Click on the image below to watch an animation which shows a conversation between the director of a human rights organisation and one of the staff members. Then answer the following questions.

• Would you have known that this was a human rights organisation if we hadn't already told you?
• What human rights issues arise in the course of this conversation?
• What steps do you think should be taken to address these issues?

In the first chapter, when we talked about where human rights originated from, we referred to various core human values that are common to us all.

Values in a human rights organisation

What values do you think are of particular importance in running a human rights organisation?

Here are some of the values that you might have chosen:

• respect for other people;
• tolerance of different points of view;
• participation of staff in decision-making;
• transparency in the decision-making process;

• accountability of managers, staff and office-holders;
• fair pay and terms of service;
• good working conditions;
• sensitivity on issues of gender.

Of course, these are values that we might hope to see in the management of any type of enterprise. But, given that these are standards that inform the basic human rights that we struggle for, we would particularly expect that they would be present in a human rights organisation.

Those of you who are taking courses that are not directly related to human rights issues - such as management, financial management and fund-raising - might now be able to see why we insisted that you should take this introductory course.

The purpose of this section is not to train you in how to manage a human rights organisation (another course does that). It is simply to point out that in its practice a human rights organisation has to respect the values that underlie human rights.

Respect for other people

This is one of the most basic human values. It is the expectation that you will treat other people in the same way that you would want to be treated yourself.

This respect is due whatever position a person occupies in the organisation - from director to cleaner.

All the other values - to do with participation and working conditions - flow from this.

Tolerance of differences

One of the things that marks out the 'culture of human rights' is a conviction that differences are healthy and positive thing - something to be celebrated not suppressed. This applies whether the differences are of opinion, culture, class, race, ethnicity, sex or whatever.

This is important for respecting the rights of the other people who work in your organisation. But it will also make for a more creative and dynamic organisation.

Participation in decision-making

There are many different ways of organising a human rights group. It may be a self-appointed non-governmental organisation; it may be a membership organisation; it may be a community-based organisation. The point here is not to recommend one form of organisation or another.

Human rights organisations are not usually democracies. The management is accountable to a membership or funders but not, in a formal sense, to the staff.

Yet the process of decision-making in the organisation should be participatory. That is to say that, as far as possible, everyone affected by a decision should have a chance to express their opinion and influence the outcome.

That way, the organisation will reach better decisions - because it will draw on the expertise and experience of the whole organisation - and it will be more likely to implement them effectively because everyone will be committed.

Transparency

This is closely related to the question of participation. Of course, in practice, not everyone will be involved in all decisions - that would paralyse the organisation.

But everyone should know what decisions have been made, who made them and for what reasons. That way it will be clear where responsibility lies.

Bad managers like to take credit when something goes right and shift the blame when something goes wrong. Transparency means that everyone can see what is going on in reality.

Accountability

And transparency in turn is closely related to accountability.

There may be many lines of accountability in an organisation running in different directions. Members, staff, managers and funders are all accountable to each other in different ways.

Fair pay and working conditions

No one expects human rights organisations to pay high salaries - that is not what they are expected to spend their money on. But a decent income is a right and it is unreasonable for a body committed to rights to fail to give its staff a reasonable level of pay.

The same, of course, goes for terms of service and working conditions. So annual leave, special leave (such as maternity and paternity leave), study opportunities, pension provision and disciplinary procedures should all reflect advanced and progressive practice that respects the rights of workers.