Discuss the linkage between human development and human rights.

 In recent years, human rights and development have been converging. Growing recognition of the crucial links between rights violations, poverty, exclusion, vulnerability and conflict has led many OECD member countries and multilateral donors to look at human rights more thoroughly as a means for improving the quality of development co-operation.

Human rights and development
The GOVNET Human Rights Task Team aims at enhancing understanding and consensus on why and how donors should work more strategically and coherently on the integration of human rights and development. In pursuing this objective, the task team:  

·         provides a framework for sharing of information and experience and for collective learning

·         promotes dialogue and collaboration between human rights practitioners and other development practitioners

·         develops policy guidance on how to integrate human rights more consistently into donor policies and practice

·         acts as a resource to the DAC and its subsidiary bodies on human rights and development

Collaboration and dialogue
The GOVNET Human Rights Task Team places special emphasis on building bridges between human rights specialists and other development communities and aid managers. This includes first and foremost:

• Human rights and aid effectiveness: realizing the potential for the international human rights framework and the Paris Declaration to reinforce and benefit from each other.
• Human rights and poverty: establishing more common ground between human rights and the pro-poor economic agenda.
• Human rights, conflict prevention and peace building: identifying ways of reconciling and integrating human rights and peace and security strategies.

Human rights assessments: contributing expertise on human rights assessments and indicators to donor approaches to governance assessments.

Define the major Hindu beliefs and cherished values.

As previously stated, there is not a strict orthodoxy in Hinduism.  There are however, several principles that share a commonality among the various sects.  Virtually all Hindus believe in:

The three-in-one god known as “Brahman,” which is composed of: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the Preserver), and Shiva (the Destroyer).

The Caste System.

Karma.  The law that good begets good, and bad begets bad.  Every action, thought, or decision one makes has consequences – good or bad – that will return to each person in the present life, or in one yet to come.

Reincarnation.  Also known as “transmigration of souls,” or “samsara.”  This is a journey on the “circle of life,” where each person experiences as series of physical births, deaths, and rebirths.  With good karma, a person can be reborn into a higher caste, or even to godhood.  Bad karma can relegate one to a lower caste, or even to life as an animal in their next life.

Nirvana.  This is the goal of the Hindu.  Nirvana is the release of the soul from the seemingly endless cycle of rebirths.

Hinduism is both polytheistic, and pantheistic.  There are three gods that compose Brahman – Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.  Hindus also worship the “wives” of Shiva, such as Kali, or one of Vishnu’s ten incarnations (avatars).  This is only the beginning.  There are literally millions of Hindu gods and goddesses – by some counts, as many as 330 million! At the same time, Hinduism teaches that all living things are Brahman in their core.  In other words, all living things are Brahman, or god.  Enlightenment is attained by becoming tuned in to the Brahman within.  Only then can one reach Nirvana.  The release from the wheel of life that allows access to Nirvana is known as “moksha.” Hindus recognize three possible paths to moksha, or salvation.  The first is the way of works or karma yoga.  This is a very popular way of salvation and lays emphasis on the idea that liberation may be obtained by fulfilling one’s familial and social duties thereby overcoming the weight of bad karma one has accrued.

The second way of salvation is the way of knowledge, or jnana yoga.  The basic premise of the way of knowledge is that the cause of our bondage to the cycle of rebirths in this world is ignorance.  According to the predominant view among those committed to this way, our ignorance consists of the mistaken belief that we are individual selves, and not one with the ultimate divine reality – Brahman.  It is this same ignorance that gives rise to our bad actions, which result in bad karma.  Salvation is achieved through attaining a state of consciousness in which we realize our identity with Brahman.  This is achieved through deep meditation, often as a part of the discipline of yoga.

The third way of salvation is the way of devotion, or bhakti yoga.  This is the way most favored by the common people of India.  It satisfies the longing for a more emotional and personal approach to religion.  It involves the self-surrender to one of the many personal gods and goddesses of Hinduism.  Such devotion is expressed through acts of worship, temple rituals, and pilgrimages.  Some Hindus conceive of ultimate salvation as absorption into the one divine reality, with all loss of individual existence.  Others conceive of it as heavenly existence in adoration of the personal God.

Education as a Means to Empower Women

Empowerment consist of various levels and dimensions. In order to be empowered it requires both changes at the individual level and the societal level. We believe that it is possible to empower women, at the individual level. Being able to read and write and

gain new knowledge, are important factors that enhance self-esteem of the individual, and is a prerequisite for generating change and empowerment. Participating in education is an expression of psychological and cognitive components of the empowerment process. An educated woman is more likely to send her children to school. This is an illustration of cognitive empowerment because the woman becomes capable of making important decisions about health and educational matters on behalf of her children. This illustrates the woman as an active agent, being able to improve and change the life conditions of her children.

But it is not enough to challenge structures of gender inequality at societal level. Collective action has a greater potential in creating more widespread change. It can exert more pressure, and being a group gives more visibility and a stronger voice and provide a stronger challenge to discriminatory factors. The collective awareness of their common subordination as women creates a “we”, - a collective identity.

Non-formal education programmes strive to create a critical awareness of the ideological mechanisms that construct the ideas of women’s subordination as natural. That is why non-formal education programmes are particularly significant, because they are based on the active participation of the women. They focus primarily on the local experiences and concerns of the individuals, and thus enable women to formulate collective demands regarding their position as women. An illustration of collective participation and action was shown in the previous section, where a group of women succeeded in getting men prosecuted for wife beating. This case is an expression of political empowerment.

The limitations of many non-formal/popular education programmes are their inability to link local level concerns with broader policies and practices. They often fail to transfer their success into macro level efforts. Collaboration among organizations is vital to bridge the gap between the micro scale projects and macro scale programmes, in order to get resources from national governments and international organizations, and to exchange knowledge and experiences.

But it is not only within the non-formal educational sector that programs exist which try to change status quo. Experimental and consciousness-raising programmes within the formal educational system also exist. The teacher training programme from Argentina mentioned in section eight, aimed at changing the attitudes of teachers, that is, their

stereotyped perceptions of men and women. During the programme the teachers became aware of their discriminating behaviour. Through the process, the attitudes changed, and participants were determined to change inequalities when returning to their schools. But they faced resistance in their efforts to introduce their new perspectives on gender. Although they faced difficulties, we believe that this is an indication of the individual teachers becoming empowered during the programme, because of their efforts to transmit the new knowledge. But although the individual teachers can become empowered, they can not fulfill their desires and wishes for change, because of the rigid patriarchal structure of the formal educational system. There are too few of these experimental teacher training programmes with the goal of changing the contemporary schooling system. We thus find it important to implement teacher training programmes, in the formal teaching training colleges, that aim at educating teachers at all levels in the educational system to have far-reaching effects.

Teachers are essential agents in the socialization process of boys and girls in their function as role models. Already in primary school are girls influenced indirectly, by the teachers’ stereotyped expectations of girls. But if teachers participate in experimental training programmes where they become empowered, they can as important transmitters of knowledge, values and norms empower girls even in primary school. The empowerment of girls may become particularly visible when girls reach puberty (Bonder 1992; 243).

Equally important are the effects that teachers have on boys. If boys early in school life are socialized into perceiving girls as equals, these attitudes and values might become naturalized and incorporated into the habitues of the boys. This was attempted in the school in New Delhi, India, as mentioned earlier. Thus, long term change will only occur if both boys and girls, men and women are incorporated and targeted in the change processes.

Although teachers might be positive towards creating equal terms for boys and girls, some norms and values regarding gender roles are very hard to overcome. At the end of the teacher training programme in Argentina, teachers discussed, -on the basis of their new knowledge- norms and behavior relating to the labour market. They agreed that competition within professions between men and women is acceptable but women should avoid defeating men. In case of defeating them, women should seek to hide their

satisfaction, (ibid;246). This shows that although equal gender relations might be acknowledged, there are still some norms and values which are so deeply rooted in people’s habits that they are very difficult to transform. This is why it is necessary to start changing attitudes and perceptions early in life.

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Sixteen Mahajanapadas in Ancient India.

 Mahajanapadas (Sanskrit,: महाजनपद, Mahājanapadas) literally "Great Kingdoms" (from Maha, "great," and Janapada "foothold of a tribe," "country") refers to 16 monarchies and 'republics' that stretched across the Indo-Gangetic plains from modern-day Afghanistan to Bangladesh in the sixth century B.C.E., prior to and during the rise of Buddhism in India.

In ancient India, a number of kingdoms emerged during the Vedic Age that were spread across the Indo-Gangetic plain. These kingdoms were also called as republics and 16 of them were regarded the greatest of all. These 16 kingdoms were known as the 16 Mahajanapadas. These 16 Maha Janapadas are mentioned in the ancient literature and scriptures. The term Maha Janapada actually means "great country" and is derived from Sanskrit. The sixteen mahajanapadas rose before the start of Buddhism in India. Though these places were tribal settlements initially, roughly by 600 B.C they grew into bigger political entities by grabbing land. The sixteen mahajanapadas are given here in detail.

Kasi: The name Kasi was given to the tribe who settled around the Varanasi region. It’s a belief that the city got its name as Varanasi from the two rivers, Varuna and Asi, which surround the city. Before the rise of Buddha, among the sixteen Mahajanapadas, Kasi had a predominant position. After the rise of Buddha, the name Kasi of the tribes was converted into Kosala. In Matsya Puran, this place is named as Kausaka/Kausika. Lots of details about the Kasi can be known from the tales of Jatkas.
Kosala: It was located around 70 miles to north-west of the today’s Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. It was surrounded by river Ganga from south, by the Himalayas from north, and by river Gandak from the east. Chief cities of Kosala were Sravasti, Ayodhya, and Saketa. Prasenjit was the ruler of Kosala Mahajanapadas and succeeded by his son Vidudahaba.
Kamboja: Kamboja was said to be located on the either side of the Hindukush. It is believed that originally they were located somewhere else. There are number of evidences from Asoka’s Edict no. XIII, Kautaliya’s Arthashasthra, and Mahabharata that Kamboja Mahajanapadas were republic peoples.
Gandhara: This kingdom was consisted of Gandharas who were masters in the art of wars. They are very much aggressive in nature. The Gandhara kingdom was founded by Gandhara, Aruddha’s son.
Avanti: Avanti was one of the most important kingdoms of 16 Mahajanapadas. It is founded in the India’s western part. Avanti is also one of the other important kingdoms of the 16 Mahajanapadas who initiated Buddhism. The whole Avanti kingdom was divided into two, the south and the north Avanti.
Assaka or Ashmaka: It was located in the southern part of India. The Assaka had its capital at Potali or Potana. It is believed that Ashmaka was located roughly at the place where present day Maharashtra is located.
Machcha: The kingdom of Machcha or Matsya was comprised the region of modern day Jaipur along with Bharatpur and Alwar in Rajasthan. King Virata was the founder of this Matsya kingdom and its capital named after him, Viratanagara. There are number of evidences show that this place was once ruled by Chedi.
Surasena: The kingdom Surasena was located in the west side of Yamuna River and Mathura was the capital of this kingdom. Avantiputra, one of the main disciples of Buddha, was the king of Surasena kingdom. He played the vital role in promoting the Buddhism during his kingdom.
Kuru: It has been said that Kuru belong to the Puru-Bharata family. These were known for their sound health and profound wisdom. Kuru, the son of Samvarsana, was the founder of Kururashtra in Kurukshetra.
Panchala: Panchala were located in the northern part of India. These were located between the river Ganga and the Himalayas ranges, where the present day Uttar Pradesh is located. Originally Panchala were monarchial but later on transformed into the republican form of government.
Chedi: Chedi were situated at two different places: one was mountainous regions of Nepal and the other was near Yamuna River. There is mentioning of Chedi in Rig Veda, which shows that Chedi kingdom is prevalent here since very long time.
Vatsa: The kingdom of Vatsa was situated roughly at the location of present day Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. The capital of Vatsa was Kaushambi, which was a very prosperous city. The ruler of Vatsa was known as Udyana and Vatsa had a very powerful ruler, known as Udyana, adopted Buddhism as the religion in his kingdom.
Vajji: Vajji was an important center for political and cultural activities. It was located in northern part of India. The Vriji was comprised of nine allied races. Out of these nine races, the Vedehans, the Licchhavisthe, the Vajjis and the Jnatrikas were the important ones.
Malla: The Malla tribe was situated somewhere in the Eastern India. They had republic form of society and their territory consisted of nine provinces.
Anga: Anga kingdom is mentioned in the Atharva Veda and was situated roughly at the location of the modern day Bihar and West Bengal. River Champa was demarked as the line of separation from the Magadha. Anga was an important center of commerce and trade. It was considered as one of the chief cities of early India.
Magadha: The Magadhas are mentioned in the Atharva Veda. Magadha came into the spotlight under the king Bimbisara and his son Ajatasatru. The Magadha was situated roughly where the modern day Bihar is located.