights. 

Jamila founded an NGO known as the Women, Youth & Kids Empowerment Initiative for Sustainable Peace & Development, to teach disadvantaged children living in East Jerusalem about their rights and how they are linked to development issues. She established partnerships with two other organizations and now works with 11 volunteers and a network of technical experts and professionals from various countries.

Srruthi set up Polity Link, an NGO working with governments and CSOs to promote the involvement of young people in developing policies to tackle issues, such as inequality and sustainable development. More than 120 students and civil society activists are now taking part in Polity Link’s activities on a biweekly basis. They are often contacted by the Puducherry local government to ensure that the voices of youth are taken into account in decision-making processes. Srruthi hopes to expand her work to other cities, primarily through capacity-building programmes that will highlight human rights and international cooperation for development