ABSTRACT
The use of rights language in development work has increased in recent years and, as with many concepts, there are disagreements about definitions and approaches to rights and rights-based development. For us, people-centred advocacy and rights-based approaches share the same world view and reflect the African poet, Ben Okri’s hopeful vision of humanity’s capacity ‘to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, (and) to love’ (see Box 15.1). However, we make the distinction that people-centred advocacy looks at social change through a lens of who the actors are, while rights-based approaches look through a lens of how the desired change is viewed. Ben Okri’s vision We are greater than our despair. The negative aspects of humanity Are not the most real and authentic; The most authentic thing about us Is our capacity to create, to overcome, To endure, to transform, to love, And to be greater than our suffering. From Mental Fight, Ben Okri, Nigeria/UK 1
