Competencies

INTRODUCTION

• Facilitator can separate participants into small groups if appropriate (under Facilitator Tips tab) or do this exercise with the entire group. 
• Begin by explaining that the aim of this exercise is not to resolve all issues surrounding minority rights but rather to highlight the interdependence and intersectionality.

DISCUSSION

• Facilitator may use these questions  to start the discussion. (See Discussion Questions tab.):
  1. How well are religious minorities protected, especially in comparison to persons belonging to national or ethnic and linguistic minorities? 
  2. Are there other minorities that are not covered by the 1992 Declaration?
• Participants should be encouraged to see the big picture while focusing on one element at a time in the discussion.
• Participants discuss their ideas as a group and write down their thoughts. (They can use their Faith for Rights notebooks, if provided.) 

CONCLUSION

• If desired, facilitator may share additional examples showing that minority discrimination has never been limited to one or some regions, but extends to the whole world.

• How well are religious minorities protected, especially in comparison to persons belonging to national or ethnic and linguistic minorities? 
• Are there other minorities that are not covered by the 1992 Declaration?
•  

• 1992 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. 
• Abu Dhabi joint statement by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar
• The International Protection of Freedom of Religion or Belief (pp. 65-66)
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights Website
• PDF: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Participants should use this activity to identify issues related to human rights and gender equality and not try to find solutions to these issues.

Tips for Small Group Activity

• The facilitator can divide participants into small groups of two to four people depending on the size of the group.
• If this activity is held in-person, the facilitator can invite participants to sit together.
• If participants are meeting together virtually, the facilitator can assign break-out rooms. 

Additional Tips for All Peer-to-Peer Activities

• The #Faith4Rights modules are flexible and require adaptation by the facilitators before their use. Case studies related to peer-to-peer exercises in the 18 modules need to be selected by the facilitators from within the environment where the learning takes place. The #Faith4Rights toolkit is a prototype methodology that requires contextualization, based on the text of the 18 commitments, context, and additional supporting documents.
• Not all issues raised need to be resolved. This would be an impossible and even a counterproductive target. The aim is rather to enhance critical thinking and communication skills, admitting that some questions could receive many answers, depending on numerous factors.
• Tensions may occur during discussions related to “faith” and “rights.” Most of these tensions are due to human interpretations. Learning sessions are spaces for constructive dialogue in a dynamic process where tensions can be reduced with the help of clear methodologies, including pre-emptive situation analysis and evidence of positive results in areas of intersectionality between faith and rights.
• When preparing the sessions, facilitators need to factor in the profile, age, and backgrounds of participants. Focused attention on the learning objectives can transform tensions into constructive exploration of new ideas.
• Meaningful engagement requires democratically pre-established rules. Facilitators should dedicate time with participants to elaborate these rules together at the outset and act all along the training as their custodians.
• The time frames suggested in this #Faith4Rights toolkit are merely indicative. Facilitators may adapt them freely to suit the needs of their group of participants. The key balance is between respecting the overall time frame while not cutting short a positive exchange momentum.
• To ensure optimal and sustainable benefit, facilitators may create a “training notebook” for participants during their peer-to-peer learning sessions. It would contain a compilation of templates to help participants keep track of what they have learned throughout the program and eventually use this notebook as their personalized follow-up tool.
• When technically feasible, facilitators are also advised to project the module under discussion on screen in order to alternate between discussions thereon and showing the audio-visual materials listed in each module or any other items selected by the facilitator.

• “Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder. Help someone’s soul heal. Walk out of your house like a shepherd.” (Rumi)
• “Your true character is most accurately measured by how you treat those who can do ‘Nothing’ for you.” (Mother Theresa)