OBSERVARE

Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021)

THE SDGS IN AFRICA, IN THE FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

TÂNIA LIBÓRIO

tsliborio@gmail.com

Ph.D. holder in Legal-Political Theory and International Relations, University of Évora. Post-

Doctorate in International Cooperation, University of Évora (Portugal).

Abstract

In today's world, it is essential to reflect on the problematization of the values and role of

NGOs in the scope of solidarity and volunteering. They promote the personal, social and

cultural development of individuals, making them part of active and committed citizenship in

this world that shows so little solidarity. In this sense, it is important that we all have our eyes

on solidarity movements and that we are the first players to help, defend and cooperate, in

different areas with other realities.

In this global era, where wealth and poverty interact, showing their potentialities and

vulnerabilities, the conviction emerges to face this diversity through cooperation in the name

of education and the attitudes they can transform. NGOs play a catalytic role capable of

promoting development in cooperation with the achievement of the SDGs - Sustainable

Development Goals.

This article aims to present the missions carried out on the African continent, in favour of the

achievement of the SDGs stipulated by the UN; these missions are integrated into projects

carried out by volunteers from a Portuguese NGO, AMI - Assistência Médica Internacional

(International Medical Assistance) and demonstrate how their work promotes cooperation and

sustainable development in the communities where they operate, as well as the defence of

Human Rights.

We cannot ignore a global solidarity movement. Volunteers contribute in a fundamental way

to cooperation and aid the countries that need it the most. We believe that the main “weapon”

of a country's development is education for Human Rights.

Keywords

NGOs, Africa, Volunteering, Human Rights, SDGs

How to cite this article

Libório, Tânia (2021). The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights. Janus.net, e-journal

of international relations. Vol12, Nº. 1, May-October 2021. Consulted [online] at date of last

visit, https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.12.1.5

Article received on March 4, 2020 and accepted for publication on February 8, 2021

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

THE SDGS IN AFRICA, IN THE FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

TÂNIA LIBÓRIO

Introduction

In order to demonstrate the importance and impact that the Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs) have on the performance of NGOs, and specifically on AMI, through their

projects around the world, we will analyse their importance in Africa, in a perspective of

learning and experiences of the communities. In various aspects, we must keep our eyes

on the pressing needs and demands of our society, in order to face the future in a more

just and harmonious way and in the fight for Human Rights.

The means of action of NGOs in the defence of their causes, in general terms, are the

ways in which they try either to persuade States and institutions to change their

behaviours or policies, or to denounce situations of human rights violations, put in

practice humanitarian aid projects, or even mediate peaceful conflict negotiation, thus

promoting the country's development.

Human rights challenges in Africa

The constellation of Human Rights is currently experiencing a turbulent moment. This

turbulence is revealed above all by an impasse, in which the limits of conventional Human

Rights become evident, a language of dignity whose hegemony is today indisputable

(Santos, 2015: 33).

Three tensions are identified, which, at the same time, are constitutive of the present

turbulence and represent a challenge for an emancipatory resignification of human rights

in the light of the epistemologies of the South. The first concerns the tension between

the right to development and the incessant environmental devastation of the planet. The

second refers to the tension between the collective aspirations of indigenous peoples,

Afro-descendants and peasants and the individualism that marks the original canon of

human rights. The third refers to the tension that results from the inadequacy of the

language of rights, and in particular of human rights, to recognize the existence of non-

human subjects (Rodriguez-Garavito, 2005: 42).

In this way, the hegemony of a universal conception of human dignity underlying human

rights, based on Western assumptions, reduces the world to the West's understanding of

it, thereby ignoring or trivializing decisive cultural and political experiences in countries

of the global south. This is the case with the resistance movements against oppression,

marginalization and exclusion that have emerged in recent decades. Their ideological

Article translated by Carolina Peralta.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

bases have little or nothing to do with the dominant Western cultural and political

references throughout the 20th century (Santos, 2019: 54).

The human rights discourse plays an important role in challenging the world order

reflected in the concept of “chain of beings” and, although it does not appear like it, it

anticipates the discourse of coloniality. With the transition, in the 20th century, from

“Rights of Man” to human rights, it can be seen more clearly to what extent these rights

constitute an appeal to the assimilation of the human and socio-political formations by

the western ideology, as well as substitutes of effective decolonization. “The Rights of

Man” proclaimed until the end of the 18th century can be understood as part of a revolt

against the hereditary monarchy, the nobility and the medieval hierarchies (Wallerstein,

1991: 95).

Thus, in a situation where rights, rule of law and democracy are presented as the

supreme good, a universal human value, a panacea for all ills in Africa, it is important to

remember that not only the disease, but also the available medicine are historically and

socially determined. Nature did not place the civilized, developed, rich and powerful North

on the one hand, and the backward, underdeveloped, poor and powerless South on the

other.

This condition was created historically through the application of “universal” violence. In

turn, violence, strength and domination were legitimized and rationalized through

historically and socially determined layers of the languages of religion, race, culture, and

ethnicity, among others. All of them, at different times, have claimed superiority and

universality, just as the human rights ideology does today (Shivji, 1989: 23).

Human rights are not absolute attributes inherent to all human beings, as an original

condition, to be discovered with progress and civilization, in this case, presumably,

Western, Christian and European civilization. Rather, they are a product of historical

circumstances and social struggles (Shivji, 1989: 24).

It is true that in most parts of the Afro-Asian world, before taking up arms, the colonizing

peoples spontaneously felt the need to "purge" their awareness of the racial inferiority

invented and inculcated by colonial lords. This need took on various ideological forms in

different concrete situations, but in the end it was a reconstruction of the dominant racial

ideology to produce “ideologies of resistance” (Gibbon, 1992: 93).

Thus, during the first two decades of independence in Africa, the human rights discourse

evolved as a counterpoint to the developmental discourse. The dominant variants of the

latter were based on one of several theories of social development. In Africa, in the first

two decades of the post-independence period, there was an intense debate between two

schools of thought, that of modernization and that of underdevelopment/dependence

(Hettne, 1990: 49).

On the human rights side, paradigms such as the indivisibility of human rights and

fundamental needs as a whole have evolved. It was in this context that the human rights

discourse made its forced entry onto the African stage, in the late 1970s (Gibbon, 1992:

95).

The impact of humanitarian intervention in the world

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

At the beginning of the 21st century, the tension between the assertion of a common

humanity as a protagonist of human rights and the recurrent creation of new

discriminations and exclusions that deny this common belonging to humanity, continues

to mark the debates around the conceptions of human dignity and of what it means to

be human. In different versions, the problem of how to affirm, simultaneously, equality

and the recognition of difference has been reiterated (Santos, 2004: 45).

In the European worldview on which the formulation of human rights in the 18th century

is based, men are born free and equal. The autonomous and reasoned human being is

recognized as the subject of these rights. But this conception is marked, since its origin,

by the exclusions of part of humanity from this condition of subjects with rights. To

women, children, slaves, colonized peoples, those who are declared to be deprived of the

capacity for autonomy and reason, this equality created by birth has been denied or

conditioned. The twentieth century brought the humanity’s recognition of many of the

excluded people, groups or communities, and even aroused discussion about the

expansion of human rights to non-human entities.

Violations of human rights and human dignity are now expressed as threats to the life or

the integrity of bodies subject to unnecessary violence or suffering. The answer is an

intervention aimed at saving lives and alleviating suffering, suspending reference to

differences and inequalities, to treat human beings as beings vulnerable to suffering,

threatened by violence, whether due to human action or disasters attributed to nature

(Santos, 2019: 68, 69).

Humanity as a species is exposed to forms of suffering that require response by

intervention in situations when the life or physical integrity of human beings is in

imminent danger. Humanitarian intervention requires choices between suffering, which,

at a given moment, deserves an answer, and those excluded from that answer (James,

2010: 23).

The humanity that “was not created to suffer” includes, in fact, several humanities,

different in the definition of what counts as suffering that deserves urgent intervention.

Thus, “the ability to suffer is clearly a part of what it is to be human. But not all suffering

is equivalent” (Farmer, 2005: 91). And not all lives, faced with suffering, are treated with

the same dignity and recognition, even in death (Butler, 2010: 32).

Humanitarianism, inspired initially by the Creation of the Red Cross in the 19th century,

took on a new profile and a new face from the 1970s, through a position that postulated

overriding respect for the sovereignty of States to respond to recognizable crises and

threat to the life and physical integrity of populations or human groups. People required

some form of intervention aimed at alleviating suffering and lives in danger had to be

saved. Some of the protagonists of this new humanitarianism proposed the idea of a

“right of interference”, implying to go far beyond humanitarian assistance based on a

strict neutrality towards the parties involved in the particular situations, and questioning

one of the oldest and most problematic principles on which humanitarianism was based

(Fassin, 2010: 281).

A closer look at the practice of humanitarian intervention shows that, in addition to its

differences in relation to actions explicitly aimed at denouncing human rights violations,

humanitarianism acts in the name of defending “dignity”(Redfield, 2013: 22).

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

The objective is no longer the defence in general of human rights or the attempt to

contribute to improving the human condition in situations that offend human dignity, but

to alleviate suffering where and when it occurs, as well as to save lives, through

emergency interventions.

Humanitarianism and its policies thus find the legitimation of a form of intervention that

did not take long to open crises and tensions, which persist within some of the

organizations. With undeniable courage, generosity and selflessness, they seek to

respond to the precarious existences of human beings who, as individuals and

collectively, are victims of extreme forms of oppression and violence (Ticktin, 2011: 17).

The challenges of the SDGs

To create a more sustainable world and to get involved in issues related to sustainability

and the SDGs, individuals must become agents of change for sustainability. They need

knowledge, skills, values and attitudes that allow them to contribute to sustainable

development. Education is, therefore, crucial for the achievement of this development

(UNESCO, 2017: 67).

The 17 SDGs and 169 targets demonstrate the scale and ambition of this new Universal

Agenda, building on the legacy of the Millennium Development Goals and will conclude

what they have failed to achieve. They seek to realize the human rights of all and achieve

gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. They are integrated and

indivisible, balancing the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social

and environmental.

Never before have world leaders committed themselves to common action and such a

broad and universal political agenda. They are creating a path together towards

sustainable development, collectively dedicating themselves to the pursuit of global

development and beneficial cooperation for all. This can bring huge gains for all countries

and all parts of the world. Each country faces specific challenges in the pursuit of

sustainable development.

Today, the decision is of greater historical importance, as it builds a future that can

represent a significant improvement for all people, including those who have been denied

the chance to reach their full human potential. We can be the first generation to succeed

to end poverty; as well as the last to have a chance to save the planet. The world could

be a better place in 2030 if we achieve our goals (UNITED NATIONS, 2015).

For the goals to be achieved, everyone needs to do their part: governments, the private

sector, civil society and all human beings around the world. Governments are expected

to take responsibility and establish national frameworks, policies and measures for the

implementation of the 2030 Agenda. A fundamental feature of the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development is its universality and indivisibility (UNESCO, 2017: 10).

The importance of Sustainable Development was recognized at the three influential global

sustainable development summits: the UN Conference on Environment and Development

- UNCED in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro; the World Summit on Sustainable Development -

WSSD in 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa; and the UN Conference on Sustainable

Development - UNCSD 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (UNESCO, 2017: 11).

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

As societies around the world strive to keep pace with advances in technology and

globalization, they face many new challenges (Wals, 2015, p.43). In order for everyone

to act on behalf of the SDGs, all educational institutions must consider it their

responsibility to work intensively on sustainable development issues, foster the

development of sustainability skills and promote specific learning outcomes related to all

SDGs (UNESCO, 2017: 54).

In the words of Ban Ki-Moon, "the 17 SDGs are our common vision for humanity and a

social contract between world leaders and peoples" (ONU, 2017: 5).

The SDGs are:

SDG 1: To eradicate poverty in all its dimensions everywhere, development cooperation

with third countries. A key vector of Portuguese foreign policy, it is based on a broad

consensus between political forces and civil society, with the objective of eradicating

poverty and ensuring sustainable development in partner countries, with respect for

human rights. In particular, the Strategic Cooperation Programmes with Timor-Leste,

Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau stand out. They focus on

institutional capacity building in the areas of social protection, employment, professional

training and social inclusion, and support projects to fight poverty, promoting equal

access to basic services in partner countries. (UN, 2017: 13-15).

SDG 2: To eradicate hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote

sustainable agriculture. In terms of international cooperation, cross-border cooperation

has been strengthened (UN, 2017: 16).

SDG 3: To guarantee access to quality health and promote well-being for all, at all ages,

within the scope of international cooperation. The law also provides for citizens from

Portuguese speaking African countries to travel to Portugal for medical treatment under

agreements cooperation in the field of health (UN, 2017: 18).

SDG 4: To guarantee access to inclusive, quality and equitable education, and promote

opportunities for lifelong learning for all. With regard to cooperation with partner

countries, Portugal has been an engine for the development of actions within the CPLP,

having supported other countries in the development of their education systems. Of

these, the following stand out: the expansion of Portuguese schools in Macau, Eastern

Timor, Angola and Mozambique; the opening of a school in Cape Verde and in São Tomé

and Príncipe (UN, 2017: 19).

SDG 5: To achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Portugal has

promoted the implementation of measures and projects within the scope of non-

discrimination and gender equality within the CPLP (UN, 2017: 20).

SDG 6: To ensure the availability and sustainable management of drinking water and

sanitation for all. Portugal has been sharing its experience and knowledge in this matter

with developing countries, supported by its own financial resources or mobilized at

international level, and involving the public and private sectors and civil society (UN,

2017: 21).

SDG 7: To guarantee access to reliable, sustainable and clean energy sources for all. In

the cooperation with partner countries, public policies in the energy sector stand out,

namely: with Cape Verde, Mozambique, and Eastern Timor. Emphasis is also given to the

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

support given to civil society actors, in particular NGOs, in the development of

technologies and good practices, namely in Guinea-Bissau and São Tomé and Príncipe,

seeking to support populations to take advantage of these new technologies. (UN, 2017:

22).

SDG 8: To promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive

employment and decent work for all. Portugal is a signatory to several Memoranda of

Cooperation with Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe, with the objective of promoting

macroeconomic and financial stability in those countries, as well as fostering their

economic and financial relations, or through the implementation of the Action Plan for

the Promotion of Gender Equality and Equity at CPLP (UN, 2017: 23-24).

SDG 9: To build resilient infrastructure, promoting inclusive and sustainable

industrialization and fostering innovation. Portugal has fostered support for the

development of sustainable and resilient infrastructure, notably in: Mozambique, Cape

Verde and Angola (UN, 2017: 25).

SDG 10: To reduce inequalities within countries and between countries. The Portuguese

cooperation policy reflects the national willingness to participate in the development of

third countries, with a view to respecting human rights, democracy and rule of law.

Portugal seeks to support Portuguese-speaking African countries and Eastern Timor by

promoting social protection, social inclusion and employment (UN, 2017: 26).

SDG 11: To make cities and communities inclusive, resilient and sustainable. It is worth

mentioning the United Nations Resilient Cities Campaign, which promotes the

implementation of disaster reduction measures by local authorities as one of its guiding

principles (UN, 2017: 28).

SDG 12: to guarantee sustainable consumption and production patterns, with the

following guidelines: to foster the circular economy, focusing on dematerialization,

collaborative economy and sustainable consumption, product design, efficient use and

enhancement of resources; to change production and consumption models: less

resources, more efficiency and less environmental impact; to increase the rates of

collection, recycling and global and sector recovery for the different materials that make

up waste; to promote ecological and sustainable public procurement practices; to

guarantee access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to

Justice in matters of the Environment; to promote more environmentally sustainable

behaviours through green taxation (UN, 2017: 29).

SDG 13: To adopt urgent measures to combat climate change and its impact. It is worth

mentioning the recent presentation by developed countries of a plan to leverage public

and private financing for the climate. Portugal is involved and has committed itself to

continue the development of partnerships, in particular with the Portuguese-speaking

African countries (UN, 2017: 32).

SDG 14: To preserve and use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable

development, the guidelines are: preventing and reducing marine pollution and waste;

limit the impact of fishing on the marine environment and adapt fishing to the protection

of species; promote the protection, restoration and sustainable management of marine

and coastal ecosystems and marine biodiversity; foster the local development of coastal

communities; promote maritime spatial planning and the creation of marine protected

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

areas in maritime spaces under national jurisdiction; enhance the areas of investigation

and inspection of a tax, fiscal and customs nature; deepen the maritime surveillance

policy; increase scientific knowledge, foster research capacities and transfer marine

technology (UN, 2017: 36).

SDG 15: to protect, restore and promote the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,

sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse soil degradation and

halt biodiversity loss. At international level, Portugal is participating actively in the Bern

Convention on Wildlife and Natural Habitats in Europe, the Bonn Convention on Migrating

Species of Wild Fauna, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Interest for

Waterfowl and the Washington Convention on the International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (UN, 2017: 72).

SDG 16: To promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development,

provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions

at all levels. At the level of Portuguese speaking countries, within the scope of the CPLP

and cooperation with the Portuguese-speaking African countries, contributing so that the

military institutions of the partner countries are increasingly and sustained producers of

security and inducers of development, contributing to the reinforcement of the security

and authority of the State (UN, 2017: 76-80).

SDG 17: To reinforce the means to implement and revitalize the global partnership for

sustainable development in the sense of enhancing the quality of its external action

regarding international cooperation and for sustainable development, among which the

following stand out: untying assistance approaches, investing in institutional and human

capacity with a view to facilitating the mobilization of investment and trade and

promoting sustainability; transition to a logic of national, European and international,

public and private co-financing, through the use of new and diverse sources of financing,

some of which based on innovative mechanisms, and the involvement of economic

agents, the academic world and civil society (UN, 2017: 81-85).

The achievement of the SDGs in the African continent

Taking as a starting point the Portuguese NGO AMI and its project, “ODS em Ação” (SDGs

in Action), its work intends to contribute to a more informed and active society in the

promotion of sustainable development and respect for Human Rights. It disseminates the

SDGs among Portuguese young people, makes them aware of the challenges of

development cooperation and humanitarian action and promotes active citizenship by

encouraging volunteering and disseminating volunteer opportunities in the respective

regions.

AMI has activities and missions in several Portuguese speaking and other African

countries with the objective of fulfilling each of the SDGs in the defence of Human Rights.

Examples include São Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Cameroon,

Madagascar, Uganda, the Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe, Niger, and Ghana.

In Guinea-Bissau, the Project: “Bolama Community Radio” aims to put the SDG 10 into

practice by contributing to the development of a more informed and sensitized

community through media. In Bolama, there is no proximity social media directed to an

eminently rural and poorly literate population, which places limitations of various kinds,

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

with negative consequences on the aspirations and expectations of these populations.

The aim of this project is to contribute to eliminating this shortcoming and to lay the

foundations for active participation and citizenship of residents in actions and decision-

making that affect their lives and their communities. Once set up and operational, the

radio will be a means to communicate with and inform the local community with

reasonable efficiency (AMI, 2017).

Another project that puts the SDG 4 into practice is the Construction of the School of Gã-

Bacar for Pre-School and Basic Education (AMI, 2017).

Since 2000, AMI has been in the Sanitary Region of Bolama and a driving force for

development through the implementation of projects, the establishment of partnerships

with local associations and the promotion of Solidarity Adventures in this region. The

intention is to contribute to the improvement of teaching in the Tabã of Gã-Bacar, directly

benefiting 138 students and 8 teachers.

In São Tomé and Príncipe, the project that puts SDGs 2 and 8 into practice is entitled:

“Port of Departure - São Tomé and Príncipe”, and aims to: reduce poverty by improving

hygienic-sanitary conditions, promote health and sanitation literacy and local

development interventions.

Caué is the poorest district in São Tomé, with a fragile economic fabric, low income and

illiteracy, leading to a subsistence economy and to arbitrary and informally developed

livestock. The project aims to raise the population's awareness of the harms of the

current situation of animal husbandry; construction of infrastructures to receive animals

and to slaughter them under adequate hygiene conditions; conduct activities of a social

nature that make it possible to combat situations of extreme poverty in the district

through the creation of an income generating business that sustains them (AMI, 2015).

In Senegal, the “Project to Fight Food Insecurity” puts the SDGs 1,2,10,17 into practice,

and aims to improve the productivity of Family Farms in three communities in the

Department of Bambey, facilitating access to factors of production, promoting agro-

ecological practices, the enhancement of production, and improving the food security of

100 family farms. In this area, the soils are poor and there has been a decline in

agricultural production and food security, contributing to the increase in the migration of

young people and women.

Most families live in a situation of food insecurity. Production does not cover food needs,

incomes have fallen and children's health and education needs are not fully covered. This

project intends that family farms have access to factors of production, implement agro-

ecological practices and that local production is valued and results are followed,

capitalized and disseminated (AMI, 2017).

Another project in this country is the “Promotion of sexual and reproductive health of

women and young people in the rural environment”, which consists of the education and

awareness of women and young people living in the rural areas of Thiès and Diourbel,

regarding the problems of sexually transmitted diseases.

In order to contribute to the reduction of 6800 new cases of cervical cancer, which are

diagnosed in Senegal every year, this project carried out a series of awareness-raising

actions in the various communities. SDGs 3 and 5 are addressed with this project (AMI,

2017).

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

In Cameroon, the Project: “Empowering 50 child brides” puts SDGs 1,4,5 and 8 into

practice. It aims to contribute to reducing the vulnerability and dependencies of young

people and children at risk and in forced marriages in rural communities. This project

promotes empowerment and improves access to opportunities that increase the life

prospects of young women in early marriages or children at risk. It raises awareness and,

possibly, reverses the challenges associated with the problem of early marriages of

children in the community.

Besides the possibility of providing vocational courses in key areas, the initiative includes

the payment of tuition fees for girls who are attending school. Another of the strategic

components of this project is to raise the awareness of the community, namely

community and religious leaders, about this issue through sessions and radio

programmes, and a documentary with testimonials of the victims (AMI, 2019).

In Madagascar, the Project: “Paediatrics in Madagascar” puts SDG 3 into practice, and

reinforces the paediatrics service and training of staff in the health centre. Within the

scope of the PIPOL programme (International Projects in Partnership with Local

Organizations), through which AMI supports and funds projects by local organizations in

various sectors, such as health, education, food security and associations, a new

partnership was established with a local Organization for the technical improvement of

the child health service (AMI, 2019).

Madagascar is a country with a high incidence rate of poverty, and is very affected by

climate change. In the region, the situation of extreme poverty added to socio-

environmental conditions favours the presence of diseases such as tuberculosis and other

pulmonary diseases, malaria, intestinal and dermatological parasitosis, gastrointestinal

and eye, dental and otorhinolaryngological diseases. There are also high rates of child

malnutrition, whether acute or chronic.

With this project, AMI is actively contributing to the 2030 Agenda, not only through

Sustainable Development Goal 3 - Quality Health, but also through SDG 17 - Partnerships

for the Implementation of the Goals (AMI, 2019).

Another project in this country is: “Creating a surgical gas system in the operating room

of the San Paul D'Ampefy-Andasibe Sanitary Centre”, which aims to put SDGs 3, 8 and

9 into practice (AMI, 2019).

In Uganda, the Project: “Talk2Me - Raising Awareness and Promoting Good Sexual and

Reproductive Health Practices in Uganda's Refugee Camps”, is a Humanitarian Action

project that aims to improve the living conditions of the refugee population in northern

Uganda, addressing SDGs 3 and 5.

With its intervention in Uganda, AMI detected the need to support the work of welcoming

refugees that is done in the country, which leads as the country that receives more

refugees in the African continent and the third in the world. In view of the growing

numbers and fragile conditions of the communities that host these refugees, there are

some limitations in the provision of social support and access to Primary Health Care. It

was therefore decided to conduct a project to raise awareness and promote good sexual

and reproductive health practices in refugee camps (AMI, 2019).

Another project in this country titled: “Improving menstrual hygiene management in rural

Uganda”, aims to raise awareness and disseminate sustainable solutions for better

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

menstrual hygiene management for young Ugandan teenagers of school age. It breaks

taboos and promotes equal opportunities in access to education for all young people

regardless of gender.

For this purpose, “menstrual kits” are manufactured and distributed in schools, making

sustainable solutions available and sensitizing young adolescents in this region regarding

the importance of their menstrual hygiene. Thus, phenomena associated with

menstruation are also demystified, so that young women do not miss school days

because they are menstruating (AMI, 2018).

In the Ivory Coast, the project: “Construction of two Canteens in Kaloufa and Gokoupleu”

aims to put SDGs 1, 2 and 3 into practice. It supports the construction of two school

canteens, as in rural areas, school dropout due to families' lack of financial capacity to

ensure the food of their children is significant (AMI, 2018).

In Zimbabwe, the project: “Improving the livelihoods and living conditions of people with

disabilities”, puts SDG 1 into practice, and aims to train and improve the socioeconomic

conditions of the households of people with disabilities. This group appears to be

particularly vulnerable, subject to social exclusion, abuse and neglect. They have

difficulty finding a job and often face extreme poverty (AMI, 2018).

In Niger, the project: “Support for the socio-economic development of the populations of

the village of Gountikoira, in the Tillabéry region”, aims to create a well, build a school

and purchase land for agricultural purposes. The project, which puts the SDG 1 into

practice, aims to eradicate the difficulties of the population, who live in situations of

disrespect for their rights as citizens (AMI, 2018).

In Ghana, the project: “Continuity in the gaining of skills by the people of Cape Coast”,

aims to help street children and provide opportunities for their reintegration into society

through training in football, sewing and music, thus putting SDGs 1 and 4 into practice

(AMI, 2016).

All these projects aiming to attain the SDGs are based on the struggle for the defence of

Human Rights, in all its aspects, adapting to the most pressing needs of the populations,

making the world more just and more harmonious.

Conclusion

Human rights, considered as universal rights, can be conceived and practiced in a global

way. However, they are always seen as an instrument of the West and it is known that

human rights are not universal in their application.

The concept of human rights is based on a well-known set of assumptions, typically

Western: there is a universal human nature that can be rationally known; human nature

is essentially different and superior to the rest of reality; the individual has an absolute

and irreducible dignity that must be defended by society or the State.

In the fight for the defence and promotion of human dignity, human rights put into

practice a moral, affective and emotional delivery that is very characteristic of NGOs, and

that is only possible from postulates inscribed in the personality and basic forms of

socialization.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

Currently, the human rights discourse is centred around adjustment, as opposed to

development, which is intended to be demonstrated through projects and programmes

with the aim of alleviating poverty, social inequalities and social injustices in the world.

But in spite of all these efforts, the fundamental problems and issues of the vast majority

of African peoples and classes have not disappeared.

These projects conceived through the SDGs will lead to the development of the most

deprived countries and will allow Human Rights to be a reality worldwide.

References

Butler, Judith, (2010). Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. London:

Verso.

Farmer, Paul, (2003). Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on

the Poor. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Fassin, Didier (2010). “Heart of Humaneness: The moral economy of Humanitarian

Intervention”, in Didier Fassin e Mariella Pandolfi (orgs.), Contemporary States of

Emergency. The Politics of Military and Humanitarian Interventions. New York: Zone

Books.

Gibbon, Peter (1992). “The World Bank and African Poverty”, Journal of Modern African

Studies, 30 (2).

Hettne, Bjorn (1990). Development Theory and the Three Worlds. Londres: Longman.

James, Erica Capla, (2010). Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, and Intervention

in Haiti. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

UNITED NATIONS (1945). United Nations Charter.

UN, (2017). National report on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development. July, New York.

Redfield, Peter (2013). Life in Crisis: The Ethical Journey of Doctors without Borders.

Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Rodriguez-Garavito, (2015). Human Rights. Conflicts and Social Justice in the global

south. Bogotá: Dejusticia.

Santos, Boaventura de Sousa (2004). Reconhecer para Libertar. Porto: Afrontamento.

Santos, Boaventura de Sousa (2015). If God were a human rights activist. Stanford, CA:

Stanford University Press.

Santos, Boaventura de Sousa (2016). Epistemologies of the South: justice against

epistemicide. Nova Iorque: Routledge.

Santos, Boaventura de Sousa (2019). O Pluriverso dos Direitos Humanos – a Diversidade

das Lutas pela Dignidade. Edições 70, Lisbon.

Shivji, Issa (1989). The Concept of Human Rights in Africa. Dakar: Codesria.

Ticktin, Miriam (2011). Casualties of Care. Immigration and the Politics of

Humanitarianism in France. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

Vol. 12, Nº. 1 (May-October 2021), pp. 77-89

The SDGS in Africa, in the fight for human rights

Tânia Libório

Torres, Nelson (2015). “Transdisciplinariedad y decolonialidad”, Quaderna, 3.

UNESCO (2017). Education for Sustainable Development Goals - Learning Goals.

Education 2030, UNESCO.

Wallerstein, Immanuel (1991). Unthinking Social Science: The Limits of Nineteenth-

Century Paradigms. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Wals, Argen (2015). The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development: Business

as Usual in the End. Education Research.

Internet searches

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/capacitacao-de-50-criancas-

noivas/ (accessed on 11 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/radio-comunitaria-de-bolama/

(accessed on 11 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação.https://ami.org.pt/missao/porto-de-partida-sao-tome-

principe/(acessed on 11 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/projeto-de-luta-contra-a-

inseguranca-alimentar-plcia/ (accessed on 11 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/promocao-da-saude-sexual-

reprodutiva-das-mulheres-jovens-do-meio-rural/(accessed on 12 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/pediatria-em-

madagascar/(accessed on 12 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/talk2me-sensibilizacao-e-

promocao-de-boas-praticas-de-saude-sexual-e-reprodutiva-nos-campos-de-refugiados-

do-uganda/(accessed on 12 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/melhorar-gestao-da-higiene-

menstrual-nas-zonas-rurais-do-uganda/(accessed on 13 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/construcao-de-duas-cantinas-em-

kaloufa-e-gokoupleu-costa-do-marfim/(accessed on 14 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/empoderamento-pessoas-

deficiencia-atraves-da-capacitacao-inclusao-social/(accessed on 14 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/apoio-ao-desenvolvimento-

socioeconomico-das-populacoes-da-aldeia-de-gountikoira-na-regiao-de-tillabery-

niger/(accessed on 14 December 2019).

AMI Missões ODS em Ação. https://ami.org.pt/missao/aquisicao-competencias-pelos-

jovens-cape-coast/(accessed on 14 December 2019).