Competencies

INTRODUCTION

• This activity is best as a small group activity. See the Facilitator Tips tab for ways to create groups. 
• The facilitator may choose to show editable Slides (also under Resources tab) that break down Commitment VI into different elements. 
• Add participant thoughts and action items to the provided Slide throughout the discussion.
• Questions under the Discussion Questions tab may guide participants’ sharing. 

ACTIVITY

• Participants break down Commitment VI into different components. For example, this could be the different actors within the commitment or the responsibilities owed within Commitment VI.
• Participants may discuss the formulation that “persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic, and public life,” which is taken from article 2 of the 1992 Declaration (also under Resources tab).

CONCLUSION

• Encourage participants to perform a similar exercise with family and friends or to share their action items on social media.

• Why is Commitment VI important? 
• What are the elements of Commitment VI? 
• What action points are necessary? 
• Who bears responsibility for action?
• How can you support and promote equal treatment of minorities?
• What are some forms of discriminatory practices that you have witnessed?
• What is the meaning of “persons belonging to minorities have the right to participate effectively in cultural, religious, social, economic, and public life” in your local context?
• Do you need to change your own thinking to better reflect the purpose of Commitment VI?

• Commitment VI Unpacking Slides
• 1992 Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities

Tips for Small Group Activity

• The facilitator can divide participants into small groups of two to four 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. 

• 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)