LEARNING POINT The benefits of equal power relations between men and women are that women’s basic rights will be realised, including more education opportunities, better health, and greater opportunities for employment/income generation. It follows that, if the overall standard of living and well-being increases for everybody (i.e. men and women, boys and girls) in the community and the country as a whole, a number of other things will also improve. Photo 4 » Women interacting in a support group HUMAN RIGHTS AND GENDER (Brainstorming, discussion and mini lecture) Learning objective To introduce human rights instruments and identify the five key human rights principles. Understanding human rights Human rights: • Are entitlements possessed by all persons by virtue of belonging to the human race, or by virtue of their common humanity, to live a life of freedom and dignity; • Give all people moral claims in respect of the behaviour of individuals and regarding the design of social arrangements; • Are claims which every individual has, or should have, on the society in which he or she lives; and • Are universal, inalienable and interdependent. Characteristics and principles of human rights The following can be said of human rights: • They are universal; • They are inalienable; 74 Community Healing: A training manual for Zimbabwe