Tuesday, March 14, 2006 [ Entry by: Mina Alaghband ]

A classroom of a school in Makeni, which the villagers built themselves through CARE's food for work program; no material supply was provided.

A day of intellectual and practical growth lay ahead. All of our research on and understandings of CARE had given us a preliminary understanding of the operation of a "rights-based approach." But we were still left wondering what all of this really meant.

Fargal, one of the Bo office directors sat down with the group to explain: The rights-based approach (RBA) introduces the concept of right holders and a duty bearers, or a responsible party. He explained CARE's role in a two-fold manner. First, he clarified that if a child has a right to an education, it cannot be CARE's responsibility to provide it, but rather the government’s responsibility, as they are the ones who have the direct mandate to act for their constituents. In the stage of development in which we experienced Sierra Leone, therefore, the role of international NGOs has become less to do with fulfilling needs and more to do with building links between institutions and beneficiaries.

It is easy for CARE to build a school, label it and showcase it to past and future donors, but working with the Ministry of Education to build their capacity to build the school, provide teachers and resources, and maintain information sharing, is far more sustainable. CARE supplies a structure rather than just provisions.

A board listing the NGOs working simultaneously in a refugee camp, including local NGOs.

The second part of the Rights Based Approach emphasizes the responsibilities of the communities: If the state is responsible, the concept of 'citizenship' becomes crucial in the functioning of the country on the macro level. On the micro level, the participation of all members is crucial in reconstructing the country's infrastructure and its peoples pride and independence. Having understood the conceptual framework in which we now stood, I sought a better understanding of what this meant in practice.

In the morning of our field excursions in Bo, we visited RADA, a local NGO, that focuses on the three key operational areas of education, HIV/AIDS & gender, and agriculture. The organization attempts to use training, partnership, education and sensitization to reduce HIV transmission rates, integrate women’s rights, increase children’s schooling, reintegrate child ex-combatants, and reduce youth despondency.

A ritual during the Peace Day to expel the evil spirit out of the village.

The highlight of the day was the Celebration of Peace Day in Tobanda camp, Kenema, in which Liberian refugees and local Sierra Leoneans celebrated the end of the war and their peaceful coexistence.

After dinner with all of our wonderful hosts from the Bo Office, in which we learned volumes about the refugee food security program, working with UNHCR and NaCSa, and how various groups are ensuring that support given to local communities is done in an equitable way, we retired for the night with a better understanding of the intentions and practice of rights based approaches.