Abstract
This paper aims to examine effective approaches of assistance for realizing rights of individuals in culture-sensitive and context-specific manner, thereby exploring preconditions for substantiating rights. Since the turn of the century, universality of rights, or human rights, has been severely questioned and some groups of extremism openly manifest abusive policies and strategies especially against women and minority populations. At the same time, rights have become the most powerful argument for many people, such as women, disabled, and indigenous peoples, who are committed to improving their situations. The tension and collision in relation to this different understanding of rights seems to be one of the most critical issues of the 21st century. Several Asian leaders have overtly expressed views against universality of rights and advocated for “Asian Values.” Sen, a scholar who strongly contends against this argument, explains that tolerance and individual freedom, core values of the human rights, have existed in Asian cultures by referring to thoughts of ancient politicians such as Emperor Ashoka of the third century B.C. He also stresses the importance of communication, advocacy, access to communication, and public discussion in order that human rights can exert their effectiveness. These points resonate with an approach of a training for preventing HIV/AIDS that was developed in Africa and a process of an NGO in India to promote women’s health through rights-based approach. Empirical knowledge of empowerment of individuals through effective implementation of rights-based approach plays crucial roles so that universality of human rights are duly recognized and respected.
