Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
LUIS UBINAS: Good morning. Good morning and welcome to the Ford Foundation. Welcome to
Beyond Conventions, a day we're going to spend reimagining human rights in a time of change.
This is the third in a series of gatherings that mark the Ford Foundation, this institution's
seventy-fifth anniversary of working with visionary leaders and visionary institutions
all over the world. This room is filled with people who every day save lives, change the
world, demand a more just society, a more just existence--an extraordinary cross section
of dedicated human rights and civil rights leaders. Sometimes I actually name people
in my little talks like this but there's so many of you here today that it wouldn't do
justice to any of you to have me name just a few. I have to say that for me, it's humbling.
It's humbling to be here among all of you. It's been a privilege to work with you over
the last four years and it's lovely to see you here. Thus far, the seventy-fifth anniversary
events have been all about the future, where the next frontlines of change are emerging--how
we at Ford can support new ideas, new movements for this new century. But today, I'd like
just for a second to look back into Ford's illustrious past. These human rights have
been at the very core of this institution for seventy-five years. It was in this building,
in this building in the late seventies that the idea for Helsinki Watch first emerged
in a conversation between program officers and rights advocates. In the nineties, the
very first dollar that flowed into ICTJ came from the Ford Foundation. And in recent years,
our support for rights advocates in civil society organizations in North Africa proved
vital investments that helped keep democratic values alive. I'll tell you something. There's
been a lot of change in philanthropy over the last few years but this I can assure you
of: the Ford Foundation support for the human rights movement internationally and the civil
rights movement domestically is unwavering. Let me also say, you represent our highest
aspirations. We are here for you and our support for you will only grow. Now, let me just look
forward. Let me briefly talk to you about two new things we're investing in. The first
is a new generation of human rights organizations. Crowdsourced change, change driven by the
immense power of today's technological transformation--a force for change unimaginable just ten years
ago, which his just a simple day to day part of the lives of the next generation of human
rights leaders. The secondary of new investment is an effort to strengthen human rights organizations
in the Global South--bringing new voices into the movement; to bring attention to issues
sooner; to deepen the movement; to diversify our voices; to increase our points of pressure.
The importance of this work, the power of human rights to improve the human condition,
is without question. Who would have thought, who would have thought in the mid nineteen-eighties,
that the military dictatorships in Latin America would be transformed into thriving democracies
in just one generation? Or that Eastern Europe would pierce the Iron Curtain and be restored
to freedom? Who would have thought, just two years ago, that across North Africa, political
authoritarianism would be on the run under profound challenge? That we can say all these
things, is a testament to your work, it's a testament to what the rights movement has
achieved in the last fifty years. But you know, the rights community--the human rights
community--has never been one to rest and today is no different. For all your success,
for all our success, we know that the most vulnerable citizens of the world remain one
step behind: indigenous peoples, afro-descendants, the LGBT community, and in many countries--in
too many countries--women and girls. We continue to see persistent oppression, discrimination
and the denial of human dignity even in countries that are nominally considered to be democratic
nations. And we also need to remember, and for those of us who are from the United States
this is central, we need to remember that abuses aren't just a thing we find in poor
countries or in southern countries. Here in the United States, from the immigration detention
camps in the West Texas desert, to that island prison just a few miles north of here on Rikers,
a population bigger than that of some whole countries is being held in conditions of documented
abuse. In this environment we have to ask ourselves, how is technology changing the
practice of human rights? How can we focus more on the poorest and most marginalized
communities? How can we hold democratic countries more accountable for their own human rights
violations, including our own country? In other words, how are we gearing ourselves
toward the achievement of a new generation of real world human impact? And that's why
we're here. These are the questions we're challenged to address today. So I want to
thank you. I want to thank you for braving the weather, braving the traffic, braving
the security guards and being part of this conversation this morning, this day. And with
that I want to introduce my friend, she is my friend, the person really behind Beyond
Conventions, our Vice President for Democracy, Rights and Justice, Maya Harris.
MAYA HARRIS: Okay! Good morning, and thank you Luis for those inspiring words and for
your leadership at this time of great opportunity--not just for Ford, but for the global human rights
movement. And thanks to all of you who have joined us from around the world, literally
from around the world to participate in today's convening. You are the frontline advocates,
artists, leaders whose daily work makes real the promise of human rights. And I can't imagine
a more esteemed, accomplished or better equipped group to help us take stock of where we've
been these past seventy-five years and where we're going--especially, where we're going.
Because as Luis said, this anniversary is not limited to highlighting the past. It is
about our shared future. While this foundation and the human rights movement that it has
supported has had great success, success that we should acknowledge and we should celebrate,
we know that our conversation today must be about the work of tomorrow. Because for the
LGBT activist who's building a movement in the face of persecution and death, the young
women and girls determined to create a future without child marriage, the protester in the
public square risking everything, to change the world they know for the one that they
aspire to, it's tomorrow that matters. And that's why we conceived Beyond Conventions,
an opportunity to look beyond the human rights conventions that have long defined our work
and to ask ourselves, what are the next frontlines of the movement and what can we do to advance
them? So today we want to learn from all of you, to hear what you think are the fault
lines of the future and the emerging opportunities that we need to seize. We want to explore
questions such as, how do we confront the challenge of not just upholding human rights
but making them tangible and real for a new generation of the world's most vulnerable
populations? How do we build a movement that's inclusive, diverse and brings to the table
new voices that are not often enough heard? And how, in an age of increasing political
rights, do we effectively promote economic and social rights and bring sustainable economic
and social benefits to those still left behind? Because as we all know, free and fair elections
alone won't fill empty stomachs, educate children and create a path to economic prosperity.
We also hope today's conversations will elevate concerns that already define so much of our
philanthropic work but have yet to receive the prominence and attention that they deserve,
like issues effecting women and girls--the unfinished business, where progress is still
lagging. How are we going to work together to turn the long held aspiration of equal
rights for women at home, at work and representation in government into an actual lived reality?
We're going to talk about that with two extraordinary individuals later this morning. And of course,
we cannot talk about the next generation of our human rights work without focusing on
the exciting new terrain that it's already playing out on. The online world clearly holds
great promise for our goals and aspirations; but it's still evolving. How are we going
to ensure that it evolves in a direction that protects and advances human rights as opposed
to being used as a tool for repression? So you're going to have an opportunity to ask
the inventor of the World Wide Web that very question this afternoon. And one final observation
about our goal for today's program: the United States is part of the globe. So as Luis said,
let's not forget that we face a host of human rights challenges here at home from immigration
to mass incarceration, to education and growing income inequality--challenges that have become
more salient as so many struggle to find work, pay mortgages and hold on to their homes.
Confronting these challenges must be a key element of our future agenda and we will talk
about that over lunch. So with that, I would say that we are ready for an exhilarating
day of discussion and while there will be areas of consensus that I'm sure will emerge,
we know in this crowd that not everyone here is going to agree on the paths forward; and
we would expect nothing less. Those differences of opinion are the opportunities that we all
have for reflection and reassessment so I urge you to please approach the day with the
candor and the questions that will ensure that we actually have an open and lively conversation.
We are so thrilled that you are here and thank you for being here. Now, let's begin with
our first panel, a look at the human rights movement's past and its future to set the
stage for the day. I'd like to welcome the moderator, of our first conversation, Geoffrey
Robertson, a renowned international lawyer, advocate, author of more than a dozen books
and even occasional television star. I can't imagine a better person to kick off our discussions
today than Geoffrey. So please join me in welcoming Geoffrey and his five expert guests
to the stage.