Time for some research
After finishing up organizational tasks surrounding the conference that was held a few weeks ago, I am starting to get a chance to put my research skills to work!
Beginning Monday, I began to look for actual case studies that back what PIHHR is trying to say in their manual. The draft of the manual is written, however, it is lacking case studies to support the goals of a human rights based approach to their three areas of gender based violence, reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS. The examples need to show how UNFPA or other organizations, (preferably linked to the UN somehow) have conducted projects that are centered around a human rights based approach. The manual also needs examples that show a clear violation of human rights. The main example of a violation of human rights already in the manual is female genital mutilation, (FGM). FGM is still a very large problem in many countries, and clearly very important to PIHHR because of its link to gender based violence. Now, I am looking at many different UNFPA projects as well as other projects claiming to be rights based and evaluating where they can fit into the manual or if they can fit into the manual. It is quite exciting because now I feel as if I am actually contributing! I will now be spending a large amount of time searching for case studies and highlighting what I feel will work in certain areas. Right now, the manual is theoretically going to be piloted in three different areas of the world in November.